Alex Luzar

The Boondock Saints:Cult Film

- A cult film is defined as a film, usually a commercial flop, that over time develops a large group of dedicated fans

- Fans often engage in quoting the dialouge, repeatedly gathering to watch the film, and even “participating” in the film (i.e. The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

- Cult films are known for frequently breaking cultural taboos as well as displaying large amounts of violence, gore, sex, and profanity

Cult Film

- Duffy wrote the script in the fall of 1996 after witnessing a drug dealer steal money from a dead woman across the hall from his apartment

- He said that the event, as well as the constant showcase of violence on the news, inspired the film’s story

- After completing the script, Duffy successfully pitched and sold it to Harvey Weinstein and Miramax for $300,000 and a $15 million budget to direct the film

Troy Duffy

Weinstein Drops Out- After accepting the deal with

Weinstein and Miramax, Duffy set out to make The Boondock Saints

- Casting and location problems as well as Duffy’s arrogant and abrasive attitude toward the people around him caused Weinstein to drop the project

- This forced Duffy to seek a deal with a different studio, eventually landing a deal with Indican Pictures to distribute the film on a lesser budget of $6 million

- In 2003, the documentary Overnight was released

- It chronicled Duffy’s rise to fame and subsequent fall from grace with Miramax

- The film follows Duffy as he burns every bridge and connection he had in the film industry

- He is made out to be a violent, aggressive, narcissist who’s obsessed with his own “genius”

Overnight

- The film was released on a limited run in 1999

- Its theatrical run would amount to nothing more than 7 days across 5 theaters

- One of the biggest reasons for the film’s limited run was due to the Columbine High School shooting that had just recently taken place

- The Boondock Saints total gross at the box office: $30, 471

The Boondock Saints

- After the completion of its theatrical run, the film went straight to the shelves of Blockbuster where it was featured as a “Blockbuster Exclusive”

- Mostly through word-of-mouth, the film developed a large, devoted cult following of fans around the world

- Total amount of money raised by the film through DVD rentals and sales: $50 million

Cult Status

- In 2009, ten years after the original, Duffy released The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

- The sequel enjoyed a longer theatrical run than its predecessor, but was also hailed as a flop

- Total box office earnings: $10,273,188

- Though not nearly as good as the first one, All Saints Day still enjoys the “Cult” label

- At the beginning of 2014, Duffy tweeted the first few pages of the script for a third film in the Saints franchise

- A few months later he released the title: The Boondock Saints: Legion

- As of today, the film still has no release date

Sequels

- Ohio Comic Con Panel 2012

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-JRhzUK6QM

- FACTS Expo Ghent, Belgium 2012

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiqb07rC7Zw

- The franchise is widely popular to this day

- The cast, along with Duffy, frequently make appearances at numerous conventions

- Their panels are extremely popular and are often crowded with fans from around the world

World Wide Fame

- The Boondock Saints Trailer:- https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydXojYfCF3I

- The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day Trailer:

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h93ezXUz_iU

Trailers

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Duffy

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boondock_Saints

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boondock_Saints_II:_All_Saints_Day

- http://whatculture.com/film/the-best-in-cult-boondock-saints.php

- http://www.avclub.com/article/the-new-cult-canon-ithe-boondock-saintsi-with-spec-2347

- http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2014/01/troy-duffy-tweets-first-page-of.html

Sources