Commodicon launches debut western-horror feature with David William James Elliott to direct

Commodicon has moved into feature film production with its first narrative project, The Cursed and the Dead: Silver and Lead, a western-horror feature now in active development. The film is slated to shoot in late September 2026 and pairs novelist Avi Llio with director David William James Elliott as the Milwaukee-based company expands beyond live-event coordination.

Why it matters: - Commodicon is signaling a real shift from event coordination to feature filmmaking with a debut genre project built for the screen. - The company is betting on a high-concept western-horror property as its first narrative calling card. - Principal photography is scheduled for late September 2026, giving the project a near-term production timeline.

What happened: - Commodicon announced active development on its debut narrative feature, The Cursed and the Dead: Silver and Lead. - The company restructured in March 2026 from a live-entertainment event coordination collective into a full-service independent film and digital media production banner. - David William James Elliott is attached to direct. - Avi Llio is attached to write the screenplay. - Principal photography is planned for location shooting in Koreatown and the Pacific Northwest in late September 2026.

The details: - The film is described as a western-horror hybrid set in an alternative pre-industrial American frontier. - The story blends indigenous folklore, local cryptids and ancient occult magic. - The plot centers on a decades-long blood feud between a wandering sheriff called The Lawman and a supernatural figure named Mister Cross. - Production design points to settings including swampy southern bayous, abandoned deep-shaft iron mines and high-altitude pine forests. - The production plans to use fully practical special effects. - The effects work is expected to include a Louisiana take on the Baba Yaga and a Sasquatch fighting a seven-foot drifter. - Llio is adapting the cult-classic dark western mythology he developed in the early 2010s. - The original multi-book saga ended after the insolvency of independent publisher Ixtab Media. - Commodicon is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. - The company says the new banner focuses on high-concept genre pieces, auteur-driven narratives and digital media distribution models.

Between the lines: - Commodicon is positioning the film as an IP play, using an established but commercially underused property as the foundation for its first feature. - Elliott’s involvement suggests the production is leaning on a director with a public profile outside traditional studio genre filmmaking. - The emphasis on practical effects and martial-arts training points to a hands-on action style rather than a heavy visual-effects approach. - Casting is still being kept under wraps for the two lead roles, which indicates the company is saving its biggest reveal for later.

What's next: - Casting continues across multiple regional hubs. - Several supporting roles have already been formally offered to emerging theater talent from Chicago, Minneapolis and New York. - Production executives are keeping the identities of The Lawman and Mister Cross secret for now. - Elliott has required principal cast members to complete basic defensive grappling training before shooting. - The production is expected to move into principal photography in late September 2026.

The bottom line: - Commodicon is turning a company reset into a first-mover genre feature, with a distinctive western-horror package and an aggressive production plan.