'' The Boondock Saints '' had a very limited theatrical release , with its distributor showing the film in 2000 on only five screens in the United States for a duration of a week . However , the original unrated version of the film was later re-released in theaters on May 22 , 2006 . Duffy later funded screenings of the film with help from Blockbuster Video . " Blockbuster saved us ... They agreed to take it on exclusively , and from there the rest is history . " According to Troy Duffy on his audio commentary of the film on DVD , the film 's distributor allowed the limited screening in the United States because of the then-recent Columbine High School massacre . The film was shown on major foreign screens ( most notably in Japan ) with success . Blockbuster released '' The Boondock Saints '' as a " Blockbuster Exclusive " , a collection of independent direct-to-video films . '' The Boondock Saints '' gained a following mostly due to word-of-mouth publicity and was a bestseller when released on DVD . Despite its success , Troy Duffy never saw any of the profits from DVD distribution , having signed away the DVD rights in his contract with Indican . According to Duffy , neither he , 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
Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Boondock Saints