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Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day is coming to theaters this Friday, reminding fans and critics of the controversy surrounding the apparently egomaniacal director, Troy Duffy.

It goes without saying that despite the original Boondock Saint's unprecedented success, the sequel faces a slightly more tainted release on account of bad blood between Duffy and numerous Hollywood insiders. 

In the 2003 documentary, Overnight, Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith exposed the dark side of Duffy's directorial debut. The film revealed, among other things, Duffy's short temper, refusal to negotiate and sheer stubborn nature when it came to casting.

Harvey Weinstein, head honcho at Miramax during its heydey, bought the rights to the Boondock script for $300,000 in 1997, and offered Duffy a budget of $15 million dollars to direct the film. However, as a result of Duffy's diffcult ways, Weinstein dropped the project soon after, ostensibly leaving Duffy hanging high and dry.

If not diplomacy, one thing Duffy certainly gets credit for having is resilience. After burning big bridges in Hollywood during his very first attempt at filmmaking, he rebounded with Franchise Films and despite its limited distribution, Boondock ended up grossing a total of $40 million.

One group that seems unphased by Duffy's actions are the actual actors themselves, who Duffy claims were practically harassing him to get going on the sequel. And when he finally did, they were all too happy to get involved for a second time around.

It's relatively unclear how the sequel will fare. With just a slightly higher budget ($8 million) than the first ($6 million), the film will be released by Apparition, a new company run by movie executive Bob Barney, the man responsible for the sickening success of The Passion of the Christ.

While many involved in the project are confident not only of the films imminent success, but strong potential for a future franchise as well, Duffy says he has other plans for some of his previously written scripts that have been gathering cobwebs since Boondock's success.  

He remains a favorite in the eyes of those who recognize that despite his less favorable tendencies, he's still one hell of a filmmaker. For that reason alone, Duffy just might beat the odds (again) and re-secure a place on the A-list. All depending, of course, on the response All Saints Day receives. But no matter how hard opposers like Weinstein and Montana try, Duffy will always be in fashion, of some kind or another. 

This blog has been contributed by Film & TV Channel assistant Kristen Berke.