Elgin James is Taken Hostage for “Come Sundown”

Not sure if Linklater has had the third title in his Jesse/Celine trilogy stolen from him, but Electric City Entertainment’s Jamie Patricof and Lynette Howell are producing Come Sundown; Elgin James’ sophomore feature and first gig to creatively sink his teeth in after almost a year in the penitentiary (read Deadline’s update on the filmmaker). We had the chance to interview James in Park City and profiled him as part of our inaugural American New Wave 25 prior to him debuting Little Birds at the Sundance Film Festival – Millennium Entertainment are releasing the coming-of-ager/road trip/youth drama on August 17th. Filming on Come Sundown is expected to begin in the Fall.

Gist: Expect a pair of strong male leads to topline this genre item – a dramatic thriller written by Justin Marks (formerly going by the title Borderline and with Rod Lurie attached to direct), this is about a family taken hostage by desperate fugitives determined to get across the border. It becomes a struggle between a father trying to protect his family while hanging onto his humanity, and a hardened criminal with nothing to lose.

Worth Noting: James’ musical and school of hard knocks background made him among one of the lead candidates to direct the N.W.A biopic – Straight Outta Compton. F. Gary Gray got that job.

Do We Care?: Little Birds (premiered in the U.S Dramatic Competition at the 2010 edition of the Sundance Film Festival) struggles in the first half but finds its footing beginning at the midway point when the pair of female protags wonder into a shelter-less Los Angeles. We think there is a tremendous upside to this sophomore project if it void of all the trappings of the your typical hostage film.

Photo cred above: Hugh Hamilton.