The Deal on Dogma
Does anyone remember that scrap between me and Ben Affleck last August over Dogma? Affleck calling me a “chucklehead” because I quoted him accurately when he spoke about the film’s uncertain distribution status at the hands of Miramax Films and its parent, the Walt Disney Company? Affleck saying “there is no Dogma controversy that I know of” and accusing me of massaging his quotes out of context?
Ben must have at least considered eating a little crow when Mr. Showbiz ran the full transcript of what he’d said, which showed that his quotes hadn’t been manipulated or rearranged to change their meaning. Affleck had more or less confirmed what I’d been hearing last summer about Dogma, the latest film from writer-director Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy, Clerks) in which he’d recently co-starred. The buzz was that Smith’s irreverent lampooning of Catholic mythology had stirred some intrigue between Miramax and Disney about its distribution prospects.
Dogma co-stars Affleck and Matt Damon as angels who’ve been tossed out of Heaven. Also featured are Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Alan Rickman, and Alanis Morissette, who plays God. 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 said, is “definitely meant to push buttons. There are clearly things about it that will be incendiary.”
I’d been told prior to the Affleck interview that Disney chairman Michael Eisner had read (or been told about) the Dogma script and was adamant about not wanting it released by Miramax, for fear that it might trigger protests from the Catholic right. Five years ago Catholics protested the release of Priest, a Miramax pickup about a closeted gay cleric in England.
A Miramax spokeswoman told me last summer that Dogma’s subject matter was a nonissue since their contract with Disney only forbade the release of films rated NC-17. This cuts no ice with Eisner, apparently. He’s allegedly made it clear to Miramax head Harvey Weinstein “in no uncertain terms that he won’t release it . he’s saying, not under my banner,” according to one insider.
Affleck said “it would not surprise me if the political situation around Dogma was very tenuous. . I know [Miramax chief] Harvey Weinstein has his trepidations about this, and he’s gotta answer to Disney.” Allowing that Eisner was “probably” nervous about it, Affleck went on to praise Dogma as “one of the most original, funny, smart, interesting movies I’ve ever done” and said, “I hope Disney supports [it] and stands behind it.”
Now the Dogma issue has reared up again, in a story by John Horn in the latest issue of Premiere magazine that’ll hit the stands on or about April 13. It claims that the distribution of Dogma is still up in the air and that Miramax may be abandoning it. The article clearly indicates that when Affleck tapped out his “no controversy” remark last summer he either didn’t know or wasn’t saying.
Miramax said last summer that it intended to release Smith’s satire early this year. That hasn’t happened. The plan now, according to John Pierson, the Split Screen host who has seen Dogma and is friendly with Smith, is for the distributor to take Dogma to the Cannes Film Festival in May and then open it domestically in the fall.
But according to Horn, Miramax may not release it at all, and has in fact approached “executives of at least two distributors, including Paramount Pictures head Sherry Lansing, about taking over the project.” It is suspected that the real Cannes agenda is to build interest in Dogma and attract a potential distributor.
More recently, Horn writes, “[Miramax] has discussed trimming some of the film’s more outrageous moments. Horn also reports that Affleck “is so concerned about Miramax’s plans that he has begun lobbying Weinstein to not abandon the movie.”
A Miramax representative declined to comment about the Horn article, or say definitively whether or not Miramax would be releasing Dogma. The fact that Miramax didn’t screen any Dogma footage at the recent ShoWest gathering in Las Vegas suggested to some that the distributor’s plans for releasing the film were, at the least, unresolved.
Any way you look at it, Weinstein is in a tough spot. He doesn’t want the indie-styled Miramax to be seen as kowtowing to conservative corporate values, as represented by Eisner’s reported concern about the Catholic League. Nor would he want to be involved in any intrusive cutting of the film, given his long-established reputation as “Harvey Scissorhands” that he’s been trying to live down.
According to reports on Kevin Smith’s Web site (http://www.viewaskew.com), Dogma underwent additional shooting earlier this year and has been shown in test screenings at least three or four times, reportedly to positive reactions. I’ve read a draft of Smith’s script and found it quite clever and funny. The film has been praised time and again on Harry Knowles’ site by people who’ve claimed they’ve seen it in previews. Horn says that Dogma has been described “by all accounts [as] an intelligent allegory.”
Our thoughts on this: First of all, definitely go back in our News Askew archives and read our own editorial about the Dogma delays, which you’ll find back in the archives section under March 23, 1999. In it, we take an edcuated guess on Dogma’s status based on what we know so far. Yes, this article is correct in the fact that neither Kevin or Miramax has really spoken out on a release date at all, though all hints have indeed pointed to sometime in the fall of 1999. Also, we highly doubt the rap about Miramax making cuts to the film, since we recall Kevin telling us that the studio did give him final cut as long as he kept the time below 2:30, which he’s done. Finally, remember, if there’s any studio that likes controversy and free publicity, it’s the ‘Max. And frankly, having watched the rough cut last summer, we hardly could even see what all the religious types would be up in arms about. Sure, there’s some radical ideas there, but we’ve seen worse. Don’t let what you’ve just read worry you very much. We’re confident the film will arrive in one piece and looking great after it tears up Cannes.
