This past weekend at the Vulture Festival in Los Angeles, filmmaker, podcaster, and pop-culture stalwart Kevin Smith was on hand for a screening of Dogma, his 1999 religious satire about a pair of fallen angels (played by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, just two years post-Good Will Hunting) determined to get back into heaven, even if it means bringing about the apocalypse.
It was controversial at the time—and then became tangled in rights issues for decades, making it difficult to screen and stream. But with all that now resolved, just in time for the movie’s 25th anniversary, Smith is hinting that maybe, possibly, a sequel is in the works?
Deadline reported that at the special Dogma screening, the writer-director said he’s got ideas to continue the story. “I found a way in,” he teased, after noting he anticipates diehard fans of the movie won’t want him to “ruin” the original.
He also said he knows any Dogma follow-up worth its heavenly feathers must include the participation of its big-name leads, who he said still owe him a favor after he helped them with Good Will Hunting all those years ago. “I have been able to hold that over both their heads for 25 fucking years, which is why they keep showing up in all the movies,” Smith said at the festival. “Expect a cameo from them—more than a fucking cameo. The only way we get a Dogma sequel made is if they’re there. So count on those guys being there.”
Later, on social media, Smith shared the Deadline post—but added some additional clarifications:
To be fair, I said I started writing a sequel in my head on Thursday night. So a Dogma sequel script is eventually happening… but that doesn’t mean a movie is getting made necessarily. And while I plan to include Bartleby and Loki, I’ve not spoken to Ben or Matt about it yet.⛪️ https://t.co/AuNr2farsp
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) November 18, 2024
“To be fair, I said I started writing a sequel in my head on Thursday night,” Smith wrote. “So a Dogma sequel script is eventually happening… but that doesn’t mean a movie is getting made necessarily. And while I plan to include [the characters] Bartleby and Loki, I’ve not spoken to Ben or Matt about it yet.”
In October, speaking about Dogma‘s rights being freed up so the movie can be shown again, Smith hinted that he had ideas about returning to the movie’s world somehow: “Maybe, at this point, sequels, TV versions, in terms of extending the story. Something we could never do before… So exciting, man. And all those people who worked in it are still viable.”
In other words, Dogma 2 could happen—it’s clearly a project Smith has a lot of enthusiasm about—but if it takes the form of a feature film, it won’t be happening right away. And it sounds like Affleck and Damon probably found out about it through the Deadline article, same as us. What are your thoughts on a potential Dogma sequel?
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
+ There are no comments
Add yours