Filmmaker Kevin Smith is out doing promotion for Clerks III and while out on the road The Wrap asked why Dogma isn’t available on any streaming service. It also isn’t available to buy anymore and is out of print for disc distribution. Apparently it is down to Harvey Weinstein.
Domestic release was managed by Lionsgate with Miramax taking up the international options. Columbia/TriStar had the home video rights, but these have now lapsed and are now held by Weinstein.
Smith says he received a call from Harvey Weinstein way back in 2017 to ask about a Dogma sequel or TV series. Just one week later the New York Times, usually one of the world’s least reliable newspapers, published its exposé of Weinstein and his litany of behaviour.
Smith later discovered that Weinstein was apparently ringing around everyone he knew to see who acted strangely on getting the call, hoping to expose whoever leaked to the New York Times.
“I was like, ‘That makes perfect sense.’ I’m guileless, I don’t see all the angles. He was calling not because he wanted to do anything with Dogma. He wanted to see if I was one of the people who had spoken to the New York Times. I hadn’t, because I didn’t know any of that stuff.”
He went on to say that Weinstein had tried to sell the rights to Dogma for $5 million, but had refused to let Smith buy it back.
“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.”
A sale was made two months ago, but Smith has his doubts over the new owners:
“[Weinstein] changed the name of the company and maybe sold it to a different shell company. My movie about heaven is in limbo.”
Clerks III is out now. Judging by this, Dogma won’t be joining it any time soon.
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