(InfoBeat) – Ah, controversy. Nothing like a good dust-up to lengthen the lines at the box office.

Case in point: “Dogma.” The Catholic Church has pretty much lambasted the latest from director Kevin Smith, who brought us the decidedly non-mainstream cult-favs “Clerks,” “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy.” And what happens? The film opens to the second highest per-average screen take of the week and places third at the box. And, more importantly, it destroys the competition in InfoBeat’s Flicks Picks Movie Poll for films that opened last weekend.

“Dogma,” starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as two fallen angels who come to Earth to start apocalypse, earned a 52% “excellent” and another 23% “above average” marks. The only film of the five openers to come close was the 27% “excellent” earned by “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc,” another tale in which the Catholic Church figures prominently.

Here were some of the fervent comments from “Dogma” lovers:

“This movie was wickedly sinful, verging on blasphemous. It was absolutely hilarious but I think I need to go to confession now.”

“Thought-provoking and easily the funniest movie so far this year.”

“One of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. I laughed from beginning to end. This film has a great cast that works extremely well together. You absolutely have to see this movie!”

Religion, of course, wasn’t absent from comments we received, but had none of the vitriol that surfaced before the movie was even released – probably because many of those that might take offense were already staying away.

“I am a practicing Catholic, I found Dogma interesting and provocative. I think it probes faith in a way that needs to be addressed, organized religion and what it has done to faith, and how it relates to an individual’s personal relationship with God. I found particularly touching the profound sense of the pain of the loss of Heaven, on the part of the angels. On the strictly film side of it, I think it was somewhat uneven, a little too long, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were really effective. I am recommending this to my Catholic and Christian friends.”

“One of Smith’s best…I have no idea what the Catholic League’s gripes were about. This is a pro-faith movie if I have ever seen one…almost enough to make this hardened atheist go to church.”

The only negative comments – only 9% of respondents hated it – came from little gripes with the film itself: editing, script continuity, things like that.

The Catholic League has targeted Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s AllAbout My Mother (1999) (Todo Sobre Mi Madre) and Almodóvar himself in its latest blast at what it perceives to be an anti-Catholic bias among filmmakers. All About My Mother (1999), which had been the odds-on favorite to win the Golden Palm award at Cannes this year but lost to the Belgian film Rosetta (1999) (Almodóvar won the best director award), is due to open in art houses this weekend. In a statement, Catholic League president William Donohue said on Wednesday that for twenty years, Almodóvar has been “bashing Catholicism,” adding that he is “a devout homosexual.” Donohue continued: “Those who like Catholic-bashing movies can now pick this weekend to see either All About My Mother (1999) or Dogma (1999). Those interested in bigoted films that attack other religions will, as usual, be disappointed.”

Chris Rock is teaming up with the makers of “American Pie” for an updated version of the 1978 Warren Beatty movie “Heaven Can Wait.”

The IGN Movies site says Rock, currently seen in “Dogma,” will team up with Chris and Paul Weitz for the film, to be entitled “I Was Made To Love Her.”

“Heaven Can Wait” was in turn a remake of the 1941 film, “Here Comes Mr. Jordan”.

Rock will play a comedian killed by a bus but blocked from entering heaven by saintly bureaucrats, who send him back to Earth in a new host body — apparently a woman’s, according to IGN.

Complications arise when Rock falls in love — with his host body.

In “Heaven Can Wait”, Beatty played an NFL quarterback whose untimely death is reversed when he is sent to live in the body of an eccentric millionaire.

The cartoon version of Smith’s 1994 low-budget debut, which was recently nominated by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 funniest films of all time, is to air on ABC in March, and it’s just one of the many projects expected under the new pact with Miramax.

Hot on the heels of a big opening weekend for his latest film, the religious satire “Dogma,” the director’s View Askew productions announced the deal at their website, Thursday.

The three-year deal, which replaces one that was to expire at year’s end, will allow Smith and his producer Scott Mosier to work together on Smith’s projects. The deal also allows for Smith to write and produce other projects, and for Mosier to produce on his own.

“This deal is the equivalent of mom and dad letting us convert the attic into our own sweet ‘Johnny Bravo’-like pad,” Smith announced at the site.

The decision to stick with Miramax may raise a few eyebrows. After financing “Dogma,” Miramax sold the distribution rights to the film to Canadian-owned Lion’s Gate, for fear the film’s irreverent look at religion would make a target of Miramax’s parent company, Disney.

But Smith made it clear there’s no ill will between View Askew and Miramax.

“We have nothing but love for our non-biological mother and father — the brothers Weinstein — and hope they never kick us out or tell us to get a job.”

Meanwhile, Smith’s appearence Wednesday night on Charlie Rose’s high-brow talk show might end up on the “Dogma” DVD, according to the View Askew website.

In addition, Smith will appear on Larry King’s CNN talk show on Saturday night, while the screenplay for “Dogma” is scheduled to arrive in stores Monday, the website said.

