Troy Duffy
Encyclopedia
Troy Duffy is an American director
, screenwriter
and musician
. He has directed two films, The Boondock Saints
, and its sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
.
during his break periods. The inspiration for the screenplay happened one day when he came home from his job to find a dead woman being wheeled out of a drug dealer's apartment across the hall. Duffy then rented a computer (as he did not own one himself) and wrote the screenplay for The Boondock Saints based on his disgust at what he saw.
The script featured two brothers in Boston
dedicated to killing Mafia thugs. He successfully marketed the film to Harvey Weinstein
of Miramax Films
, who bought the screenplay for $300,000 intending to film the movie on a $15,000,000 budget. However, they dropped the project, leaving Duffy without prospects.
Duffy had 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" 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.
Filming of The Boondock Saints was scheduled for the coming autumn in Boston. Duffy sought to cast Stephen Dorff
and Mark Wahlberg
as the Irish 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 gay FBI agent. Duffy also expressed interest in casting Brendan Fraser
, Nicky Katt
, and Ewan McGregor
, with two 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 due to 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.
After being dropped by Miramax, still believing that the film was a hot commodity, Duffy convinced agents at the William Morris Agency to help him market it to other studios. The independent studio Franchise Pictures
agreed to finance the project, for less than half of Miramax's original budget, once other elements were in place. Desperate to get the project rolling and convinced that it would eventually prove a major success, thus giving him an upper hand over the people that had previously panned him, Duffy took the deal. Duffy approached actor Sean Patrick Flanery
and actor Norman Reedus
to play the Irish vigilante brothers and actor 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.
After shooting, the film was shopped at the Cannes
film festival in the hopes of finding a distributor – every major studio in the United States turned it down. After failing to find a distributor at Cannes, the film was eventually picked up by a small company for a limited theatrical release of five theaters in the United States for a period of only seven days.
Duffy's infamy was cemented in the documentary Overnight
, which he initially authorized and endorsed, yet which ultimately depicted him as arrogant and prone to explosive outbursts. His story is also featured in an episode of E!
's Boulevard of Broken Dreams
.
Through word of mouth, The Boondock Saints grossed about $50 million in domestic video sales, of which Duffy received nothing due to the structure of the contract he signed with the distribution company. According to Duffy, neither himself, his producers nor his principal cast got paid. He sued Franchise Pictures and other undisclosed companies for royalties of the first film and rights to the sequel. After a lengthy lawsuit, Troy Duffy, his producers and the principal cast received an undisclosed amount of The Boondock Saints royalties as well as the sequel rights.
After a number of years, he returned for the sequel to The Boondock Saints, titled The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
which was released on October 30, 2009. The film grossed $11 million at the box office (the film was released limited, never playing on more than 524 screens) with an $8 million budget.
After several failed attempts to secure a record contract, the band finally won a deal with a subsidiary of Atlantic Records
, who produced their first and only album, Release the Hounds (Duffy having changed the band's name from The Brood to The Boondock Saints). After nearly a year on the market, the album sold fewer than 700 copies, and the label dropped the band.
The band members are also featured in the documentary Overnight, being subjected to verbal abuse by Duffy. In the same film, recording producer Jeff Baxter
tells the camera that he felt Troy's brother Taylor was "brilliant" and was the real driving creative force behind the band.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. He has directed two films, The Boondock Saints
The Boondock Saints
The Boondock Saints is a 1999 American action comedy film written and directed by Troy Duffy. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as Irish fraternal twins, Connor and Murphy MacManus, who become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian Mafia in self-defense...
, and its sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day is the 2009 sequel to 1999's The Boondock Saints. Written and directed by original Boondock Saints creator Troy Duffy, the film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus, who return to their roles, as well as several of the other actors from the first...
.
Movie career
Duffy moved to Los Angeles in his twenties to pursue a music career with his band, The Brood. While seeking gigs, he worked at a bar where he wrote the script for the motion picture The Boondock SaintsThe Boondock Saints
The Boondock Saints is a 1999 American action comedy film written and directed by Troy Duffy. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as Irish fraternal twins, Connor and Murphy MacManus, who become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian Mafia in self-defense...
during his break periods. The inspiration for the screenplay happened one day when he came home from his job to find a dead woman being wheeled out of a drug dealer's apartment across the hall. Duffy then rented a computer (as he did not own one himself) and wrote the screenplay for The Boondock Saints based on his disgust at what he saw.
The script featured two brothers in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
dedicated to killing Mafia thugs. He successfully marketed the film to Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
of Miramax Films
Miramax Films
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing independent and foreign films. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein...
, who bought the screenplay for $300,000 intending to film the movie on a $15,000,000 budget. However, they dropped the project, leaving Duffy without prospects.
Duffy had completed the screenplay in fall of 1996 and passed it to a producer's assistant at New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
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
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
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
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Overnight
Overnight
Overnight is a 2003 documentary by Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith. The film details the rise and fall of filmmaker and musician Troy Duffy, the writer-director of The Boondock Saints, and was filmed at his request....
