Director Troy Duffy with Sean Patrick Flanery

Some words from Writer/Director Troy Duffy's own face.

So what’s up with Boondock Saints 2? Well let me tell you. The working title is “Boondock Saints II: The Second Coming” and will be the further adventures (so to speak) of the MacManus Brothers. “After Sean, Norm and Billy read it, we spoke several times. They are very excited to Rock-n-Roll on this and it was nice to swap “Boondock Stories” with them.” Alright, so the big three are back. I had to know. What about Dafoe? After all the Spider-man hoopla and Willem being deluged with material, would he have the chance or will to return?

“I spoke with him three or four times the week after “Spider Man” had it’s record breaking opening. He was frazzled from work and only a few days from opening a play in London. There were scheduling conflicts, other offers and it couldn’t be worked out. I cried about it for a while but soon I realized what I had to do. I had to go back in, take him out and make the story even better. Hard work but I did it. Willem and I will catch each other on something else down the line.”

Now I know many of you BDS fans are reacting the same way I first reacted when I heard that. “What? Fuck. Shit. No.” But let it sink in for a second. Let’s think about this. A few moments after I heard that Dafoe wouldn’t be returning I began to realize that he didn’t NEED to return. Of all the characters in Boondock Saints, he was the one that had achieved a fully realized character arc. His story was done, anything else would simply be after-thought. The Saints, well they still have more left to them, questions about what was next for them and how they would react in more complex situations. Paul Smecker didn’t have that kind of a future.

So who would step in? Who was going to bring new life to the Saints? “There are two new roles that I am very excited about. Romeo (29yrs) is a Hispanic American who has an instant bond with the brothers. He has all the makings of a new Saint. I like Clifton Collins Jr. for this (Franky Flowers in Traffic, Last Castle, Tigerland, Replacement Killers, and starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson in “187”). He’s been a buddy of mine for a long time and is an outstanding talent. I also believe he’s got all the right charm to portray a wild ass like Romeo. The second is Eunice Bloom (30yrs) a FBI agent with a bi-polar disorder that feeds into her crime solving ability. I like a young actress named Marley Shelton for this. There are times when you just get a feeling on someone. I got the feeling with her.”

Okay, now I’ve heard buzz about this film for about 6 months now, little tidbits here and there about the goings-ons with the pre-production of BDS2. I didn’t have much and I was waiting on some conformation on various points before I opened my big yap on this, but this was something that was kept away from me. Clifton Collins Jr. As many of you may know, I’m a big fan of his and got the chance to hang with him in LA when I lucked upon him on Roger Avary’s “Rules of Attraction” set. I occasionally chat with Cliff about his upcoming projects but this, this he kept from me. And man did I get excited when I heard this. I cannot wait to see Cliffy kick some ass, shotgun style. Oh, let this happen, please let this happen.

Now, no one is definitely signed yet, as they are in the final phases of negotiations, but everyone is interested. That’s a good, good thing. I’m liking his casting choices and the direction he’s headed, and as soon as I can get my grubby, nicotine yellowed hands on this script, you bet your ass I’m gonna dive in and give you guys the heads up.

Now the current plans are to shoot this fall or this winter up in Toronto. Most of the movie takes place in Boston again, but Toronto is where they shot the first time so they’ll be faking Bean Town once more. There’s also a sequence to take place in Ireland and Duffy’s working out the logistics on that one.

So now the big question on all of your minds: is this going to be another Direct to Video film or are we talking movie screens this time? “That has been the real breath of fresh air here. Our financiers are adamant about the film being released theatrically this time. It was written in such a way that you don’t have to have seen the first one in order to understand the second. The Boondock Saints is classified as a “Cult” hit. In my opinion what this is, is a film Hollywood missed. They didn’t get it. However when a film like this hits the public…boom. Boondock never did “well” it always did “unexpectedly well”. I hope this time we get a better shot.”