Kevin Smith Is Very Excited About His Idea for ‘Dogma 2'

Gizmodo

2 days ago

The 'Clerks,' 'Mallrats,' and 'Red State' director has cracked the idea for the long-awaited sequel.
If it feels like you've been hearing about Kevin Smith's Dogma a lot in recent weeks, that's by design. Though the film's 25th anniversary was last year, writer and director Kevin Smith took his time with it, prepping a massive national tour of the film that's been happening for a few months now. It's also being re-released into select theaters starting today. The jewel of that celebration, though, was a screening at the Cannes Film Festival last month and there, Smith spoke about how he's finally got an idea to go back to the world of Mooby's and the Buddy Christ for Dogma 2.
'I cracked the story,' Smith told Deadline. 'I absolutely love it. I feel like when people see it, they'll be like, 'Oh, I get it,' like 'that makes sense' kind of thing. Hopefully they'll be like, 'that's clever' and not be like, 'Well shit, I would have done that.''
Smith, of course, didn't say what his idea was, but did hint that it has a place in it for everyone in the original movie. That, presumably, includes stars Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, and others. 'I will set a place at the table for everyone who was in the first movie who is still alive,' Smith said. 'Sadly, Alan [Rickman] and George [Carlin] won't be able to join us, but I'll set a place at the table for all of them. If they want to come back, they'll have a role to play, but if not, no harm, no foul. The story I'm telling can definitely make use of everybody who is in Dogma, but I can also tell it without. So, that makes me pretty excited to go forward. It's its own unique tale.'
Though Smith's career has shifted in recent years, with a focus on smaller, weirder movies like Tusk, Yoga Hosers, and The 4:30 Movie, he knows that if he does decide to make a Dogma sequel, he can't do so lightly. 'It's like one of the last fucking movies I ever made that's beloved across the boards and shit like that,' he said. 'I would never step up to the plate unless I was like, 'Oh, this will fucking work nicely as a companion piece.' So, I feel pretty great about it, man. But of course during the whimsy stage one always feels great about it. It's when you make it and everyone sees it and they're like, 'Well, that fucking sucks. You should have left well enough alone.' You just hope it doesn't come to that.'
Finally, Smith's ultimate ambition with Dogma 2 would be to debut it at Cannes, where he debuted the original in 1999 and where he screened it again in 2025 to a very enthusiastic crowd. ''Why is it that you assume that the Cannes-worthy portion of your life is over?'' Smith asked himself. ''You never even expected it to begin in the first place. It was never part of the aim. It just came along with the journey. Maybe if you really try, you could.' So, it was the 78th edition this year and so I was like, 'You know what? I wanna come back on the 80th, or the 81st at the latest with the Dogma sequel, like that's a Cannes-worthy movie.' And so, I said that on stage when I was intro-ing and everybody applauded, and [festival director] Thierry Frémaux was on stage with me, and he adds, 'If it is good,' and I was like, 'Fair enough, if it's good, yes.''
Can Smith turn that idea into a script and get it funded? He's done it in recent years with Jay and Silent Bob as well as Clerks. So, as the stars of Dogma might say, you've just got to have faith. Head over to Deadline to read much, much more from Smith about Dogma, Cannes, and more. And check out Dogma in theaters now.