• Kevin sent us the official press release on the Dogma VHS/DVD May release today, and we’ve also got a scan of the ad they’re running in the trades. Keep in mind this is the movie/trailer only release, but it WILL feature 5.1 Dolby Digital sound and a brand new 16:9 transfer, which is excellent news. Here’s the full text of the press release.

“THUMBS UP!
Roger Ebert – Roger Ebert at the Movies

“MERCILESSLY FUNNY…EXHILARATING, AUDACIOUS AND WILDLY IRREVERENT”
Janet Maslin – New York Times

A NEW COMIC FANTASY FROM THE DIRECTOR OF “CLERKS” AND “CHASING AMY”

FAITH IS A FUNNY THING

COMES TO VIDEOCASSETTE AND DVD MAY 2, 2000

(Starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman, Jason Lee and Jason Mewes
( $30 Million Box-Office)
( Day/Date VHS and DVD Release)

DVD EXCLUSIVE ELEMENTS INCLUDE:

(Talent Files (Kevin Smith (Director), Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Linda Fiorentino, Jason Lee and Jason Mewes

Culver City, CA (02/28/00) – On May 2, 2000 Columbia TriStar Home Video will release DOGMA on DVD and videocassette. From director Kevin Smith (Clerks and Chasing Amy), DOGMA tells the story of two banished angels who find a loophole to get back into heaven, but must destroy humankind in the process. The film features an all-star cast which includes Matt Damon (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Ben Affleck (Shakespeare in Love), Chris Rock (Lethal Weapon 4), Salma Hayek (Wild Wild West), Linda Fiorentino (Men in Black) and Alan Rickman (Galaxy Quest).

SYNOPSIS – One of the most talked about movies of the year is also one of the funniest! In this hilarious comic fantasy from writer/director Kevin Smith, two banished angels (Damon and Affleck) find a loophole that would get them back into heaven. The only snag? They’ll be destroying existence in the process. In an effort to stop them, the overworked voice of God (Rickman), taps cynical mortal Bethany (Fiorentino), to save the world by preventing the angels from reaching their unholy destination, New Jersey. Throw in two unlikely prophets (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), the quick-witted, yet little-known thirteenth apostle (Rock) and a sexy, former muse with a case of writer’s block (Hayek) and you’ve got an hysterical and thrilling race against time.

Rated R
Color
Feature: 128 Minutes
DSS
Closed-Captioned

DVD SPECS

Format: Fullscreen and Widescreen (Enhanced for 16×9 TVs)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2-Channel
Languages: English, Spanish and French
Subtitles: English, Spanish and French
Suggested List Price: $24.95
DVD #04891
UPC #0-43396-04891-1

TRADE INFORMATION
Order Date: April 11, 2000 (VHS)
April 4, 2000 (DVD)

• Here’s something we bet you didn’t expect…That’s right…Word comes down from above that the Dogma DVD coming out on May 2nd will be JUST the flick and the trailer, day and date with the VHS release. The second version, the SPECIAL EDITION, the DVD to end all DVDs, will street sometime in October. Vincent Pereira is working very closely with JM Kenny (The same team-up that brought us that groundbreaking Mallrats disc) in putting together a massive super special-edition Dogma DVD that’s going to contain more content than you can believe. Plans are still to include all of the deleted material, though we’re sure the guys have a lot more surprises (kinda like that way cool live video during the Rats commentary). Already in the planning phases is another way cool documentary, this time focusing on the controversy surrounding the flick.

Oh, and speaking of commentary, it’s being recorded for the special edition THIS WEEKEND! Kevin will be hanging out with Affleck at his SNL gig this weekend, and after that, he and Kevin will meet up with Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Vincent Pereira, Scott Mosier, and possibly even Chris Rock (if he can get away from shooting his latest flick in Toronto) for what we’re sure will be another fun and informative track.

So, in summary, that’s TWO DVD releases for Dogma: The planned May 2nd release with just flick and trailer, and the super special edition this fall (presumably October, though nothing has been finalized yet). You heard it here first!

• As Dogma continues to make its way around the world, it’s always interesting to take a look at some of the press and reactions that the film has in other countries and cultures. This week, we’ve been receiving quite a bit of Australian press and scoops. Take a look:

• Garth from Dark Horizons ran his review on Dogma. It’s definitely mixed between positive and negative. Read it HERE.
• Here’s an Australian website that’s got their own review, and some clips from the flick HERE.
• This Sydney website has posted a favorable review of the flick. You can read it HERE.
• Finally, Imovie has posted a summary & review HERE.

