Norman Reedus Making A Sequel To A Cult Classic Action Movie
Norman Reedus is returning to make a sequel to a cult classic. This movie has been a longtime coming and will pick up a fantastic story
This article is more than 2 years old
Get excited folks, your two favorite Irish vigilante brothers look like they are returning to the big screen to exact a bit more revenge on the Boston criminal underworld. That’s right, Deadline is reporting that Norman Reedus is teaming back up with Sean Patrick Flanery and director Troy Duffy to make Boondock Saints 3. And it doesn’t look like this will be just a one-off either. Apparently, there are some big, franchise-building plans for the fraternal twin brothers who carry big guns and an overwhelming sense of moral justice.
For The Boondock Saints 3, it appears that the plans are to bring Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery back as Murphy and Connor MacManus respectively, the twins who wreaked havoc on the Boston criminal underworld through the first two Boondock Saints movies. According to the Deadline reporting, Duffy and Flanery co-wrote the script for this next film in the now-budding franchise and that production could begin next year when all major parties are finished up with current commitments. More than a decade after we left these characters it looks like they will make a triumphant return to the big screen.
And apparently, the plans for Boondock Saints 3 could be just the beginning for these characters. There is also talk of building out the franchise into a much bigger world (lofty comparisons to John Wick were made) which could land it with a series order as well. If anything, the timing around a Boondock Saints 3 seems even better now than when it first came out. Norman Reedus is a legit star, having worked on The Walking Dead for years now. And Flanery is about to take part in the Amazon series The Boys. The timing lines up well here.
When The Boondock Saints first came out in 1999, it garnered little attention at the outset. The story of two Irish brothers (Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery) who wage a two (and then three) man war on first the Russian and then Italian mafia in Boston was a box office disaster. The violent, gun-laden flick came out right on the heels of the Columbine High School tragedy and the pair’s vigilante take on “justice” was associated with that shooting. It earned just $30,000 at the box office. But in the subsequent years, it would gain cult status and ended up earning more than $50 million in home video sales. There is hope The Boondock Saints 3 can still capitalize on that.
Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery came back for a sequel about ten years later in 2009 with The Boondock Saints 2, picking up the story with similar themes. This time the guys are on the hunt for someone who has framed them for murder. This movie also struggled at both the box office($10 million on its $8 million budget) and with critics (23% on Rotten Tomatoes).
There had been plans for a Boondock Saints 3 a few years ago and it looked like things were gearing up for a third installment. But then in 2017, Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery both announced they had left the project. It was unclear, at the time, why this was the case. It looks like that has been settled now and the third film will pick up where the second left off.
