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Troy Duffy Returns to the Scene of the Crime with Boondock Saints Sequel
My name is Troy Duffy. Fans of my film know me as the guy who made The Boondock Saints. Some in the film industry know me as the guy who Harvey Weinstein bought a bar for. The Los Angeles Times knows me as “the biggest asshole in the movie business.” Quote un-fucking-quote.
In 1996 I was in a band with my brother, Taylor, and friends Jimi and Gordo. I was a bouncer/bartender at a club on Melrose and I’d caught the writing bug. Scrawling in notebooks between dustups and jam sessions, I cobbled together my first screenplay, The Boondock Saints. On cue, my old buddy CB (Chris Brinker) showed up demanding free drinks on the bar’s “Assistant Night,” pay stub from New Line firmly in hand. “What’cha been doing, Duff?”
I showed him my script and CB went to work. Three months later, in the midst of a bidding war between New Line and Miramax, I suddenly projectile vomited, ‘I want to direct this thing, too!’ The battle paused and all eyes narrowed at me. I did my best Clint Eastwood back at ‘em. “Fine!” And back to fisticuffs they went.
In the midst of the bloodbath, Harvey popped into the bar one night, limos and entourage in tow. “What are you going to do with all the money, Duffy?” I told him I was thinking of buying an ownership percentage of the bar. “Fuck that. I’ll buy the whole thing. You run it. We’ll split it 50/50.” That was it.
Soon after, I was on the cover of USA Today as the newest rags-to-riches tale, straight out of Hollywood.
Let us pause to put the final nail in the coffin on this bit of Hollywood lore: “Best efforts to negotiate the purchase of…” means no efforts. The sale never happened.
Right then, two friends of mine approached me with the idea of making a documentary on me, the band and everything we were doing. CB, myself and the rest of the guys powwowed about it. The documentarians then uttered the immortal words that would become their mantra: “Don’t worry, guys. We’re your friends. We’d never fuck you.”
Here’s what happened over the next eight years, in a nutshell: The band made its album and I made The Boondock Saints on my terms. The film would go on to become the biggest cult hit of the last decade. Though Boondock became financially successful, we never got paid. So “we sued the bastards” in a massive lawsuit that would drag on for five years. Everyone we brought to the mat eventually settled out of court for undisclosed amounts. As for, “We’re your friends. We’d never fuck you,” well that’s exactly what they did in the form of an 82-minute smear job called Overnight.
HERE’S WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE:
I learned how to make a good movie. I learned that the politics of this business must be played, whether you like it or not. I learned that it is the fans who have the final say. I learned how to fight for my rights. I learned that when your buddies ask if they can follow you around with a video camera, the correct answer is, ‘No.’ I learned the measure of a man is how he deals with tragedy. I learned that there will always, be people out there who try to drag you down and you must not let them.
Did I mention that I was trying to set up the sequel to Boondock while trudging through the sea of shit addressed above? Well, that’s the next part of our story…
It was October 2008 and I was in Toronto, standing on the set of The Boondock Saints II, about to call ‘Action!’ for the first time in a decade. I stood up and gave a short speech. I got a little emotional. ‘Fuck it! Action!’
We were shooting in a tool shop we’d dressed to look like a small leather-making operation in New York City, circa 1958. These period piece flashbacks were my biggest creative concern; Boondock fans just weren’t used to this. The purpose of these scenes was to show the history of Billy Connolly’s character, his birth as a killer. It was risky, but two amazing young actors I had found in Toronto, Rob Mauriell and Matt Chaffee, were killing it.
As I stared into the monitors, that old feeling started bubbling to the surface. ‘Cut! Check it like a motherfucker!’ Day one we got 42 setups. Greased lightning. It would become the norm.
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by Audrey on 10/12/10 at 9:55 am
Hey, I’m sorry, this is amazing. I’m actually writing my college english paper over the boondock saints. Its supposed to be a film review. My friend showed me your movie over a year ago and I just fell in love with it! You’ve done AMAZING work, I own both the first and second movies and I’ve bought every boondock saints poster that I’ve been able to find. When people walk into my room I give them the innocent look and say, “I’m not a fan, nooo not me. *innocence*” Haha. They never believe me. Anyway I’d really like to tell you myself how amazing you’ve done on both films but I’ve learned the hard way how difficult it is to get in touch with celebrities, though I keep trying anyway. Keep up the AMAZING work! I will be waiting for the third movie very very very impatiently, hehe. =)
- Comment by Jack Johnson on 8/29/11 at 10:49 am
What ever happened to Troy Duffy writer directer of ‘the boondock saints’? And allso the subject of a documentary entitled ‘overnight’
wow you’ve certainly done you’re homework thanks for the input, frankly i don’t think anyone’s going to top that.
For the record [as if anyones making one] i’ve seen the boondock saints and frankly i’d rank it as one of my favourite movies, allthough having said that i used to have the matrix in that list and now i think its pants so only time will tell, and to tell you the truth i really didn’t find it to be all that violent.
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This story was published in the Fall 2009 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
Saints and Sinners/Hollywood’s most wanted man returns to the scene of the crime
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