Kevin Smith Reveals How Dogma Is Being ‘Held Hostage’ By Harvey Weinstein

Fans of Dogma, Kevin Smith’s 1999 fantasy, have been wondering why it isn’t streaming. Now Smith has explained the reason.

Kevin Smith’s movie Dogma has been the subject of controversy since its release back in 1999, mainly due to it being attached by religious groups for its subject of descendants of Jesus and fallen angels. However, the movie received generally positive reviews on its release and was a success at the box office. Over the years, Dogma has become a cult classic, but the film’s distribution has become an issue thanks to rights issues with Harvey and Bob Weinstein. Smith has recently revealed exactly why the movie has not yet made it to any streaming platforms, which he says is down to the movie being “held hostage.” He told The Wrap:

“I found out that he was trying to sell the rights to the movie. [He was asking for $5 million, which was] overvaluing the movie. [To Smith’s lawyers] Please tell that company that I’ll have nothing to do with it, if he’s still attached to it. I’ll work on a ‘Dogma’ anything, as long as he has no more ties to it. [We reached out to buy the rights ourselves] which we felt very dirty about because we didn’t want to give him money. But at the same time, it’s like my movie, and he’s got it. He’s holding it hostage. My movie about angels is owned by the devil himself. And if there’s only one way out of this, maybe we could buy it away. [We sent an offer that was] scoffed at, [then a higher offer that was] also scoffed at. Look, I love ‘Dogma’ as much as the next guy but a) I don’t have $5 million and b) that’s not what the market bears anymore. We live in a streaming era. The last I heard was from a different company, saying he wouldn’t sell me my movie back. I thought what else can I do? There’s not much. You can make a public stink, but I don’t think that guy reads the news anymore.”

Related: Kevin Smith Still Hopes to Make Mallrats 2, Hopes Clerks 3’s Success Will Help

Kevin Smith Has Previously Hinted At Behind The Scenes Rights Issues With Dogma

Kevin Smith has mentioned in the past how the involvement of Weinstein has been a massive stumbling block for Dogma’s distribution, but this is the first time he has revealed the extent of the issues faced by him in trying to get the rights himself. When Smith says that the $5 million being requested by Weinstein is overvalued, that becomes very apparent when considering the budget for Dogma was only $10 million, so to ask for half of that is almost at the point of extortion.

While it may not help fans of Dogma see the movie make it to a streaming platform anything soon, Smith is currently focussing on the release of Clerks III, which is finally happening soon. In addition to that sequel, Smith has also recently revealed that he is working on developing a sequel to other movies such as Tusk and potentially Mallrats. Even with the issues surrounding the possible rerelease and streaming debut of Dogma, there is plenty to keep Smith fans happy in the meantime.