In addition to all the press, we’ve gotten several reports stating that the flick is being received quite well, with lots of laughter, applause, and full audiences. Glad to hear it.

By the way, Dogma is also hitting a couple more foreign markets this month — It’s been announced that the flick premieres in Spain next Friday, February 11th. Thailand’s release WAS scheduled for tomorrow, but now we hear the date may have been pushed back a couple of weeks. Press is light over there, but a source may be sending us some interesting promotional material soon. Stay tuned.

• The most popular subject in e-mails to this site continues to be the flicks on DVD. Well, we know Dogma and Chasing Amy will come out sometime this year (though Amy’s original release of May seems a bit questionable now that Criterion doesn’t have it officially on the schedule). But what about the details? Well, several sites have speculated over who, what, where and when this Dogma DVD is going to surface. Here’s what we know, at least, last time we talked about it:

• The disc is going to street on May 2, 2000.
• Several websites are already taking preorders for the flick. Reel.Com has it for $14.99, which seems to be the lowest price going. If you want to wait until release, the Stash will likely sell signed copies.
• The disc will have Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio and be 16:9 enhanced (for widescreen TVs).
• The disc will contain a commentary track, though those speaking on it have yet to be announced. We’d say to expect at LEAST Kevin, Mewes, Vincent, & Scott, and more than likely a LOT more of the flick’s cast.
• Over an hour of deleted material is planned for inclusion, more than the packed Mallrats disc, even. This should include all of the famous sequences you’ve read about and heard about. The flick originally ran well over 3 hours long and was released at 2 hours and change.
• Vincent speculated that the disc MAY use branching technology to allow the Sundance version of the film to be watched in addition to the theatrical version. Sundance’s version did not have ALL the aforementioned deleted stuff, but ran about 20 minutes longer. Chances of this are slim due to the timeframe to put something like that together, but it may happen.

Other items, such as a possible documentary (wouldn’t that be sweet?), stills, and the like have yet to be announced, but we can tell you this – Dogma’s going to be a tough DVD to beat. In fact, we think it’ll be the best disc released this year, if not ever. And with just 3 months to go, you better start saving your pennies for that DVD player!

• Garth Franklin, who runs the fantastic Dark Horizons website, dropped us a line with some great news for those of you who live in Australia:

We’d last heard a June release was on tap for the flick, but this is MUCH better, isn’t it?

• Here’s the weekend figures from the UK Box Office. As you can see, Dogma did QUITE well given the number of screens that it was on. Congrats to View Askew and Film Four on a very respectable and profitable opening for the flick.

Notice that Dogma was on the LEAST amount of screens of any of the top 10 flicks, and still managed to pull third. Nice.

• Congrats to Dogma for making yet ANOTHER Top 10 end-of-the-year list. The film rounds out the list from St. Louis Post-Dispatch Film Critic Joe Holleman. Here’s an excerpt:

• We’ve just been made aware that the Digital Entertainment Network has a site on Dogma, which you can find HERE. Nothing new really, but a nice package. We like the way this site handles things. May be worth a bookmark for ya for future reference.
• Wizard ran a small piece on Kevin’s infiltration of the Dogma protesters on opening night (When Kev joined up with the group undercover to protest his own flick). They ran down a few of the highlights:

• Picketers told Kevin some “nasty things about his parents” and “even nastier things about himself”.
• Kevin prayed the rosary in 40 degree weather, all the while holding up signs that read, “To hell with Dogma” and “Dogma is Dogshit”.
• Kevin apparently was so elusive, that he even answered some questions for an unknowing local news crew, all the while holding his ground as a protester of the film.

Nothing you didn’t really know already, but we figured we’d report it, anyway.

• Here’s a local copy of that interview from the Popcorn Website. In it, Kevin discusses his night out with the protesters as well as a few of the frightening results of making a movie about faith:

Alrighty then. We’ll see ya.

• We’ve got some excellent shots from the UK today that most of you probably haven’t seen yet. First, there’s 3 different versions of the Dogma poster that were created exclusively for the Film Four Dogma campaign. As you can see, each feature 2 of the film’s main characters. Next, the entire ensemble on a nice banner-style ad, followed by a couple of shots of said banner in billboard form, out in the wild! Finally, another colorful variation on the ensemble and a circular (button of some sort, perhaps?) look at the Buddy Christ. All of these pics, of course, enlarge, so click the thumbnails for a much closer look. Many thanks go to Kevin & Kim for getting the exclusive shots to us. It’s very interesting seeing how different an ad campaign can be for the same exact movie opening elsewhere in the world.

