In what was described as the film’s “sweet victory lap” at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, Kevin Smith’s Dogma could have its second coming with a new sequel.
After its recent re-release, which has reminded fans of how excellent the film was, along with its seven-minute ovation at the film fest, Smith says he wants a “Cannes-worthy” sequel to the 1999 religious satire.
“What I didn’t realize is, I would get there and I’d get bit by the bug again, and I’d be seeing all these places, these haunts from my childhood, from my 20s, so to speak, from the three times I was there when I was a kid,” Smith explained to Deadline. “And suddenly, I was like, ‘Why is it that you assume that the Cannes-worthy portion of your life is over? You never even expected it to begin in the first place. It was never part of the aim. It just came along with the journey. Maybe if you really try, you could.”
The film starred Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as Bartleby & Loki. It also features Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, and Alanis Morissette, as well as Jason Mewes and Smith reprising their roles as Jay and Silent Bob.
As for what he plans for the Dogma sequel, Smith tells Deadline that he’s very early in the process: “I’ve been whimsying about it for the last six months, because that’s the writing process for me. Writing is not like mashing your fingers on the keys; that’s the very last step. Writing is everything that happens before you actually sit down and put fingers to keys, so whimsying. I’ve been whimsying about what that could be, and I cracked the story. I absolutely love it. I feel like when people see it, they’ll be like, “Oh, I get it,” like “that makes sense” kind of thing. Hopefully they’ll be like, “that’s clever” and not be like, “well shit, I would have done that.” I will set a place at the table for everyone who was in the first movie who is still alive. Sadly, Alan [Rickman] and George [Carlin] won’t be able to join us, but I’ll set a place at the table for all of them.”
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Smith has been visiting movie theaters for the Dogma: The Resurrection Tour, promoting the re-release, which will soon make the film available on streaming for the first time. Stay tuned for more updates on Dogma 2.