EXCLUSIVE: It’s a curious title and a bit of a mouthful, but John Sayles is exec producing and Sam Elliott has come aboard to star in writer/director Robert Krzykowski’s .

The story follows a legendary American war veteran named Calvin Barr (Elliott) who, decades after serving in WWII and assassinating Adolf Hitler, must now hunt down the fabled Bigfoot. Living a peaceful life in New England, the former veteran is contacted by the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to lead the charge as the creature is carrying a deadly plague and is hidden deep inside the Canadian wilderness.

Krzykowski will also produce with Lucky McKee, Patrick Ewald and Shaked Berenson. It marks his feature directorial debut (he had directed a short previously). Award-winning indie filmmaker John Sayles is executive producing the feature.

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Sayles is an indie filmmaking icon with more than 30 years of experience and a bevy of great films under his belt including Matewan, Brother From Another Planet, City of Hope, Baby It’s You and Lianna along with probably one of his best commercially-known films Eight Men Out.

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Elliott has seen a resurgence in his career in recent years with a number of critically praised turns in string of films including I’ll See You in My Dreams and Grandma. He currently stars in the Netflix comedy series The Ranch and next up is the indie feature The Hero, to be released by The Orchard this summer. In addition, he just landed a key role in Bradley Cooper’s remake of A Star is Born with Lady Gaga.

Principal photography is set for August 2017 on the East Coast. Ewald and Berenson’s Epic Pictures is financing the film. Epic Pictures previously produced the horror hit and festival favorite Jeruzalem.

It’s also worth noting that legendary effects wizards Douglas Trumbull and Richard Yuricich (2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blade Runner) will be working on this film with creature team Spectral Motion (Hellboy, Pacific Rim).

Elliott is repped by Gersh and Berwick & Kovacik Managment. Sayles by APA and attorney Susan Bodine of Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard.