After years of being unavailable, Kevin Smith’s 1999 tale of two fallen angels stuck in Wisconsin – Dogma – is finally getting a sizeable re-release.
Kevin Smith’s Dogma is the kind of film a director makes when they’re at the peak of their commercial power: the 1999 movie is a relatively expensive studio picture with movie stars aplenty while also still existing squarely as a Kevin Smith production. However, unless you already own a copy of the film, rewatching Dogma in the last few years has been next to impossible.
Why? The rights to the film were owned directly by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the latter now a convicted rapist serving a lengthy prison sentence. Kevin Smith has claimed that he offered to buy the rights back but Weinstein asked for an exorbitant amount. “He’s holding it hostage”, he alleged back in 2022. “My movie about angels is owned by the devil himself. And if there’s only one way out of this, maybe we could buy it anyway.”
In the end, it was another company that managed to snag the rights to Dogma, a tale of two fallen angels played by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck stuck in Wisconsin, trying to get back to Heaven. Whilst it’s a shame that Smith hasn’t been able to take ownership of his work, it looks like the change in rights holders will at least lead to the film finally getting a proper re-release.
Chatting with The Hashtag Show, Smith said: “the movie has been bought away from the guy that had it for years and whatnot. 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 did 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.’
Smith is very comfortable releasing and promoting his films in this touring attraction format; it’s one of the reasons he continues to make the economies of working outside of the studio system work. Smith also revealed that the possibility of a Dogma follow-up is still alive, adding: “Maybe, at this point, sequels, TV versions, in terms of extending the story. Something we could never do before. So exciting man. And all those people who worked in it are still viable.”
Whatever happens with the continuation of Dogma's story, at least the film itself will once again be available for purchase after years in the wilderness. Smith’s latest film, The 4.30 Movie is coming to video on demand on the 21st October. When we hear firm details regarding the second coming of Dogma, we’ll let you know.