Ask 10 different people what their favorite Kevin Smith movie is and you could get a variety of answers. One of the more consistent ones is the 1999 classic, “Dogma.” Combining typical Jay & Silent Bob comedy stylings with Catholic themes (and Alanis Morissette) led to a memorable film from a director who already had made and would continue to make, memorable films.
But, Smith’s relationship with the film would be tarnished by someone else holding the rights to it. We’re happy to report that situation has finally changed.
Unlike many of Smith’s other projects, “Dogma” has not been available for streaming or digital purchase because of rights issues being tied up with disgraced mogul and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein. The Weinstein Brothers were the heads of Miramax, the distributors of the film internationally, but they also personally owned the rights to it outside of their business. This would have meant Smith having to buy the buy the rights personally from Weinstein, which Weinstein refused to do, even after a million dollar offer. Somehow, forces arranged to get the film out of Weinstein’s hands and back with Smith.
“The movie had been bought away from the guy that had it for years,” Smith said about the news. “The company that bought it, we met with them a couple months ago. They were like, ‘Would you be interested in re-releasing it and touring it like you do with your movies?’ I said, ‘100 percent, are you kidding me? Touring a movie that I know people like, and it’s sentimental and nostalgic? We’ll clean up.’”
The writer/director couldn’t be happier to have the film rights back and is planning to celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary in style. Smith wants to make the film available on home media and would also like to do a theatrical re-release. This would coincide with him touring around the country with the film for special live events. Smith has done this before with some of his other films but it would mark a first for “Dogma” given the extenuating circumstances. He also hopes to parlay this into a universe surrounding the film with additional projects including a potential sequel or TV series, possibly with original cast members.
The latter part of that statement has a somber note to it. The late, great, Alan Rickman featured prominently in “Dogma” as Metatron. There’s also the fact that the film’s lead, Linda Fiorentino, effectively dropped off the face of the Earth and hasn’t been in a proper theatrically released film in over 20 years. It would be one hell of a comeback though for her first project in decades to be a continuation of “Dogma.”
But Smith also has a habit of announcing things that don’t happen for some time. So let’s just enjoy the theatrical re-release before we start dreaming of things to come!
