2016 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special

Sundance missed out on the opportunity to present Shotgun Stories (2007) to the world (Berlin landed the film instead) but made up for it for it with Jeff Nichols films number two Take Shelter (2011) and three Mud (2012). The filmmaker originally from Little Rock, Arkansas lined up a major studio gig for Midnight Special, re-teamed with Michael Shannon and added Joel Edgerton, Adam Driver, Kirsten Dunst, young protag Jaeden Lieberher and Sam Shepard on the January shoot. Worth noting, that’s January of 2014. Unlike Take Shelter, a film that needed its own good dose of special effects, Warner Bros. has tried to figure out the best course of action to unveil this original piece. Tied with a March 18th, this is likely headed to SXSW (Dunst let slip out of the bag) but we’re thinking a special screening (Sundance’s way to incorporate a major studio film from auteurs working for big studio films) not unlike how WB’s Wachowski’s Jupiter Ascending could be in the cards. It’s a long shot, but a logical possibility.

Gist: What starts as a race from religious extremists and local law enforcement quickly escalates to a nationwide manhunt involving the highest levels of the Federal Government. Ultimately his father (Michael Shannon) risks everything to protect Alton (Jaeden Lieberher) and help fulfill a destiny that could change the world forever, in this genre–defying film as supernatural as it is intimately human.

Production Co./Producers: Sarah Green (Knight of Cups), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones. Executive producers: Glen Basner, Hans Graffunder, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos (Chevalier).

Prediction: A suitable “Secret Screening” slot at the Egyptian.

U.S. Distributor: Warner Bros.

[related]2016 Sundance Film Festival Predictions[/related]