Director Kevin Smith has confirmed that he’s currently working on a sequel to his 1999 film Dogma, and he expects Ben Affleck and Matt Damon would return for the project. Smith made the announcement at Vulture Festival, which was subsequently reported by Vulture.
“Some people will be like, ‘Don’t f–king touch it. You’ll ruin it.’ And I’m here to tell you: I will,” said Smith, revealing that he’s “f–king tickled” and that he had “found a way in” for the film, which will apparently be more of a companion piece than a conventional sequel.
Fans should be able to bank on seeing the stars of the 1999 original, Affleck and Damon, in this upcoming new installment, with Smith joking the pair still owes him for his help behind the scenes on Good Will Hunting.
“I have been able to hold that over both their heads for 25 f–king years, which is why they keep showing up in all the movies. Expect a cameo from them – more than a f–king cameo. The only way we get a Dogma sequel made is if they’re there. So count on those guys being there.”
Dogma, which also starred Alan Rickman, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Linda Fiorentino, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, and Alanis Morrisette, is a dark comedy about two banished angels seeking to exploit a church loophole that will get them back into Heaven. It was the subject of moderate controversy at the time from some religious groups, but the good-natured satire was otherwise a critical and commercial success.
However, up until recently, Dogma has been the subject of a complicated rights issue, which is why it’s never been available on any streaming service and is out-of-print on physical media. The rights to Dogma were previously personally owned by convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein and his now-estranged brother, Bob. Theatrical and home video distribution had then been licensed to Lionsgate and Columbia TriStar/Sony respectively, but those deals predated streaming and had long since expired. However, Dogma’s rights were finally sold off this year to an unnamed company, freeing up Smith to work on the movie again without sharing any subsequent profits with Harvey Weinstein. Smith’s plans for the original include another long-awaited home release, a 25th anniversary-adjacent return to cinemas, and a tour.
For what it’s worth, Matt Damon has actually reprised his role as the angel Loki once already in a small cameo within 2019’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (which was a sequel to 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back).
Smith’s latest film, The 4:30 Movie, was released in September this year.
Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can chat to him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.
