Director Kevin Smith has regained the rights to his religious comedy film Dogma.
Dogma was previously locked out of streaming services and similar deals, due to the film rights being owned by Harvey Weinstein. Mr Smith refused to entertain any distribution deals that would benefit the notorious Hollywood producer.
Weinstein, who was recently diagnosed with cancer, was the film’s producer. Mr Smith previously described the situation as, “My movie about angels is owned by the devil himself.”
Dogma was the subject of controversy when it first released in 1999. Conservative Catholic groups called the film blasphemous and led protests against it. Despite this, the film reviewed well and grossed $44 million against its initial budget of $10 million. For his part, Mr Smith said he was a devout Catholic who wanted to explore his thoughts on religion.
According to Mr Smith, the film will come back to cinemas to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its initial release.
“The movie’s been bought away from the guy that had it for years and whatnot,” Mr Smith said.
“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 deal also paves the way for the film to be released on streaming services, as well as a potential sequel or follow-up.
The film depicts a situation where two rogue angels, Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), who aim to get back into heaven by exploiting a loophole in Catholic dogma. In doing so, however, they risk undoing all of reality. The angel Metatron (Alan Rickman) appears to ordinary person Bethany Sloan (Linda Fiorentino) and tasks her with stopping them.
Since its initial release, the film has gone on to achieve cult status. Mr Smith has long pointed out that the film was not a serious, didactic effort. Dogma begins with a long, detailed disclaimer that observes the film is meant to be taken as a “comedic fantasy” and that “passing judgement is for God and God alone (this goes for you film critics too…just kidding)”.
After multiple women accused Weinstein of sexual assault in 2017, Mr Smith distanced himself from the producer. He also committed to donate all future proceeds from his work with Miramax and Weinstein Co. to the not-for-profit organisation Women in Film.
Dogma is available on DVD.
Jonathan Foye is a freelance journalist and academic