Boondock Saints director pushing for videogame adaptation

Boondock Saints made a mere $30,000 in theatres back in 1999, but its massive cult popularity has helped spawn a successful sequel. Now there%26rsquo;s talk of the saintly gun-toting MacManus brothers making the leap to videogames. Director and writer, Troy Duffy, was at SXSW 2011 in Austin this week where he told fans he is pursuing the idea with developers. He's even had a chance to play an early demo.

%26ldquo;We%26rsquo;re thinking of making a video game out of Boondock and I went and listened to these guys pitch me the game,%26rdquo; said Duffy. %26ldquo;They had already built part of the game and I got to play it.%26rdquo;

Duffy admitted he's been a gaming fan since his TRON days, but has barelytouched a controller and/or joystick since. Describing his impressions of the early Boondock Saints build, he gushed, %26ldquo;The demo the developer put together for Boondock seems like real-time%26hellip;realistic action. You%26rsquo;re looking at real characters%26hellip;you can see sweat on their brows. The technology is out of this world.%26rdquo;

He added he'd like to use the videogame medium to give fans an opportunity to get up close and interactive with Connor and Murphy MacManus, explaining, %26ldquo;The Boondock fan base wants to have a beer with the MacManus brothers and then pick up a weapon and fight. With a video game you can increase that kind of intimacy, where they can actually be the brothers and hang out and do some shooting and have some fun. That communal aspect of the game is very important to me.%26rdquo;

A Boondocks Saints game is great in theory, but its success would rely almost soley on its modestly sized fan base and wicked word of mouth. It'll be tough to find a publisher willing to take that risk, but given the franchise's cult status, it has the chance of paying off huge for whichever steps up.

[Source:Hollywood Reporter]

Mar 18, 2011

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