Kevin Smith Breaks Down ‘Dogma’ Rights Issues & Says Harvey Weinstein Is “Holding It Hostage”

When people talk about the best films in Kevin Smith’s filmography, it doesn’t typically take long before “Dogma” is brought up. “Dogma” is, by far, his most ambitious film, telling the story of two fallen angels attempting to find a loophole to earn their way back into Heaven. But if you search all the streaming services and go to your local Best Buy (those exist still, right?), you won’t be able to find “Dogma.” And according to Kevin Smith, there’s only one person to blame— Harvey Weinstein.

Speaking to The Wrap, Kevin Smith broke down the long, tumultuous history of “Dogma,” from being a film that studios were scared to release to being the subject of boycotts from the Catholic Church to then being a cult favorite comedy with a loyal fanbase to now being completely out of print and difficult to find. And at nearly every stop in the story, you have to mention Harvey Weinstein, the studio head who helped get the film made and who is said to have the rights still. 

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Speeding through history a bit, “Dogma” is a film that had a lot of buzz because of its cast, which includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, George Carlin, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayak, and more. It also had quite a bit of controversy for its comedic takes on God, angels, and the Catholic Church, in general. After the film came and went from theaters, it became a cult hit on home video but eventually, the rights for home video release lapsed and the film went out of print.

Then Harvey Weinstein found himself trying to get The Weinstein Company off the ground, Kevin Smith feels like “Dogma” was forgotten by the studio and no one realized the home video rights lapsed. That’s when the filmmaker received a call out of the blue from Weinstein about possibly working on a “Dogma” sequel or a series. Unfortunately, this was in 2017.

“All the people that were in it are still around, so we can we can make a pretty good sequel or series even better,” the filmmaker said. “And I got really excited because I was like, ‘Oh my God, for the first time. The dude remembered me. Like, after a decade he remembered that I was part of the Miramax family.’ And he remembered that he had ‘Dogma’ and had a cool cast and I don’t know, I felt like wow, that’s, that’s cool.”

He added, “And then he was like, ‘Alright, I’ll get in touch with you.’ And then he hung up.”

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Of course, what Smith didn’t realize is that Weinstein was on the verge of becoming the poster boy for #MeToo and a flood of rape allegations would come in shortly after that phone call. That’s when Kevin Smith spoke with a former Miramax executive, John Gordon, who filled Smith in on what really happened.

“[Weinstein] called everyone because he knew the story was coming. And he wanted to find out who spoke [to the New York Times]. I was like, ‘That makes perfect sense.’ I’m guileless, I don’t see all the angles,” Smith said. “He was calling not because he wanted to do anything with ‘Dogma.’ He wanted to see if I was one of the people who had spoken to the New York Times. I hadn’t because I didn’t know any of that stuff.”

Eventually, The Weinstein Company would find itself in trouble, due to the mounting accusations and court cases aimed at Harvey Weinstein. This led to Smith finding out that the studio was willing to sell the rights to “Dogma” to someone, but Harvey Weinstein was asking for $5 million.

“He’s holding it hostage,” said Smith. “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 away.”

He added, “Look, I love ‘Dogma’ as much as the next guy but a) I don’t have $5 million and b) that’s not what the market bears anymore. We live in a streaming era. The last I heard was from a different company, saying he wouldn’t sell me my movie back. I thought what else can I do? There’s not much. You can make a public stink, but I don’t think that guy reads the news anymore.”

Ultimately, it appears that Weinstein is holding onto the rights to “Dogma” and that’s not going to change anytime soon. 

“What sucks is that he’s also sitting his fat ass on my movie,” said Smith. “And the right thing to do would have been to sell it back to me even if you didn’t want to sell for the price that I first said. Tell us what that price is and sell me my self-expression back.”

So, if you’re hoping to watch “Dogma” anytime soon, you might be out of luck, unless you already own a copy or can get one through a third-party seller. As it stands, waiting for a streaming release or a new disc might be a fruitless endeavor.