Indie filmmaker and geek icon Kevin Smith will tour with a print of his film Dogma next year, bringing the movie back to the big screen for the first time in years. Smith, who wrote, directed, and starred in the film, has not yet revealed who acquired the movie’s rights (contrary to earlier rumors, he has said it is not Paramount), but he did confirm during a recent interview that Dogma has been rescued from its years-long limbo, and that its new owners contacted Smith right away about making new Blu-rays, and re-releasing the movie, in 2025.
Following the commercial failure of Zack and Miri Make a Porno in 2008, Smith has primarily self-financed his films, opting to take movies like Red State, Tusk, and Jay & Silent Bob Reboot on the road, where he can screen them for enthusiastic audiences who will pay a premium to get a Q&A after the show.
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“The movie’s been bought away from the guy that had it for years and whatnot,” Smith told That Hashtag Show. “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.’”
At the time of its production, Dogma was Smith’s fourth feature film (following the “Jersey Trilogy” of Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy), although it was written much earlier. In the closing credits to 1994’s Clerks, he promised “Jay and Silent Bob will return in Dogma,” but Smith couldn’t get financing for the movie and made Mallrats instead in 1994. That prompted a cheeky “Jay and Silent Bob will return in Dogma (promise)” tag on Chasing Amy in 1997.
Dogma was released in 1999, but not without some controversy. After learning of the movie’s premise — a pair of fallen angels risk the apocalypse by defying God’s will and trying to use a loophole in Catholic dogma to get back into Heaven — a number of groups protested to Disney, who ultimately got scared of protests and pulled the movie from its release slate.
Disney was considering shelving Dogma altogether, but instead, two of its producers used their own personal money to buy it from Disney. They turned a profit by licensing it to Lionsgate for theatrical distribution, and Sony for home entertainment. At the time, it was unclear whether the film would ever see the light of day, but once Lionsgate obtained the distribution rights it became a hit, and one of Smith’s best-reviewed movies.
As Smith explained years later, streaming video wasn’t in wide commercial use at the time the agreements were signed, so nobody ever thought to secure rights to future technology.
Of course, those producers who swung in to save it couldn’t be relied upon to do a reissue themselves. Why? Because it was Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Hollywood’s most notorious abusers, who have had other things on their minds over the last few years.
Dogma stars Smith alongside his longtime co-star Jason Mewes. The movie also features Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Bud Cort, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, and Ethan Supplee.
Betty Aberlin, best known for her work on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, appeared in Dogma as a bewildered nun. She recently did her second Kevin Smith movie — The 4:30 Movie, in which she plays the mother of one of the teenage main characters.
There is no word yet on specific release plans or dates for the Dogma reissue. Keep your eye on ComicBook for more.