Story courtesy of Adam Thompson

THE LAST TEMPTATION

Fearing Religious backlash, Disney and Miramax juggle the latest hot property from director Kevin Smith.

It sounds like any studio's dream: an outrageous, low-budget comedy from a hot indie director, with an all-star cast, good scores from early test screenings, and subject matter that should guarantee massive publicity. What's not to like?

But it's just such a package - director Kevin Smith's edgy Catholic Church satire "Dogma" - that has Miramax and its parent company, Disney, anxiously saying their prayers. Fearing the kind of protests that met Universal Studios' release of Martin Scorsese's 1988 drama "The Last Temptation of Christ," Miramax has explored the possibility of selling the film to another distributor or editing it into a less controversial form. Ben Affleck, who cut his fee dramatically to star in the project, is so concerned about Miramax's plans that he has begun lobbying Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein to not abandon the movie.

With a cast that includes Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, and Chris Rock, "Dogma" is, by all accounts, an intelligent allegory about faith and organized religion. Still, Smith's screenplay contains any number of scenes likely to vex the faithful: There's a trash-talking apostle, a demon made of excrement, a riff on Joseph and Mary's sex life, and a Skeeball-obsessed God. In an attempt to make the Catholic denomination friendlier, the church in "Dogma" launches a "Catholicism - Wow!" campaign, featuring a smiling "Buddy Christ" who no longer hangs from the cross but instead offers a thumbs-up salute.

The dilemma puts Weinstein in a delicate situation. If Miramax unloads the comedy, it will mark an abandonment of the outift's prized artistic independence and of one of the company's signature filmmakers. With 1994's ultra-low budget "Clerks" and then 1997's politically incorrect lesbian yarn "Chasing Amy," Smith has helped define Miramax's hip dominance among independent-film companies. But the penchant for controversy that made Miramax an indie institution can be a tough fit in Disney's global conglomerate. Senior Disney executives refused to bless the "Dogma" project when Miramax first showed them the script, and they continue to distance themselves from the movie. Though Miramax's deal with Disney allows the company to release any film it chooses (with the exception of NC-17 fare), the prospect of a "Dogma" backlash could be a nightmare for the family-friendly Disney and its chairman, Michael Eisner.

"I think there will be a really intense storm," says Independent Film Channel host John Pierson, who executive-produced Smith's "Chasing Amy" and has seen "Dogma." "The Catholic League probably will have a problem." It wouldn't be the first time. Miramax and Disney were blasted over 1994's "Priest" (which was thoughtlessly scheduled to open on Good Friday); Miramax set up a shell company to release the NC-17 "Kids." Disney, of course, isn't the only major studio to have faced the risks of handling controversial indie films; Universal ordered its October Films unit to dump 1998's disturbing comedy "Happiness," which has a pedophilia sub-plot. "You think I live in a fantasy world? That's really the issue - corporate ownership," says Smith's lawyer, John Sloss, who is confident that Miramax will release the film after its possible premiere at this May's Cannes film festival.

Though test audiences reacted well to "Dogma" (and didn't raise any religious objections, say Miramax sources), Weinstein has approached executives at at least two distributors, including Paramount Pictures head Sherry Lansing, about taking over the project. More recently, the company has discussed trimming some of the film's most outrageous moments. Either way, the company made its name with artistic audacity may have matured into a more cautious outfit. "There has been no particular controversy at Miramax since 'Kids'," says Pierson. "The era where controversy is pursued no longer makes sense. You make more money on 'Scream' than on 'Kids' or 'Priest'." - John Horn

Premiere Magazine, May issue, pages 45-46