Kevin Smith Explains How Harvey Weinstein Is Holding ‘Dogma Hostage: ‘My Movie About Heaven Is In Limbo
If this week's release of Clerks III left you nostalgic for writer-director Kevin Smith's previous films, you'll be stuck looking for one of his greatest achievements, the 1999 religious satire Dogma.
Dogma, starring Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Alan Rickman and Chris Rock, is not currently available to stream or purchase digitally, and a pressed Blu-ray often sells for around $100 on the secondary market. Although the film misrepresented religious groups, it received largely positive reviews from critics (Roger Ebert gave it three and a half out of four stars) and earned $44 million at the box office (it cost only $10 million). . Dogma's success makes its darkness even more mysterious.
When I asked Smith why, he said it was "a good question." "Unfortunately, to tell the story, I have to give a name that no one else wants to hear. But of course, Harvey Weinstein is in the story," Smith said.
According to Smith, then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner told Weinstein "not to be big."
"He said: 'It's too hot of a button. It is a religious image. Catholics are weird, you can't do this movie.' And Harvey said, 'Okay,' and then he made the movie," Smith said. Which made China so angry that they threatened to permanently cut off all business dealings with The Walt Disney Company. It wasn't the best decision not. , (he licked his wounds from a similar religious lynching).
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Dogma's script "came to the attention of the Catholic League" even before the film was made, according to an early draft of the script. "They said all kinds of nonsense, like, 'This movie says the apostles had sex, and I don't think with their wives.' And I thought, 'Well, that would be a good idea. Where were you when I wrote this fucking rubbish?' Smith joked.
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After production on Dogma ended, Eisner again began pressuring Weinstein to "sell". This was not entirely unprecedented. As Smith points out, a similar arrangement was struck when Weinstein produced Harmony Korine's Children. Weinstein sold the film to himself and later released it through Shining Excalibur.
Smith claims that Weinstein created "Dogma" because he knew that at the end of the day he could elevate The Shining with it. "And because Disney paid for it, he had to make the movie and then deal with the consequences, whether he had to pay it back or not," Smith explained.
It was Lionsgate's first major theatrical release ("before Katniss Everdeen and the Glittering Vampires," Smith added) and its biggest release at the time; Smith recalled broadcasting to Variety about her success. Columbia/TriStar acquired the home video rights, but for a limited time. They released an impressive special edition DVD which was later made into an equally impressive Blu-ray. And Smith thinks it circulated at some point because he has a digital copy. "But the rights ended," Smith said.
Now fast forward a few years. The Weinstein Company rebounded from a shaky start with "The Artist" and a string of other hits. “They redid without us and almost did a Weinstein Company Miramax version. And I think we totally came up with that," Smith said. “I mean, honestly, I didn't even think about it. I don't think he realized that he still owns this photo. I don't think he realized it was for public distribution or anything." (Smith noted that the last film Smith made with Weinstein was 2008's Jack and Miri Make a Porno.)
This is where it gets risky. "It's going to be rough and everyone is going to have to ball their fists again," warned Smith.
It's now 2017. "At this point, I haven't worked at Miramax in about 10 years and I haven't worked with Weinstein since," Smith said. Then Harvey Weinstein called her "out of the blue," "while it was still good."
During the call, Weinstein discussed Dogma and asked if Smith was interested in doing more with the project. "It's not something I've thought about since we finished it, and that's what people ask me," says Smith. (The director told PEOPLE that it would take another deal, like the one Weinstein made with Linesgate and Sony, for the first film to get a sequel.) Reality.
"Everyone who was there is still here, so we can make a good follow-up or even a better series," said Smith. "And I was so excited because I was like, 'Oh my God, for the first time. The guy remembers me. Ten years later, he remembers that I'm part of the Miramax family.' And he remembered that he had an idea and a great cast, and he didn't know, I was like, wow, this is great."
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Part of the appeal for Smith is that Weinstein's call was so unexpected. "I don't have to do anything," Smith said. "And then he's like, 'Okay, I'll get back to you. And then he hung up."
A week after their conversation, the New York Times published an article detailing Weinstein's horrific behavior. Smith remembers being shocked and disgusted; She had no idea about the rape charges. "Thugs don't talk. Don't tell me," Smith said. "We knew the guy was cheating on his wife, it was always a big rumor. But we didn't know any of that shit." Smith said he felt "guilty by association."
But it wasn't until he spoke with Smith's former Miramax executive and producer, John Gordon, that things began to crystallize. "I was like, 'Did you see the New York Times? Because I can't believe it.' I called and now I'm so excited. I'm reading this and I feel sick and disgusted," Smith said. I knew this story was coming. And I wanted to know who was talking [to the New York Times]. “I'm low, I can't see all sides,” Smith said. "He didn't call because he wanted to have anything to do with Dogma. He wanted to know if I was one of the people who talked to the New York Times. I didn't know because I didn't know. "
Years later, Smith learned that a new "Dogma" DVD was coming out. That's when Smith learned that Weinstein was trying to sell the rights to Dogma to someone. "I found out he was trying to sell the movie rights," Smith said. Weinstein asked for $5 million, which Smith admitted was "excessive." Smith learned that Weinstein was also trying to sell the rights, suggesting that Smith was involved in the new release. (This was all through lawyers, since Smith hasn't spoken to him since that phone call.)
"Please tell this company that I will have nothing to do with them if he is still involved. I will work with Dogma until he is no longer involved," Smith told his lawyers. Smith and his lawyers even tried to buy the rights themselves, "which we thought was really dirty because we didn't want to pay him anything." "But at the same time, it feels like my movie, and it did," Smith explained. he held him hostage. My movie about angels is about Satan. And if there's only one way, we can buy it."
Smith and his lawyers proposed to Weinstein, but were "raped". They came back with a higher proposal which was "ridiculous". Smith believes Weinstein has $5 million. "Look, I love Dogma as much as anyone, but a) I don't have $5 million and b) it's not something the market can handle anymore. We live in the age of streaming. The last I know of ' another company heard, they told me they wouldn't sell my film," Smith said. "I thought, what else can I do? Not much. You can make the public suck, but I don't think this guy is going to stop reading the news."
Smith heard two months ago that it belonged to a "new company" but asked his lawyer to find out what the new company was because Smith had a "creeping suspicion that it had just changed the name of the company and it can sell a .. .other." Shell Company". Company". "My movie about the sky is in limbo," said Smith.
While this is embarrassing, Smith points out that it is nothing compared to what Weinstein did to his victims. "Pity that she also sits in my movie with her fat ass. And the right thing to do would be to sell it to me, even if you don't want to sell it at whatever price I quote first,” Smith said. "Tell us what that prize is and give me back my self-expression."
Clerks III is currently in theaters in limited edition and is coming to PVOD soon.
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