Just over 15 years ago a relatively small movie about two religious Irish catholic brothers in South Boston who turn into vigilantes and help rid the streets of all it’s mafia crime bosses made stars of young actors Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) and Sean Patrick Flanery (Dexter). Boondock Saints didn’t do great box-office figures but it ended up being a cult hit years after. So much so that fans cried out for more of the McManus Brothers and a sequel was released in 2009.
Now it looks like writer/director Troy Duffy has got his wish for a third instalment of the franchise but this time it looks like it’s going to be on the small screen. Yesterday Deadline revealed that IMG Global Television had bought the rights to the TV series with Duffy writing the pilot “and a bible for the project, which traces the origins of the vigilante brothers Connor and Murphy MacManus as Irish immigrants in South Boston.”
Last year Duffy revealed that he was working on Boondock Saints 3: Legion which would see an army of followers rise up in the McManus brothers’ name and continue doing their work for them as they live out the rest of their lives behind bars. Duffy hinted that flashbacks would be used in the third movie to help tell the origins of the brothers and their first dip into the criminal world. This news about a TV development deal might mean that a third movie is definitely not happening now but that at least some elements of what Duffy was working on might end up showing up in the prequel television series.
Talking about the deal Duffy admitted, ““For years I’ve been obsessed with telling a real origin story with Boondock, and IM Global TV has stepped up…Television is the perfect medium to explore these controversial characters on a much deeper level and to bring Boondock Saints to a whole new audience.”
IMG Global Television President Mark Stern was as excited as Duffy to seal the deal, “Since its initial release more than 15 years ago, The Boondock Saints has become a true cultural phenomenon…Troy is a consummate storyteller with a compelling vision for a series; the minute we heard it, we were hooked.”
Apparently Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery are currently in talks to come on as executive producers but no word yet on whether they might appear on screen.