How To Become an Actor: The Boondock Saints Movie Script

The Boondock Saints Movie Script

The Boondock Saints is a 1999 action film written and directed by Troy Duffy. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as fraternal twins, Connor and Murphy McManus, who become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian Mafia in self-defense. After both experience an epiphany, the brothers, together with their friend (David Della Rocco), set out to rid their home city of Boston, Massachusetts of crime and evil; all the while being pursued by FBI Special Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe).

Duffy indicates that the screenplay was inspired by personal experience, while living in Los Angeles. Initially regarded as one of the hottest scripts in Hollywood, the movie had a troubled production and was finally given a limited theatrical release of only five theaters for one week, and was met with poor critical reviews; but the film has grossed about $50 million in domestic video sales and ultimately developed a large cult following. The ending credit sequence, which features the media asking the people of Boston, “Are the ‘saints’ good or evil?”, was shot by Mark Brian Smith, co-director of Overnight, a documentary film about the making of The Boondock Saints, and Troy Duffy himself.

Troy Duffy’s screenplay was inspired by his disgust at seeing a drug dealer taking money from a corpse across the hall from his apartment. Duffy, who was working as a bartender and bouncer, had never written a screenplay before.

The Boondocks Saint Movie

Duffy completed the screenplay in fall of 1996 and passed it to a producer’s assistant at New Line Cinema to be read by a senior executive. The screenplay changed hands through multiple studios and Duffy was approached by multiple producers for the rights. In March 1997, he was contracted by Paramount Pictures for $500,000, and later in the month, Miramax Films won a bidding war to buy The Boondock Saints. The studio offered $450,000 to Duffy to write and direct the film. The documentary Overnight, which chronicled Duffy’s “rags-to-riches-to-rags” story, showed that the script was worth $300,000, and the film itself was originally given a $15 million budget by Miramax’s Harvey Weinstein. Duffy’s band The Brood would do the soundtrack, and as a bonus, Miramax offered to buy and throw in co-ownership of J. Sloan’s, where Duffy worked. Overnight showed that Duffy frequently exhibited abrasive behavior, causing tension for many people involved in the project. Filming of The Boondock Saints was scheduled for the coming autumn inBoston.

Duffy sought to cast Stephen Dorff and Mark Wahlberg as the brothers, though Wahlberg passed for Boogie Nights. The director also wanted to cast Billy Connolly and Kenneth Branagh in the film, with Branagh playing the FBI agent. Duffy also expressed interest in casting Brendan Fraser, Nicky Katt, and Ewan McGregor, with 2 of them as the brothers, but no decisions were finalized. The director later sought Patrick Swayze to play the FBI agent, but Miramax preferred Sylvester Stallone (with whom the studio had an existing relationship), Bill Murray or Mike Myers. Before pre-production work was supposed to begin in Boston in December 1997, Miramax pulled out of the project. Producer Lloyd Segan said that the project had stalled because of casting and location problems. While Duffy was able to keep the writer’s fee of $300,000, the studio required the reimbursement of the $150,000 director’s fee and the $700,000 advance to develop the project.

The independent studio Franchise Pictures sought to finance the project once other elements were in place. Duffy approached Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus to play the brothers, and Willem Dafoe to play the FBI agent. Having found someone to back the film, filming began in Toronto, with the final scenes being filmed in Boston. The name of Duffy’s band The Brood was changed to The Boondock Saints, following the movie’s release. The film featured two songs from the band: “Holy Fool”, which played during Rocco’s tavern shootout, and “Pipes”, which played during the credits.

(Image Courtesy)

The Boondock Saints Movie Script