Kurt Sutter’s been tinkering with the idea of a Sons Of Anarchy prequel or sequel since before his FX show even went off the air, but he’s finally nailed down a title and showrunner to go with his “Mayan empire, but of Northern California” concept. Deadline reports that Sutter has just tapped Elgin James, the director of Little Birds, to write and produce the pilot for Mayans MC, his rather prosaically named spin-off. As expected, Mayans MC will be a “dark, visceral family drama” about the 1% outlaw, i.e., the Mayans. There’s still no word on who will star in Mayans MC, but FX has begun the “formal script development.”
Sutter told Deadline that he didn’t feel he was the right person to write a Latino-led series, so he brought James on to do the honors: “I wanted to find a strong, unique Latino voice, because I didn’t think a white guy from Jersey should be writing about Latin culture and traditions. Elgin is that voice.” James has certainly led a rough-and-tumble life: His Boston hardcore punk scene gang was reportedly founded to combat “neo-Nazi skinheads and drug dealers.” But he left that life to enroll in film school in California, which led to his directorial debut in 2011. His past activities landed him in the clink briefly, but now he’s got a Kurt Sutter show to write, in addition to directing A Million Little Pieces. When we think about it, sending Jax Teller to film school would have been a much better ending to Sons Of Anarchy.