Livingston Lets 'Pawn Shop' Film Keep Shooting After Marathon Hearing
Livingston commissioners voted unanimously to let the "Pawn Shop" movie finish filming in Montana.
The City Commission, the elected board that runs the city, gave the Daily Wire-affiliated production the green light to continue in downtown Livingston, ABC News reported on Oct. 7, 2026. The decision came two days after commissioners had temporarily paused work on the set.
Filming started in late September in Livingston, a town in southwest Montana. Production was slated to wrap that Saturday, so the vote landed in the final days of the shoot.
"Pawn Shop" is a working title, the temporary name used while a film is in production. The story is an immigration-enforcement fiction set in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It centers on an ICE agent — an agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency that enforces immigration law — in conflict with Antifa protesters and MS-13 gang members. The Livingston set recreates a fictional Minneapolis pawn shop and Korean grocery store, with Montana standing in for Minnesota.
Casting has not been officially announced. A leaked call sheet, the daily schedule that tells cast and crew where to be, named Danny Trejo and Harvey Keitel as stars, according to ABC News. Producer Dallas Sonnier addressed commissioners about the production permit, the city's permission to film on public streets and downtown blocks, on Oct. 5, the Billings Gazette reported. The permit was held by Bonfire Pawn Shop LLC, NBC Montana reported.
The debate drew a big crowd for a small city. More than 120 people attended the meeting in person and roughly 150 more watched online. The session lasted nearly seven hours.
It followed complaints from residents about disruptions downtown. City Commissioner Cindy Daniels described the production as a "runaway train," the Montana Free Press reported. An earlier meeting to suspend the permit began at 9 a.m. on a Saturday, according to NBC Montana.
To keep filming, producers made specific pledges. They said they would keep the local food pantry open and accessible, rein in private security activity, and continue signage and notifications to neighbors.
What makes this stand out is the speed of the turnaround. A pause, a packed hearing, and a unanimous vote to proceed all happened within days.
The vote was unanimous. The shoot goes on.
