Everything We Know About The Boondock Saints III So Far

Looks like you can't keep the MacManus brothers down.

"The Boondock Saints" became a cult classic after debuting back in 1999, with its poster adorning the walls of dorm rooms across the country. "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" hit theaters a full decade later and was considered a major disappointment – so much so that it looked like the franchise was dead for good. But it looks like the writer/director's prayers have been answered, because now "The Boondock Saints III" is officially in the works. Here's everything we know about it so far.

Considering it took a decade to get the second film made, it's currently unclear when "The Boondock Saints III" might make its way to audiences – or via which platform. The movie's distribution rights are being shopped around at the American Film Market, but if the studios don't bite and it doesn't secure a theatrical release, I can imagine a scenario in which it ends up premiering on a streamer.

The filmmakers are certainly hoping for it to debut in theaters – a recent report indicated that the hope is to "turn the Saints into a John Wick-type global action franchise." But we'll have to see if any distributors think the sequel is enough of a sure bet to justify a theatrical release.

The second movie ended with the MacManus brothers in jail, and we know the third film will pick up with them emerging back into society. "They are coming out into a brand new world that is not like the one they left," the third film's co-writer explained. "They are at odds. One wants to continue, the other doesn't. There's a new enemy out there, not like the traditional ones they've faced."

That new enemy will be a politician – one who, according to the director, is "doing it much worse than everyone else." This storyline apparently originated from a fan poll, wherein people were asked who they would most like to see the MacManus brothers kill.

"The Boondock Saints" has always been controversial, since the topic of vigilantism is the backbone of the franchise. Killing politicians, especially in the incendiary political climate we find ourselves in now, should continue the streak of making these movies the types of provocative stories that push peoples' buttons. Whether or not people have the same taste for that type of storytelling as they once did remains to be seen.

Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus, who have played the MacManus brothers from the beginning, will be back to star in "The Boondock Saints III." Flanery actually co-wrote the screenplay with Troy Duffy, who wrote and directed the two previous films; Duffy, who was depicted as an ego-maniacal jerk in a documentary called "Overnight" which chronicled his rise to fame, will be back behind the camera as the director here as well. (Reedus also reportedly had "a lot of input" into the third film's script.) Shaun Redick ("Get Out") and Yvette Yates Redick are producing alongside Duffy and Don Carmody ("Good Will Hunting").

Will Julie Benz be back as Special Agent Eunice Bloom? Will Willem Dafoe be back as the previously-assumed-dead Paul Smecker? (I hope so, because it'd be great to have him scream something like "There was a FIREFIGHT!!!" again like he did in the first movie.) Will Clifton Collins Jr. be back as Romeo, the Mexican fighter who became the de facto third brother in the second film? Will this third movie reinvigorate this franchise, or kill it once and for all? Time will tell, and we are eager to learn the answers to all of those questions.