Kevin Smith confirms he's writing 'Dogma 2'
1 of 4 | Left to right, Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman and Chris Rock star in the 2000 movie "Dogma," which returns to theaters on Thursday for its 25th anniversary. Photo courtesy of Triple Media Film
NEW YORK, June 5 (UPI) -- Actor and filmmaker Kevin Smith says he was so energized and inspired by a "beautifully sentimental" experience screening Dogma in the "classics" section of the Cannes Film Festival that he is determined to go back there in a few years with a sequel to it.
Dogma first screened at the prestigious festival in 1999. Smith also showed Clerks there in 1994 and Clerks 2 in 2006.
"I stopped submitting movies to Cannes. They didn't seem like Cannes-worthy movies, in my personal estimation. So, there I'm walking the Croisette and I'm like: 'Why do you think you're done? It doesn't mean you can't come back here with a Cannes-worthy movie. You just have to [expletive] try,'" the writer-director told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"So, it was the 78th edition this year and I'm going to give it a shot, so, hopefully, by the 80th or 81st, I want to return with the Dogma sequel, which I've been writing."
DOGMA: The Resurrection Tour! See it with me followed by a Q&A! Get tickets at https://t.co/6siQ9ugRIc In American theaters everywhere JUNE 5th! Get tickets at https://t.co/UpiLGVukWC pic.twitter.com/6pxFj8yAF1— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) April 28, 2025
The iconic Catholic comedy, which returns to theaters Thursday for its 25th anniversary, stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as Loki and Bartleby, fallen angels who figure out a way to get back into Heaven via a New Jersey church, a selfish move that could unmake existence.
Trying to stop them and save humanity are Bethany, who only recently learned she is a descendant of Jesus Christ's family (Linda Fiorentino); Metatron, the voice of God (the late Alan Rickman); Rufus, Christ's 13th apostle (Chris Rock); Serendipity, a muse (Salma Hayek); and the foul-mouthed "prophets" Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith).
The late George Carlin plays Cardinal Glick, pastor of the parish where the epic showdown between the two factions takes place.
Asked who from his star-studded cast might return for the follow-up, Smith, 54, replied, "I'm going to set the table for anyone who's alive to still be in the cast."
"The story I'm telling certainly allows for them, but isn't predicated on any of those characters. It's not like, if I don't have this person, I can't go anywhere. So, God willing -- pun intended -- they'll all come back," he continued.
Smart, hilarious and humble, Smith famously fosters positive working relationships with people who then follow him from picture to picture.
"We've had very good retention success over the years," he said. "The way I always look at it is, if Ben and Matt came back for Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, I've got to imagine Dogma 2 will bring them back."
Working with Carlin on the first movie meant a lot to Smith, who grew up idolizing the comedy legend.
"George, from the jump, was somebody we pursued for the movie," Smith said, recalling how the timing wasn't the best, though, since Sally, Carlin's wife of nearly 40 years, died the week Smith sent him the script.
Smith said: "I sat down with him, and he goes: 'i love your script. It [messes] with the church. I'm way into that sort of thing, but, we got a bit of a problem because, as you know, my wife passed away. ... She was a cool lady. I'm going to miss her for the rest of my life, but because of that, I'm not really ready to take my wedding band and I know I'm playing a Catholic cardinal, so that's a problem.'"
Carlin and the filmmaker decided that covering the ring with a Band-Aid would solve the problem.
"So, he came blindly because it was right up his alley as an old lapsed Catholic," Smith said.
Rickman was an actor Smith had long admired, but with whom he never expected to collaborate.
"He was one of my favorite actors on the planet and I thought he was too good for an [expletive] 'Kevin Smith movie,' so I never would have reached out to him," Smith said.
But then, one day, John Gordon, an executive at the movie studio, Miramax, called Smith up and told him that Rickman was raving about Smith's 1997 film, Chasing Amy, during a recent visit to speak about starring in a Merchant/Ivory drama.
"I was like: 'Hans [expletive] Gruber was in the building. Did he blow it up or what?'" Smith quipped.
After Gordon told him the Shakespearean-trained actor was a fan of his, Smith sent Rickman the script.
"It was the fastest 'yes' I ever got from an actor in my life, outside of Jason Mewes. Jason Mewes always always says 'yes' before I finish saying the title," Smith said.
"Alan Rickman, though, got the script, less than two hours later, he called up and said, 'I'm in.' it was magic," Smith added. "Alan Rickman is the savior of this film. He treats it so damn seriously."
The filmmaker said the cast always gets a huge round of applause from audience when the credits roll at the end of screenings, but people really go crazy when they see the Mewes and Rickman for the final times.
"I told Jason, 'They love you to death, but they love Alan Rickman a little bit more,' and he's like: 'Wait until I die. I'll show them,'" Smith laughed.
The film's thoughtful musings about spiritual faith, religious freedom, the power of the church and the concept of beliefs versus ideas still resonate with viewers 25 years and four Catholic popes after Dogma hit the big screen.
As Smith has discussed the film during panels and screenings over the years, people have shared how profoundly it has impacted them, with many noting it actually helped bring them back to church.
"I get it because I remember the kid who wrote this and directed it and believed in everything that's in the movie," she said.
"So, It's a profession of faith. Yes, it's a comedy, but this is young Kevin Smith's idea of what Sunday service could be if it had anal Jokes in it. So, it still plays that way, to this day, and right now, more than ever, it feels like people are looking for a little extra faith, and, oddly enough, the movie may play better today than it did in 1999."
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