'Dogma' 25th Anniversary Interview: Director Kevin Smith

Moviefone speaks with Kevin Smith about the 25th Anniversary of 'Dogma'. “I get to revisit the kid who got me here, so it’s been absolute bliss.”

Director Kevin Smith talks 'Dogma' 25th Anniversary rerelease.

Kevin Smith made and released back in 1999, is back in theaters on June 5th.

Written and directed by Smith ('Curb Your Enthusiasm').

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kevin Smith about reclaiming 'Dogma' from the hands of the Weinstein brothers (the film has been unavailable for theatrical or streaming release for two decades), how he's changed as a filmmaker and the reaction to the once-controversial movie this time around.

Kevin Smith Says He’s Started Developing a Sequel to 1999 Religious Comedy ‘Dogma’

(Lto R) Salma Hayek Pinault, Alan Rickman and Chris Rock in 'Dogma.' Photo: Triple Media Film.

Moviefone: To begin with, what does getting 'Dogma' back mean to you?

Kevin Smith: It comes at the right time in my career because right about now people are like, "No, he sucks.” So it’s nice to be able to bring out an old movie where it's, "Well, he didn’t suck then, there was hope!" Generally when I bring out a new movie it’s like I've got to convince people, “No, really I should still be doing this,” and they’re, “you should have stopped a long f****n’ time ago!” Coming out with this old movie that they liked back in the day and still like today is like going out there with a shield.

(L to R) Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in 'Dogma.' Photo: Triple Media Film.

MF: How do you view it now through the lens of who you are today?

KS: We’ve been touring it for 20 cities, then we just also played at Cannes. Every night I’ve been watching the movie and interacting with a vision of a young Kevin Smith. The kid who made that movie, believed in everything that’s up there. He’s not talking about Christian mythology, he’s not raising a hairy eyebrow or coming out with sharp teeth and claws the way Monty Python would on 'Life of Brian.' He believes in everything, so it’s been charming to sit back and watch the movie and be, "Aw, young Kevin Smith is so adorable." I don’t have those same beliefs anymore so it’s like we say in the movie, beliefs are tricky to get around because once you have a belief you’re mired in it, but it’s more important to have good ideas, and now I think I have good ideas.

(L to R) Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith and Matt Damon in 'Dogma.' Photo: Triple Media Film.

MF:'Dogma' was protested upon its release. Do you think the reactions would be the same today?

KS: What an interesting question. I think if we would have done it for the first time now and it was a streaming series I don’t think people would bump into it that hard. I mean, look, last year 'Heretic' came out and granted it went through the prism of the Latter-Day Saints, the Church of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon, so it wasn’t as big a polemic perhaps in the Mormon community. But that was a movie where watching it, I was leaning forward going, "Oh, a kindred spirit, of sorts." The movie came and was respected and nobody got in trouble or nearly got killed.

Alan Rickman in 'Dogma.' Photo: Triple Media Film.

MF: Have you seen any protests at all this time around?

KS: I’ve only seen one or two protests, one of which was as I was driving into the AMC movie theater in Dallas where we were doing our screenings. So I’m going to pull into the mall and I’m at the light. I look over at the median and there’s a kid, 18, 19 years old and he’s holding a placard, like big white cardboard, has the current 'Dogma' poster in the middle of it and it says, "AMC blasphemes" or something like that. So I was, “Oh my God, how adorable.” So I laid on the horn, give and the kid is so excited and he looks around and he sees me, and then he sees who I am and he looks away. He f****n’ shunned me! So that’s as bad as the protest has been this time around. I’ll take that, that’s fine.

(L to R) Linda Fiorentino, Jason Mewes, Salma Hayek and Chris Rock in 'Dogma.' Photo: Triple Media Film.

MF: Finally, how else has the rerelease reaction been different compared to the original release?

KS: Last time the protests were loud and vicious because people hadn’t seen the movie so the people who were making hay over it did so without anyone seeing what the movie is. Once people saw the movie, they’re, "this doesn’t go after the faith, this movie’s so reverent it’s crazy." I now know years later, people may have heard about, "oh, you guys went through it." But I’m seeing current reviews, people going, “can you believe that this movie took s**t back in the day and almost got people killed?” It seems to have aged better and plays way better now although, oddly enough, it feels like there’s less freedom in 2025, religious or otherwise, than there was in 1999.

Dogma

"Get touched by an angel."

R2 hr 10 min Nov 12th, 1999

Showtimes & Tickets

An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a... Read the Plot

What is the plot of 'Dogma'?

An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loophole and re-enter Heaven.