• In addition to the Film 99 poll, their show on Dogma aired as well. Several scenes were shown, including Metatron spreading his wings for Bethany, the moving walkway scene from the airport terminal (we watched them film that one!), Serendipity stripping, and one of our favorites, the underground garage scene. The presenter actually stated the film would starting showing on CHRISTMAS EVE, though we’re not sure if this means the release date has been bumped up from the 26th to the 24th or if it was just a clerical error. By the way, Affleck‘s interview on the program was NOT a new one, but basically just bites from his Cannes interview on the film. Same thing for Salma Hayek‘s.

• Here’s a glimpse at the interesting Dogma marketing strategy that Film Four is using (Kevin alluded to this above).These are scans from 2 postcards being distributed around the UK (At college campuses, from what we’d heard yesterday). We really like these things! The quotes on the cards aren’t from the film, but rather just an interpretation of the film’s themes surrounding them. Very cool stuff. If anyone’s got extras, let us know! Click the scans for a much better look at these nifty things.
• While Dogma’s gotten a “15″ certificate in most of the UK, The Irish Film Censors office in Dublin have confirmed that Dogma has been passed with an “18″ certificate – this is only for the Repubic though, any showings in the North will come under the BBFC certification of “15″.

They have ALSO re-confirmed that Dogma will be released on the 26th, however, it seems it won’t be getting a general release in Ireland. They could only confirm about 7 cinemas in the North where it is going to be shown. They did say that there would be a “second wave” of release, which will be in the New Year.

• In what seems to be becoming a daily feature here at the site, here’s the latest bits on Dogma in the UK (some good stuff today, too!):

• The publicity for Kevin’s latest cinematic masterpiece keeps on rolling in, and what better than England’s main movie show doing a review. Tonight (Tuesday) on UK television, Jonathan Ross from ‘FILM 99′ will be reviewing Dogma, and to go with this, Ben Affleck will be doing an interview and talking about the flick.
• Check out the FilmFour website, click the Dogma link, and answer a simple question for your chance to win tickets toa preview of Dogma in central London on the 13th (this Monday). There’s also an interview with Kevin that you can download.
• We’ve got transcribed copies and pics of the two small pieces that appeared in Loaded Magazine today (The Jay Interview appears here). Click the thumbs for larger pics, and read the text right here. Sorry in advance for any typos, itwas done with an OCR scanner and we didn’t have time to proof it:

  AN INTERVIEW WITH JASON MEWES

  To the world, this man is known as Jay. As in Jay and Silent Bob. As in Jay of the Bluntman and Chronic comic. Jay is Jason Mewes and Silent Bob is director Kevin Smith, the man who put him in cult comedies Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and now Dogma. In the process, Smith made the former New Jersey roofer the best slack suburban sleazebag turn in the world.

  Jay first appeared – dealing dope and philosophizing about “bitches” and Star Wars- in Clerks, a brilliant comedy about a day in the life of a New Jersey convenience store with all the lunacy, eccentricity, death and sexual tension you normally get down the shops.Smith’s latest film, Dogma, features Alanis Morissette as God, Alan Rickman as the voice of God and Matt Damon as the avenging angel who laid waste Sodom and Gomorrah. In a film full of jokes about the meaning of life, the universe and everything, Jay has all the best gags about girls, sex and latent homosexuality loaded called him at his mother’s house in New Jersey to see what he’s smoking these days.

  [Before a single question Is Asked, he’s off]

  Jason Mewes : I’m so sorry I was at the View Askew[Dogma production offices} in Red Bank with Kevin, and Kevin said he’d give me a ride home but he’s been like tied up on the phone and I was like, “C’mon Kevin, I’m gonna be late for my interviews” So he just rushed me home and I just got in. I told my ma if you called I’d be home soon. I ain’t got a car right now. I lost my licence ,for parking tickets and stupid stuff. I paid ‘em and I didn’t like get my lisence renewed and then I got caught driving on suspended and I didn’t know, I thought after I’d paid the tickets they’d renew it but I didn’t know you had to go to Motor Vehicles and renew it.I have to take buses and cabs all the time.Kevin’s always driving me around.

  Er, right… why do you think Kevin Smith originally wrote the part of Jay for you?

  Jason Mewes : He told me it was because he thought I was really funny. One day Kevin said he was really curious about how many other people had the sense of humour that we did.

  Danny Plunkett : It’s the type of humour that sometimes gets you into trouble…

  Jason Mewes : Sometimes people don’t realise I’m joking around with them, and get all mad. I fool around with girls and they won’t get the joke.You know.

  Danny Plunkett : You slip into character?