Despite generally positive reviews and strong box-office, “Dogma” got a big thumb’s down from the U.S. Catholic Conference, which rated the film “morally offensive.” View Askew has posted the religious organization’s opinion of the film:

“Because of anti-religious buffoonery, intense violence, sexual references, substance abuse, assorted vulgarities, profanity and recurring rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is O — morally offensive … “Dogma” is a sophomoric religious satire in which a heavenly messenger persuades the last descendant of Joseph and Mary to leave her job in an abortion clinic and set out to stop a pair of fallen angels from regaining heaven by means of a plenary indulgence. The unfunny proceedings rely on a mindless mix of irreverence and absurdity in poking fun at biblical characters and Christian stereotypes.”

NEW YORK (Variety) – Miramax has extended its production pact with director Kevin Smith and producer Scott Mosier, whose new film, “Dogma,” opened strongly at the box office last weekend.

Under the three-year deal — which replaces one that expires at the end of the year — Smith will write and direct his own Mosier-produced projects under their New Jersey-based View Askew shingle. In addition, Smith will write and possibly executive produce other film and TV projects, and Mosier will develop and produce projects independent of Smith.

The duo’s “Dogma,” a religious satire about fallen angels, was originally financed by Miramax, whose co-chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein, ultimately offloaded it to Lions Gate to shield Miramax’s Disney parent from protests about the film’s content.

“This deal is the equivalent of mom and dad letting us convert the attic into our own sweet Johnny Bravo-like pad,” said Smith, who is 29 to Mosier’s 28. “We have nothing but love for our non-biological mother and father, the brothers Weinstein, and hope they never kick us out or tell us to get a job.”

While Smith’s next film project has yet to be announced, he and Mosier are at work on the Miramax Television series adaptation of their 1994 release “Clerks.” The animated series is scheduled to air on Disney-owned ABC next year.

Smith and Mosier spent the bulk of their last three-year deal developing “Dogma,” which garnered mostly positive reviews and grossed $8.7 million in its first three days.

Kevin Smith wrote Dogma. He directed Dogma. And he acted in Dogma, playing Silent Bob, one-half of New Jersey’s infamous duo introduced in Kev’s first flick, Clerks. The other half — who more than makes up for Silent Bob’s quietude — is Jay, the on-the-prowl motormouth played by Jason Mewes. From what Kevin told IGN Movies in a recent interview, there’s a thin line between Mewes and Jay. If one exists at all.

IGN Movies: Mewes really does a great job in Dogma.

Kevin: He does hold his own really well in the movie, and that’s a strong testimony to his performance. There are a lot of good actors in the film, and when Jay’s on camera he commands the screen.

IGN Movies: Does he act in any other films besides yours?

Kevin: No. He should. But he doesn’t. He’s weird.

IGN Movies: Does he get many offers?

Kevin: I think after Dogma we’ll see a lot more. But, generally, no. Sometimes people call up: “We’re doing a skiing comedy, do you think he would want to do it?” And Mewes is like, “Alright, I’m going to go to the audition.” And he never winds up going.

He’s not like most actors. He’s not like Affleck and Damon. Of course, they’re career-oriented, they like to build a body of work. Mewes is always asking, “When are we doing the next movie?” Generally it’s about three things. Number one, getting paid. Number two, he gets to keep his wardrobe — it’s free clothes. And then you get breakfast burritos in the morning, and he likes that. We’ll sit around, off season, not making movies, and invariably, sooner or later, he’ll say, “Wouldn’t it be great if we had those breakfast burritos?” And we’ll go, “Yeah, it’d be kinda cool.” And he’s like, “Those are so awesome. Man, I miss that. When you making another movie?”

He’ll say weird things. He called up today, and he said, “I’m thinking about doing what you do.” I do Q&A’s at colleges, and sometimes I’ll bring him with me. He said, “I’m thinking about doing that, but I don’t really want to speak ’cause I don’t that much to say. I just want to go out there, maybe sign autographs or something. Do you think they’ll pay me for that?” He’s always trying to figure out harebrained ways to make money. And I’m like, “Dickhead, why don’t you just go be in a movie? Make $50,000 or $60,000, and then you’ll be set.” And he’ll say, “Yeah, I mean I guess we could do that, too.”

We did a day on Scream 3. When we got there, they gave us T-shirts in the trailer. And Mewes was ecstatic: “We got free shirts!” And they gave us per diem living expense money, which was two hundred dollars. “And cash! We got cash!” Never mind the check for his acting, that’s not concrete, that comes in two weeks. But the two hundred dollars and the shirt were in his hand, and he was saying stuff like, “You and me should do this all the time. We should go to all the horror movies and pop up for a scene, and we get this kind of money! And a T-shirt!” I said, “I think you should really start thinking about acting for a living, and stop thinking about popping up in horror movies for a scene.” He’s going to be like Lou Ferrigno [TV’s The Incredible Hulk]. [Laughing, shaking his head] Go to comic book shows, charge $25 for a picture with Jay.