Kevin Smith says Harvey Weinstein called about Dogma 2 before scandal broke

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Kevin Smith has no lack of stories from his time in the entertainment business, and while on the promotion tour for this new movie, JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOT, he revealed one of the more offputting ones about none other than Harvey Weinstein. Smith recently told a story about how the movie mogul and man who will be on trial for alleged rape and sexual assault in January called him and pitched the idea for a sequel to DOGMA, doing so one week before accusations against Weinstein came to light in The New York Times.

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Smith talked about the call he had with Weinstein in 2017 to Business Insider, which to the director came as a surprise, as he hadn’t talked to him since Miramax released ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO in 2008. The movie didn’t do so hot at the box office, but that didn’t stop Weinstein from hinting to Smith that more could and should be done with DOGMA.

“I said, ‘Hey, how are you?’ And he goes, ‘You know, we have Dogma, I just realized, and we got to get it out there again,’” Smith recalled.

He continued,

“I said, ‘We do! People online are always asking where they can get it.’ And he then goes, ‘You know, that movie had a big cast, we might even be able to do a sequel.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah man, right on. I might think about that.’ And he was like, ‘We’ll talk.’ And a week later The New York Times story breaks. I felt sick to my stomach.”

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A Weinstein spokesperson said she wasn’t sure if the call ever even happened, but that if it did, it shouldn’t have been taken as Weinstein doing anything but “making a creative business decision.”

But indeed, Smith has other thoughts on why he thinks Weinstein made the call so out of the blue, and at such a peculiar time. "He was starting to circle the wagons," he said. "It was him looking to see who was a friend still because his life was about to shift completely."

Smith’s movies have often been met with at least some level controversy, but DOGMA is a special case. Taking aim at religion, Disney owned Miramax and didn’t want to release the movie when it was made in 1999, and so the Weinsteins (Harvey and his brother Bob) went to Lionsgate to get it distributed, with the men still owning the rights. Though it has received a DVD release, the movie has never gone to streaming or had the Blu-ray treatment, much to the disappointment of fans. This year marks its 20th anniversary, and while no new editions are coming out, Smith does hint that could change in the future as Weinstein's legal issues stack up.

"You know, it sounds like he's got legal bills. That's an asset you can sell to somebody," Smith said.

JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOT is out through Fathom Events on October 15, and Weinstein is due for trial in January 2020.