The Boondock Saints (Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery Return)

EXCLUSIVE: The rebirth of the 1999 cult favorite film The Boondock Saints is upon us. Thunder Road, the producer behind the John Wick films, has stepped in and joined rights-holder Dragonfly Films to make what they are calling a universe expansion of the action film franchise about the fraternal twin Irish brothers who raise holy hell to rid their Boston hometown of all criminals.

In the current configuration, Troy Duffy will step aside as director after creating and helming the original and the 2009 sequel The Boondock Saints: All Saints Day. Both films starred The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery as the MacManus brothers, with Billy Connolly playing their father.

Reedus and Flanery will reprise their roles, and the search is on for a new director. Duffy plans to write a series of books about the Saints, continuing their story that way.

There might be a renaissance going on for these action franchises, with Amazon expecting big streaming returns beginning today on a Doug Liman & Joel Silver reinvention of Road House with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Producing are Thunder Road Films’ Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee; and Dragonfly’s Todd Myers and Peter D. Graves, along with Shaun Redick and Yvette Yates Redick for Impossible Dream Entertainment. Troy Duffy & Don Carmody also produce. Reedus, Flanery, Charlie Morrison, and JoAnne Colonna will be exec producers. Nat McCormick of The Exchange is also an exec producer.

Thunder Road produced the John Wick films and prequel series The Continental, and just opened Dev Patel’s action film Monkey Man to rapturous reaction at SXSW. Next up is Wick universe spinoff The Ballerina, directed by Len Wiseman and starring Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves.

There was an attempt several years ago to pre-sell at AFM a Saints sequel, one that had Duffy as director, but this is the way they’ve decided to go. The original film had a backstory as rich as the film; Duffy was a bartender with a hot script and Harvey Weinstein famously offered to buy the bar, J Sloans, as part of the deal. It never actually happened. The project became a free agent, but attempts to set it up were hobbled by the Columbine High School shooting.

“When we were given the opportunity to help bring the MacManus brothers back to the screen, we jumped at the chance. The unique possibility of building on the iconic mythology and characters for all the long-time fans of the series, as well as opening it up to a whole new generation, is one that we couldn’t be more excited about,” said Iwanyk.

“From the moment I saw the first film, it has been my dream to be able to add to the amazing story of the Boondock Saints. I’ve been in discussions with Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus for over ten years to bring this dream to a reality,” said Dragonfly’s Myers.

Said Reedus: “I’m thrilled to be working alongside Basil Iwanyk’s Thunder Road Films and Todd Myers’ Dragonfly Films to bring more of the story of the Boondock Saints to audiences. I can’t wait for everyone to see what we have long been working toward. We are pressing on without our longtime friend and Captain, Troy Duffy on this one. He has decided to write a Boondock Saints book series and I can’t wait to read it.”

Said Flanery: “Basil and Todd are the perfect partners to bust the brothers out of prison. With Basil and Todd at the helm, this will be the best Saints yet. So now it’s time for the brothers to break out the pea coats, re-load, and get back to work.”  

Duffy’s deal was brokered by Original Artists and the Rosen Law Group.