By Jeffrey Wells

Ben Affleck has his hands full with a gigantic asteroid in Disney‘s new thrill-ride Armageddon, but he believes the weather could be even stormier for his next movie, Dogma.

Miramax plans to release that film, a $5 million religious satire from Chasing Amy writer-director Kevin Smith, early next year. Insiders say, however, that the satirical grenades contained in Smith’s widely circulated script are so explosive the Walt Disney Company, which owns Miramax, is growing nervous about the potential for protests from the religious right.

A fantasy about a pair of foul-mouthed, homicidal angels (Affleck and Matt Damon) who’ve been banished from Heaven, Dogma is a tongue-in-cheek riff on Catholic mythology. In Affleck’s words, the film offers the notion that “Mary and Joseph had sex, and they had a kid, and therefore there’s a [female] descendant of Christ on earth who works at an abortion clinic.” The subject matter, he adds, is “definitely meant to push buttons. There are clearly things about it that will be incendiary.”

Smith’s characters include a black 13th apostle (played by Chris Rock) and a female God (played by rock singer Alanis Morissette). The comedy, written before the success of Smith’s 1994 debut Clerks, was inspired by Smith’s irreverent attitude toward his own Catholic upbringing. Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Janeane Garafalo, Alan Rickman, and Smith himself co-star.

A well-positioned industry source tells Mr. Showbiz that Disney chairman Michael Eisner “is not comfortable with this film. He’s responsible to the stockholders, and this will be a thorn in Disney’s side. He’d rather not see it go out [to theaters].”

From his perspective, says Affleck, “It would not surprise me if the political situation around Dogma was very tenuous. I know [Miramax chairman] Harvey Weinstein has his trepidations about this, and he’s gotta answer to Disney.” Continuing on a rhetorical train of thought, he asked, “Is Michael Eisner nervous about it? Probably. For a $5 million movie, which is small beans, he may take a disproportionate amount of heat over it. So if I were Eisner, I might be a little nervous, but I certainly hope [Disney] supports the movie and stands behind it and [is] brave enough to say, ‘Listen, this isn’t necessarily Disney’s credo—this is Harvey Weinstein and Miramax, whom we allow to make the kind of movies they want to make.'”

A Miramax spokeswoman contends the film’s subject matter is a non-issue: Disney, she said, is contractually obliged to release Miramax’s films, as long as they haven’t been rated NC-17. (Dogma, which finished shooting in June, is expected to receive an R rating.)

The alleged concern at Disney (which declined comment for this story) apparently stems from the company’s recent problems with the religious right. In 1995, Miramax’s Priest, a drama featuring a pair of sexually active priests, aroused the ire of the Catholic community and resulted in a boycott of Disney products. In 1997, Southern Baptist leaders called for another Disney boycott due to what one religious publication called “pro-homosexual and anti-family products and policies.”

Controversy may make studio executives nervous, but every good movie marketer knows that a little free attention can be good for a film’s commercial fortunes. Affleck believes that whatever happens, Dogma stands a good chance of becoming a hit. “It’s one of the most original, funny, smart, interesting movies I’ve ever done,” he said. “I have very, very high hopes. I think it has a kind of Pulp Fiction break-out potential.”

And, he added, it would be highly ironic if Dogma were to draw fire from religious types, “because [Smith] is a devoutly religious Catholic. This is a criticism of the Catholic Church by someone who was raised in it. He’s a firm believer in Christianity and God and a believer in the Catholic doctrine.”

Affleck is more than a little bemused by all the hubbub these religious issues tend to raise. “I was reading the Bible recently in a hotel room,” he said, “and it occurred to me that Christianity is actually a liberal religion. Jesus preached a sense of tolerance, mercy, understanding, you know? It’s funny that Christianity is so staunchly represented by people who are so conservative in their beliefs [and] who demonstrate a lack of tolerance.”

As evidence, Affleck cited a speech he’d seen Pat Robertson give on television recently, about a gay rights parade in Orlando, Fla. “He was saying,” recalled the actor, dropping into the televangelist’s soft, southern drawl, “‘If I were in Orlando, I would be very concerned waving these gay flags around. The people there could be encountering terrorist bombs and possibly even a meteor.'”

Returning to his own voice, Affleck laughed and said, “I was saying to myself, ‘You’re insane! God throws meteors? [Armageddon producer] Jerry Bruckheimer throws meteors—not God!'”

Kevin Smith was unavailable for comment.