  Jason Mewes : Yeah, and I say some rude things to ‘em,joking around, thinking they’ll understand that I’m joking, but they don’t.

  Danny Plunkett : Jay is extreme. Do people think you’re him?

  Jason Mewes : People expect me to be exactly like that,which I’m not all the time. Sometimes I get real rowdy and goofy and sometimes I just get real quiet. We just had a thing in New York, this screening, and I met some guys there and they’re like, “Yo, man, let’s smoke some weed,” and I think, nah. I didn’t feel like smoking ‘cos I was drinking, and I don’t smoke when I drink. And they were, like,disappointed. They thought that I was some big stoner, that I’d smoke 24 hours a day,which I totally don’t. I used to but it just got to be too much, you know? I just wanna sit at home and watch TV when I smoke. I used to like going out and doing stuff when I was smoked up, but then it got to be like I was too old to be getting into trouble being caught with a joint in my pocket.

  Danny Plunkett : So guys expect you to be a stoner. How do girls expect you to be?

  Jason Mewes : I don’t know-girls seem like they think I’m funny and they wanna hang out. They don’t want to date or nothing. I guess they thinkI might be like how l am in the movies, just like a player and be like, “You slut!”. Alot of girls wanna be my friend

  Danny Plunkett : That Jay approach ‘hey, sit on my face,bitch” – doesn’t work for you?

  Jason Mewes : Yeah ha ha no. With some it does. This one girl on the Internet she’s like “I love it.”I’m like messing around and saying dirty stuff to her and she loves it so some girls I guess like it.

  Danny Plunkett : Kevin Smith has said that Alanis Morissette was terrified of you on set.

  Jason Mewes : Was she ? I didn’t know that. In the make-up trailer I used to hang around and talk to her. She would laugh and it didn’t seem like she was scared.

  Danny Plunkett : How was it working with Salma Hayek?

  Jason Mewes : Salma was cool, really nice. They did a press junket in New York and I was in the TV room. She was saying, “I never met anybody like him. I’d be in my trailer and he’d come and knock on my door and say, ‘Oh can you sign my friend’s picture?I’ve been using his cellphone all week and I promised him if I used it I’d get an autograph from you for him’.” She said that was weird.

  Danny Plunkett : What’s been going on since you made the film?

  Jason Mewes : I was working at the comic book store[Jay And Silent Bob’s Secret Stash] for awhile. I just stopped a couple a weeks ago because another guy started working there. He has a car and I wasn’t making it every day and the guy who runs the comic book store was getting upset with me. ‘Cos I had to get a ride from Kevin and I had to get a cab.

  Danny Plunkett : You got the sack from your own comic book shop?

  Jason Mewes : My own comic book store gave me the boot! Can you believe it? It’s true. That’s just the way it goes, I guess. It’s been fun not working. It’s been cool to work for four months and like kick back for six months, but now I’m ready to work pretty steady and start making lots of cash.

  Danny Plunkett : Kevin Smith’s producer Scoff Mosier recently said: “I am definitely stuck holding the bag a lot. With Mewes, it’s like it’s a job. Like running around, being like, ‘Don’t do that! Get off Of that! Why are you late?”‘

  Jason Mewes : Yeah, ha ha, yup, totally.

  Danny Plunkett : Are you the problem kid on the set?

  Jason Mewes : I guess I hangout a lot and do stuff, and I’m alway late. I’ll be in my trailer and they’ll be like knocking on my door saying, “Come on, you’re on in five minutes.” So I’m like,’Alright, I’ve got five minutes.” Then they come knocking again two minutes later and I’m like, “You said five minutes so I’ll be out there in a few minutes.” So tell Scott I’ll come and get me and go like, “Come on man, they’re read for you.” Then I’ll get mad ‘cos then the I bring me on set and I’ll have to wait a half hour and go, “Yo man,you rushed me do here and it’s not time yet.” And sometimes they’re like, “You have half an hour,” and someone’ll go, “You wanna go to the store with me?” and I’m like,”Sure”. So I’ll take a ride and I’ll leave. when I get back they’ll be mad and like, “Everyone was looking for you,” and I’m like, “Yo, you said I had a half-hour…”

  Danny Plunkett : What do you do to keep yourself amused between takes?

  Jason Mewes : Usually just hang outside and bullshit with the people watching and stuff. Like in Pittsburgh when we were doing dogma I was chatting with the cop that was doing the traffic, and he was like, “Dude, after the set tonight you’d wanna go do some shooting?” I was telling him how I love shooting guns and he took me to the police range that night. Shooting up cardboard figures-that was pretty fun.