Dogging 'Dogma'

Those who follow movie production news already know that Kevin Smith's latest film, Dogma, has been delayed for some time. But now word comes that Smith's distributor, Miramax, is quietly looking to dump the film to another distributor, or, if that fails, planning to edit Dogma to make it less offensive. A satire of the Catholic Church, the film includes (according to the New York Post's Page Six) "a trash-talking 13th apostle, the notion that Joseph and Mary had sex, a female descendant of Jesus who works in an abortion clinic, a Skee-ball-obsessed God, and an updated Christ who no longer hangs from the cross but instead offers a thumbs-up salute." The new issue of Premiere reports that Miramax approached Paramount's Sherry Lansing about acquiring the film, but apparently she didn't accept. Although the studio is maintaining a firm "no comment" stance on the matter, it has long been known that Miramax, owned by Disney, is uneasy with the film's subject matter - and that it will not be allowed to release an NC-17 film. "There will be a really intense storm," Chasing Amy executive producer John Pierson, who has seen Dogma, told Premiere. "The Catholic League probably will have a problem." No release date has been set for the film, which stars Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, and Chris Rock. And, despite the media flurry, God has not yet commented on the matter. Rumors of a plague of locusts at Miramax headquarters remain unconfirmed.