Kevin Smith is not shy about revisiting his past properties, that he is organize a “reboot” for his classic stoner characters Jay and Silent Bob, or revisiting the convenience store that launched his career with Employees III. But there is a movie in Smith’s filmography that he currently can’t act in, and that’s because Harvey Weinstein is making it impossible.
In 1999, Smith published a comic examination of Catholicism, filtered through the director’s raw lens. Dogma Cast Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as angels who have been excommunicated from heaven and believe they have discovered a loophole that will allow them to return through Pearly Gates. However, should this happen, large numbers of Banished Angels would be allowed to return, causing all manner of chaos. It was a mature plot for Smith, “mature” like any movie with a giant monster made of shit. But since it was distributed by Miramax, the film literally belongs to Harvey Weinstein.
And he refuses to sell it to Smith.
The employees director stopped by FilmBlend ReelBlend Podcast to style his career. And when we arrive DogmaSmith became unusually melancholy when he said:
I wish I could have that movie back, man. I’ve talked about it before, but you know, Harvey Weinstein, I’m sorry, guys, he’s the personal owner of this movie. The devil himself owns my angel movie. And we turned to try to get it back. However, he was very reluctant to make an offer to buy it. Because I wouldn’t give that guy any money. But they all remarked: “You don’t give him money. You give money into an account that will be distributed to a group of people you give money to. And I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s right. (Which) I can understand. We will do it. Let’s open. Contact the lawyer and say, “Hey, we’d like to buy that movie back.”
Kevin Smith began the lengthy legal process of trying to redeem the rights to the film he created. Dogma it was Smith’s idea and the cast was made up of veterans of Smith’s ViewAskew universe, including Jason Lee and Jay Mewes. But the newcomers to the cast were something else. Alan Rickman Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, and George Carlin made their first appearance in a Kevin Smith room.
But as Smith continued his story, the odds of Dogma seeing the daylight seemed dim. He told ReelBlend:
I wrote a letter saying, ‘I know it’s just an asset to you. But like, it’s my life. It is one of my most important films. And like, I can’t even show it. It doesn’t matter to talk about making another one, or something like that. So, please, can I … resell it to myself? And we made an offer that I thought was just for the deal. Considering it’s a movie that’s over 20 years old and all. And they told us no. So we are increasing the offer. We were told no again. Again, this is all from your attorney. I have no contact with the boy. He is in prison, as we all know, but his advocate for him, I guess, talks to him and then gives him the answer. So he refused to sell me my movie. And each time, the money ran into a lot of money. He has a magical figure in his head that he feels he will have, I guess. Again, I don’t know your thought process. This is exactly what I was able to glean from the lawyer. He has a certain silhouette. I think he wants about 5 million. That will never happen. Who will pay 5 million for a film? He died.
Which is disappointing, because while Kevin Smith isn’t exactly a successful director known for making millions from his releases, he has has cultivated an incredibly passionate fan base and even created a Road Show template that lets you visit your movies and show them off at events that include questions and answers. He’s going to do it with Employees IIIand told ReelBlend that he would like to do it Dogma One day. Smith said:
I would love to have this great movie about forgiveness and faith and blah blah blah. It’s related to this animal and you’re not going to sell it to me, man. … If this guy had a conscience, he would just return the film. In a world where we know he has no conscience, we seriously offered, I mean, it’s disgusting but I don’t have it but I was able to raise a million dollars at auction for the movie, man. . And he’s still a hostage. So that’s a bit disappointing. I hope it’s free because I’d like to do the (sequel) I wanted to do. At the very least, I’d like to let the world know. If I took back Dogma, I would do a six month tour, just because. People didn’t see him at the age of a dog. They would go out and see him again in the theater.
Perhaps this could be the start of the push Kevin Smith needs to raise enough awareness of Harvey Weinstein to give his film back to the director. Forget the snyder cut . To allow Dogma back to Kevin Smith so he can show it to fans old and new. If you want to hear the rest of Smith’s interview with ReelBlend.
Looking forward to positive news on Dogmabe sure to watch Employees IIIThis is as part of a Fathom event or when Smith takes you to a town near you.
Source: Cinemablend
