No movie better defines the phrase “word of mouth hit” than Troy Duffy‘s 1999 cult classic, The Boondock Saints. People forget just how long ago 1999 was, and no, I don’t mean numerically (16-years). In 1999 I was 17, waiting for dial up connection to get my AOL going so I could instant message my friends. My cell phone was the size of a brick, and I had a huge collection of movies… on video cassette. So when my friend Mike introduced me to The Boondock Saints, yes, on VHS, I had not heard of it on the internet, and looked it up on IMDB.com. We watched with friends and almost immediately, I was hooked. I found a copy at the video store and took it up to college with me, where I played it for everyone. By my junior year, friends were now passing along my new DVD of it and we had incorporated drinking games into it. The movie became such a phenomenon that several of my good friends have Boondock Saints tattoos, and we like to claim that we loved star Norman Reedus before it was cool… sorry Walking Dead fans.

Ten years later, a worthy sequel finally hit theaters and rumors started that writer/director Troy Duffy was looking for a trilogy. What we may be getting is better in my opinion. IM Global Television, a subsidiary of Reliance ADA has purchased the rights to Duffy’s films for a TV series that would be a prequel to the first film. Duffy is already joined on to write the series and direct the first episode. The film focused on two Irish immigrant brothers from South Boston; Connor and Murphy MacManus (Sean Patrick Flannery & Reedus) who become vigilante killers after feeling they’ve received a message from God, and get a little help from a frazzled FBI agent Paul Smecker (Willem DaFoe). At the end of the first film we find out they are the sons of a notorious killer for hire, Il Duce (Billy Connelly).

Both Flannery and Reedus are in talks to join Duffy as Executive Producers. The series would focus on the origins of the Saints, and according to Duffy, “Television is the perfect medium to explore these controversial characters on a deeper level.” Fans of the films will no doubt line up week in, week out to watch this series. We’ve proven to be money for Duffy as the Saints franchise has brought in over $260 million worldwide. Not bad for a series that started for me on video. When the series debuts, it’ll be time to party like it’s 1999.
[Source: Deadline]

Video

The Boondock Saints (1999) Trailer (Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus)

Fraternal twins set out to rid Boston of the evil men operating there while being tracked down by an FBI