Midwest entertainment outfit officially transitions from live event coordination to full-scale feature film production with debut genre slate.
We're making a version of America that never existed, one where monsters roam the woods and plains, not shareholder meetings and private islands.”— David William James ElliottLOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, July 16, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Commodicon has now formally revealed that its first narrative feature, The Cursed and the Dead: Silver and Lead, is in active development, following the company’s well-publicized shift in March of this year from a live-entertainment event coordination collective into a full-fledged independent film and digital media production banner.
This film is being positioned as an expansive, high-concept fusion of western and horror genres, set in a reimagined pre-industrial American frontier where indigenous folklore, regional cryptids, and ancient occult practices all exist side by side. The storyline follows a brutal, multi-decade blood feud pitting an unnamed itinerant sheriff—known to local residents as “The Lawman”—against the mysterious, supernatural figure “Mister Cross.” According to production design documents, the visual approach will be highly atmospheric, spanning swampy southern bayous, abandoned deep-shaft iron mines, and untouched high-altitude pine forests. All special effects are planned to be entirely practical, with several notable effects teams already lined up to help bring to life everything from a Louisiana version of the Baba Yaga to a Sasquatch that engages in hand-to-hand combat with a seven-foot-tall drifter.
Acclaimed novelist Avi Llio has been brought on to write the screenplay, adapting the cult-classic dark western mythology he first developed in the early 2010s. Although the original multi-book literary saga was tragically cut short following the sudden, highly publicized bankruptcy of independent publisher Ixtab Media, Llio is now expanding the lore specifically for the cinematic medium.
“The ultimate goal for these characters and this world was always the big screen,” Llio said in a statement from his study. “The structural collapse of small-press print distribution in the mid-2010s was a devastating setback at the time, but in hindsight, it preserved the integrity of the property. I am incredibly grateful to finally show the world the scope of what has been trapped in my head for over a decade now.”
Award-winning director, cinematic recluse, and professional voice-over actor, and model David William James Elliott is attached to direct the feature. Elliott—who rose to prominence in the early 2010s before famously withdrawing from public life after declining an invitation to join the cast of Saturday Night Live, and who just this spring earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the world-renowned Gracie family—is stepping back from investigative documentary journalism to lead this production.
Elliott is coming off a prolific year, following the success of his much-discussed, genre-bending investigative documentaries I Forgot to Unsubscribe from a Stock Footage Service and Hypernormalization 2: Revenge of the Titans. Both of these genre-blending documentaries screened at numerous festivals globally and collected dozens of awards, ranging from Best Narration to Best Stunt, leaving critics astonished by the unique fusion of metafictional documentary, investigative journalism, and Lynchian existential horror.
“You don’t spend years in the production orbits of Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan without absorbing the fundamental architecture of scale and cinematic atmosphere,” said Elliott. “Documentary filmmaking is a vital, challenging career, but world-building is my primary artistic passion. Stepping back into the narrative saddle alongside Avi and the Commodicon team was the easiest creative decision of my fiscal year,” David said from the confines of his three-story converted warehouse film and art studio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Production Trivia and Industry Tidbits:
IP Moneyball: Commodicon is attempting to use metrics in their film production. By acquiring notable but commercially unviable intellectual properties such as The Cursed and the Dead, the goal is not only to obtain compelling stories for pennies on the dollar but also to give a second life to fantastical tales that would otherwise be confined to Goodreads history.
The BJJ Protocol: Sources close to the production report that Elliott, a notorious stickler for physical discipline and martial arts conditioning on set, has mandated that all principal cast members undergo basic defensive grappling training prior to shooting.
A “Gracie” Influence: Rumors persist that the film’s elaborate hand-to-hand combat choreography will heavily feature traditional Gracie-style ground defense, adapted for 19th-century frontier environments.
Casting Secrets: Casting is currently underway across multiple regional hubs, with several supporting roles already formally offered to emerging theater talent from Chicago, Minneapolis, and New York. We can expect several cameos from David’s time as a comedy writer and show runner based in Chicago, with several former cast and crew mates posting photos of themselves in costume on their personal Instagrams. However, production executives have confirmed that the lead roles of “The Lawman” and “Mister Cross” remain a closely guarded secret.
Principal photography is scheduled to commence on location in Koreatown and the Pacific Northwest in late September 2026.
About Commodicon:
Originally established as a premier live entertainment and regional event coordination entity, Commodicon restructured in Q1 2026 to form a specialized independent film and creative media production house. Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the banner focuses on high-concept genre pieces, auteur-driven narratives, and cutting-edge digital media distribution models.
Rafael Mendoza
Commodicon
press@commodicon.com
