Up next on our interview series is producer Chris Brinker. You might not know his name but Brinker is the only producer involved with both the original film and the upcoming sequel. I spoke with him about his thoughts about the sequel.
It’s been 10 years so what has changed for you and your relationship to the film and did you keep in contact with Troy [Duffy]?
Oh absolutely, me and troy have basically been working on this for 10 years. We did the first film together and we did the second film together and during that time we were developing the screen play and perusing a deal that made sense because we wanted to make the second film and we had to make sure we had enough money to actually shoot the script and over the course of years was an uphill battle of sorts. We found ourselves in a fortunate position to be able to do this movie. Now we’re in a position where Sony has picked it up and is going to be distributing it worldwide.
Is the movie getting a wide or limited release?
Right now it is coming out in a limited amount of theaters and the goal of everyone is to see this thing go wide. It’s a process right now of putting the movie out and then growing that from there.
Has anything changed in the way they are presented in the first one or has it changed because of the 10 year gap?
Yeah well it I something you should talk to Troy about. It definitely has all things that were in Boondock Saints, it’s deeper and a more intense story with respect to the journey of Conner and Murphy and also the father and there are some great new character from Eunice who is the new detective and also Romeo who played and intricate part to the story. So in a lot of ways it’s everything we love about Boondock Saints and in a lot of ways it’s different. We’re proud of it and I think the fans are going to love it. We have had some big responses be it Comic Con or something else.
Have you screened the film for any public audiences yet?
We did some testing of it but that was a very consolidated confidential testing and it has done very well.
Now how did you get involved with the first film?
Well the first script, I moved the Los Angeles about 16, 17 years ago and one of my first jobs, I was a bartender and Troy was a su-chef at this place and we developed a friendship and appreciation for just the arts. He was writing and producing and performing music. We had similar interests and when I quit working at that bar and he quit working at that bar I went off and did stuff, started working for a movie production company at New Line Cinema and Troy was working at a bar as a bartender and a bouncer. About 2 years after that I ran into him and was like “hey how yah doing” and he was like “Chris! Yippee!” So he told me he had written a script and I said “can I read it I’m working at a studio right now and would really like to take a look at it” and he showed me the script and I pretty much fell in love with it from the first read. It was an intense read, it was one of those screenplays that when you read it you saw something there you had never seen in another screenplay. This had something unique and Troy’s voice captured you and you could really visualize and it and it jut was over all, unique. At that point and time I asked if I could come and board and he said “absolutely” and from there pretty much put the parts together and in 6-8 months we found ourselves with lawyers and agents and studio offers.
I remember hearing of a law suit that delayed the second until now can you go into detail about that?
Not so much but just to say with respect to the first film that there was litigation and there were some battles that ultimately resolved and it took a while to do that. Also, it took a while to develop the screen play to where Troy wanted to make that exact movie. It’s not something he approached in a way of “I’m just going to turn something out and get it out there” I mean he worked on this for several years and he would put it down when it was basically a time when it wasn’t going to get made for a couple of years because there were issues in the legal system. So he would pick it back up and always kept close to it and always moving it forward in some way shape or form creatively and with respect to business. So, it just came to appoint and time – about 18 months ago – where all the stars were aligned and the script was good and there was a scenario where the financing could come into place, there was interest from a distributor, so we found ourselves in a perfect position to go make this movie, not only the one he wanted to make but under terms that were acceptable.
I spoke to Norman [Reedus] a few weeks ago and how when he was doing this film he was also doing Pandorum at the same time so it was a big scheduling conflict. So do you have a lot of stuff like that on this film where you had people coming and going and having it me difficult to get things rolling at point?
Well, it’s always when you have a such a dynamic cast and so many lead actors, their all very busy and it becomes an equation from a producer stand point to really align the shooting schedule so basically the actors can come in, they can feel comfortable, they can do their parts and also fulfill their obligations if they have other movies. Where their shooting, or they are doing press, or their having meetings, it a constant shuffling of the deck per say and so Norman and his people were definitely behind this movie and he had a commitment on Pandorum which was being shot over in Germany if I remember, so it wasn’t just flying him back to New York or Los Angeles. It was flying him out of the country or rather off the continent. So that got a little tricky but he was just a trooper and he managed to fly back and forth and I think he got off the plain and went right to his trailer and into makeup and hair and we shot it. So he started with maybe a couple hours sleep on the first day.
Now when you found out Willem Dafoe was not going to be involved in the sequel how did the decision eventually come to Julie Benz and were you working with Troy trying to find a suitable replacement for Dafoe?
Yeah, look Troy got a point where he had a screen play was the perfect scenario to put out. Willem and Troy had worked over the years to try and make it work not only with schedules but with the screen play itself. It just got to a point where Troy pursued this female character because of the dynamic, it’s rich, and she is the protégé of Smecker from the first film. So, that’s the way the stars aligned themselves and basically we pursued it and we found Julie Benz, we saw her tape and her audition and we were blown away.
Assuming this one is a success are we looking at a possible trilogy?
Yah know that would be a Troy question. It is definitely open for one. Right now I think we just have been focused on the task at hand. So it’s been not cane we make a third or whatever it may be, It’s been to make this movie the best that it can be. So I think Troy has achieved that with his constant dedication to this project. So, I don’t know if Troy has even seriously thought about that but I know it’s potentially open but right now it’s all about part II.
Last question, what kind of work is being done for the DVD/Blu Ray release because the first one really found its audience towards DVD so I would imagine that there would be some extra attention looked upon it.
Yeah, well the DVD is definitely in the works but right now we are focused on the theatrical which is coming October 30th and we are putting all of our energy into that and after that it will go to DVD at a certain point and this thing will live forever and the fans will be able to not only own it but should prepare for some cool content on it also.
Check out previous interviews here and come back for more leading up to The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, which hits theaters October 30th.