After 25 years, Kevin Smith reconnects with the man upstairs for the most unholy sequel.
During his Dogma The View Askewniverse creator revealed at the Vulture Festival on Sunday that he’s working on a sequel to the 1999 film, and he expects Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to at least return for cameos.
“Some people will say, ‘Don’t touch it.’ You’re screwing it up,” Smith said. “And I’m here to tell you: I will. I’m fucking tickled. I found a way in.”
He sounded confident that Affleck and Damon would reprise their roles as fallen angels Bartleby and Loki. After Smith helped save the couple’s 1997 film Goodwill huntingwithout so much as a thank you in their Golden Globes and Oscars speeches, they owe him.
“I’ve been able to hold that over their heads for 25 years, and that’s why they keep appearing in all the movies,” Smith said. “Expect a cameo from them – more than a cameo. The only way we can Dogma sequel is made when they are there. So you can count on those guys being there.”
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck enter Dogma (1999).
Lionsgate Films/Courtesy of Everett Collection
Sunday’s panel marks the 25th anniversary of Dogmain which Affleck and Damon’s buddy angels traveled to New Jersey in search of a loophole that would bring them back to Heaven. The film also stars Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Jason Lee and Alanis Morissette, as well as Jason Mewes and Smith reprising their roles as Jay and Silent Bob.
Dogma served as the fourth episode in Smith’s View Askewniverse, which also features Clerks (1994), Mall rats (1995), chasing Amy (1997), Jay and Silent Bob strike back (2001), Clerks II (2006), Jay and Silent Bob restart (2019) and Clerks III (2022).
Last month, Smith announced that the religious satire will return to theaters and get a new home release after another company bought the distribution rights from Miramax, potentially making it available to stream for the first time ever.
Smith noted that the new Dogma deal could potentially lead to ‘sequels, TV versions, in terms of expanding the story. Something we could never do before. So exciting man. And all those people who worked in it are still viable.”
After Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual assault by multiple women in 2017, Smith said he was “ashamed” of working with the producer early in his career. He also promised to release all future residuals of his work from Miramax and the Weinstein Co. to donate to Women in Film.
Smith said at the time that Weinstein recently approached him about making this Dogma 2an offer that the director declined.