As a former street thug-turned-real-life–Omar Little-turned-filmmaker, Elgin James is definitely looking to make up for lost time. The Boston native has teamed up with Electric City Entertainment duo Jamie Patricof ("Half Nelson," "Blue Valentine") and Lynette Howell to helm the indie hostage thriller "Come Sundown," a project that will mark his second effort behind the camera after his Sundance 2011 feature "Little Birds."
After his debut film unveiled to a warm reception at Park City, James' colorful past came back to haunt him with an attempted extortion charge forcing him to spend a year in in L.A.'s Metro Detention Center. The writer-director apparently stayed indoors throughout his time there catching up with classic films ("Gone With The Wind") and reading 101 books including the fiction of Pat Conroy. Now out, James will tackle this hostage tale scripted by Justin Marks ("The Stranger," '20,000 Leagues') which follows "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."
It'll be interesting to see how James tackles this after his debut earned acclaim, in particular for its depiction of street violence. Hopefully he can replicate a cast with the quality of his last film which saw names like Juno Temple, Kay Panabaker, Kyle Gallner, Kate Bosworth and Leslie Mann get involved. "Little Birds" was later picked up by Millenium Films and will hit theaters this summer. [Deadline]