, which chronicled Duffy's "rags-to-riches" 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.
Filming of The Boondock Saints was scheduled for the coming autumn in Boston. Duffy sought to cast Stephen Dorff
Stephen Dorff
Stephen Dorff is an American actor, best known for portraying Stuart Sutcliffe in Backbeat, Johnny Marco in Somewhere, and for his roles in Blade and Cecil B. DeMented.-Early life:...
and Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
as the Irish brothers, though Wahlberg passed for Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
. The director also wanted to cast Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
and Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
in the film, with Branagh playing the gay FBI agent. Duffy also expressed interest in casting Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
, Nicky Katt
Nicky Katt
Nicholas Lea "Nicky" Katt is an American actor known for his role as unorthodox teacher Harry Senate on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public.-Career:...
, and Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
, with two of them as the brothers, but no decisions were finalized. The director later sought Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...
to play the FBI agent, but Miramax preferred Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
(with whom the studio had an existing relationship), Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
or Mike Myers
Mike Myers (actor)
Michael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer of British parentage...
. 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 due to 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.
After being dropped by Miramax, still believing that the film was a hot commodity, Duffy convinced agents at the William Morris Agency to help him market it to other studios. The independent studio Franchise Pictures
Franchise Pictures
Franchise Pictures LLC was an independent motion picture production and distribution company founded by Elie Samaha and Andrew Stevens. They were known for their production in the action film genre...
agreed to finance the project, for less than half of Miramax's original budget, once other elements were in place. Desperate to get the project rolling and convinced that it would eventually prove a major success, thus giving him an upper hand over the people that had previously panned him, Duffy took the deal. Duffy approached actor Sean Patrick Flanery
Sean Patrick Flanery
Sean Patrick Flanery is an American actor known for such roles as Connor MacManus in The Boondock Saints, Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone and for portraying Indiana Jones in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, as well as Bobby Dagen in Saw 3D.He is currently known for his role as Sam Gibson on The...
and actor Norman Reedus
Norman Reedus
Norman Mark Reedus is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal as Murphy MacManus in the 1999 film The Boondock Saints as well as its 2009 sequel The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day and for the character of Daryl Dixon in the AMC television series The Walking Dead...
to play the Irish vigilante brothers and actor Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
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.
After shooting, the film was shopped at the Cannes
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
film festival in the hopes of finding a distributor – every major studio in the United States turned it down. After failing to find a distributor at Cannes, the film was eventually picked up by a small company for a limited theatrical release of five theaters in the United States for a period of only seven days.
Duffy's infamy was cemented in the documentary Overnight
Overnight
Overnight is a 2003 documentary by Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith. The film details the rise and fall of filmmaker and musician Troy Duffy, the writer-director of The Boondock Saints, and was filmed at his request....
, which he initially authorized and endorsed, yet which ultimately depicted him as arrogant and prone to explosive outbursts. His story is also featured in an episode of E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
's Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (TV series)
Boulevard of Broken Dreams is an American documentary series that aired the E! television network from January to March 2007. The series focuses on stories about celebrities who have struggled with fame, staged major comebacks after falling from grace, or who met untimely ends.-List of...
.
Through word of mouth, The Boondock Saints grossed about $50 million in domestic video sales, of which Duffy received nothing due to the structure of the contract he signed with the distribution company. According to Duffy, neither himself, his producers nor his principal cast got paid. He sued Franchise Pictures and other undisclosed companies for royalties of the first film and rights to the sequel. After a lengthy lawsuit, Troy Duffy, his producers and the principal cast received an undisclosed amount of The Boondock Saints royalties as well as the sequel rights.
After a number of years, he returned for the sequel to The Boondock Saints, titled The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day is the 2009 sequel to 1999's The Boondock Saints. Written and directed by original Boondock Saints creator Troy Duffy, the film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus, who return to their roles, as well as several of the other actors from the first...
which was released on October 30, 2009. The film grossed $11 million at the box office (the film was released limited, never playing on more than 524 screens) with an $8 million budget.
Music career
The attention paid to The Boondock Saints and the fact that Duffy's band would be producing its soundtrack created a small but significant interest in Duffy's band "The Brood", which had previously been ignored. The band consisted of Duffy, his brother Taylor, and two friends, Gordon "Gordie" Clark, and Jimi Jackson. The members frequented several North Hollywood taverns and were featured in the bar scene of The Boondock Saints.After several failed attempts to secure a record contract, the band finally won a deal with a subsidiary of Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, who produced their first and only album, Release the Hounds (Duffy having changed the band's name from The Brood to The Boondock Saints). After nearly a year on the market, the album sold fewer than 700 copies, and the label dropped the band.
The band members are also featured in the documentary Overnight, being subjected to verbal abuse by Duffy. In the same film, recording producer Jeff Baxter
Jeff Baxter
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is an American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s...
tells the camera that he felt Troy's brother Taylor was "brilliant" and was the real driving creative force behind the band.