Kevin Smith Talks Finally Bringing Dogma to 4K Physical Media After 25 Years – INTERVIEW

Kevin Smith reintroduces Dogma to a new generation with 4K debut.

For the first time in decades, Kevin Smith is holding Dogma in his own hands — literally. After years of tangled rights issues and fan frustration, the long-missing 1999 fantasy satire arrives on 4K physical media December 9, marking the film’s first legitimate release of the streaming era. And for Smith, who reacquired the rights this year, the return of Dogma is far more emotional than he expected.

Released in 1999, Dogma follows two fallen angels who discover a loophole that could allow them back into Heaven—at the cost of unraveling existence itself. The film stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as the exiled angels Bartleby and Loki, with Linda Fiorentino as the reluctant heroine tasked with stopping them. The ensemble also includes Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, George Carlin, Jason Mewes, and Smith himself, forming one of the most eclectic casts of his career. Order your copy here.

The film’s 25th anniversary sparked a sold-out 25-city tour, new cover art, and now a pristine restoration that reintroduces the movie to a generation that has never been able to watch it legally. In our extended conversation, Smith spoke about everything: the surreal moment he held the new 4K master, the rediscovery of his own film, stories he has never shared publicly, near-casting surprises, and what he’s writing and directing next.

A Long-Awaited Homecoming for Dogma

Smith opened the conversation by lifting brand-new 4K copies of Dogma into frame. “Look at these. Sent from heaven above,” he said, shaking his head at the years it took to get here. “The devil himself kept us from our grips, man. Now we get to have it… Lionsgate is still making that physical media, still understanding the AI bubble is going to burst, and all the streams are going to dry up. So I want my Blu-rays.”

Holding his beautifully designed covers, which he once feared might vanish, was overwhelming. “I never expected to see a Kevin Smith movie in 4K. Seems like a waste of the medium,” he joked. “But if there’s one that deserves it, it’s Dogma. It was me at my peak. And then it was all downhill from there.”

Yet the journey back to the film didn’t end with the new master. For the first time since 1999, Smith toured with it — traveling from city to city to watch it with audiences who have kept the movie alive without a way to legally revisit it.

“Going on tour was like going to church every night where you’re both the priest and Jesus at the same time,” he said. “I just fell in love with it all over again, particularly Jason Mewes’ performance. People sold us out, two shows a night. You could feel it — oh, I’m relevant again.”

Rediscovering the Craft Behind the Chaos

One of the most striking revelations for Smith was how much he had forgotten about the film’s craft. “Who directs Alan Rickman? Nobody. He directs himself. But I was there when it happened,” he said. He credited cinematographer Bob Yeoman, known for his longtime work with Wes Anderson, for elevating the film’s look. “Wes took his eye off him for one second, and we stole Bob Yeoman. We made a beautiful movie.”

In 1999, controversy drowned out those details. Religious protests, death threats, and heated press cycles overshadowed the artistry. “In 2025, I didn’t have any of that,” he said. “I could just sit back and enjoy. And man, I walked away slobberingly grateful. Nobody got paid a lot. It was a $10 million movie. Alan Rickman was there because he loved Chasing Amy. Everyone was there for affection — for the material or for me. And watching it again, that hit me hard.”

Untold Stories: Near-Casting and a Hollywood Twist

While reflecting on the film, Smith brought up something he has rarely discussed: two Dogma castings that almost happened. Just a few days before our conversation, he attended a screening of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and ran into Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson. Seeing them together triggered an old memory.

“I remembered both of them were in the running,” he said. “I met with Don Cheadle at Jerry’s Famous Deli. This was Devil in a Blue Dress era. And we’d made an offer to Sam Jackson, too.”

But a chance moment changed everything. “Chris Rock had a general meeting at Miramax and said, ‘I love Chasing Amy. What is the guy doing next?” Smith recalled. That kicked off a chain reaction that redirected the part. What happened next is the sort of behind-the-scenes chaos only Hollywood can produce. “Sam Jackson wound up getting paid the most money of a cast member who wasn’t even in Dogma,” Smith said. “Everyone else got scale.”

He laughed as he told the story, which was new even for longtime fans.

The Emotional Shift of Revisiting the Film

Smith said the experience of rewatching Dogma — with time, distance, and an audience ready to embrace it — changed his relationship with the film. “When you make a movie, you usually do it once, and you’re done,” he said. “This felt like getting a second bite of a delicious apple 26 years later. I was in the room with this cast again, I was seeing Alan Rickman again, I was seeing George Carlin again.”

Why Dogma Remains Kevin Smith’s Masterpiece 25 Years Later

That perspective is part of why he considers the 4K release more than a technical upgrade. It’s a preservation of something that almost slipped away.

Kevin Smith’s Next Projects: A Creative Recharge

Smith is not slowing down. In fact, he is writing one of the most personal scripts of his career — a project he describes as a period piece centered on a cultural moment that shaped him.

“It’s the one movie that I honestly feel like, oh, this is the grown-up movie everyone’s been waiting for me to make,” he said. “Every morning I wake up at 5. Not because I’m rested — because I want to see where it goes next. It’s the most romantic time of a creative’s life. Nothing can go wrong. No budgets. No casting. It’s all in your head and all in your heart.”

Smith said he is letting the script unfold naturally without page-count anxiety. “Enjoy this. You don’t have as many bites of the apple as you used to,” he said. “If it gets to 120 pages, great. If it goes past that, you’ll figure it out later.”

But his next released film won’t be that project. “The one that’s coming next year in March is another Jay and Silent Bob movie,” he confirmed. He even offered me a cameo. “If you just want to be on camera as a dude with a microphone commenting on an event… I got you, fam.”

This new Jay and Silent Bob installment features a third-act sequence that requires a crowd — his way of bringing fans into the universe just as much as he brings himself back to it.

Could a View Askewniverse Master Collection Happen?

The big fan request has always been a complete box set of his films. Smith believes the renewed success of his physical media releases may make it possible.

“To do a full eight-movie View Askewniverse set, you’d need Lionsgate, Paramount, and Universal,” he said. “But that path is real now. Universal doesn’t seem to care about physical media as much anymore, so you could license that title.” He said the demand is obvious. “Studios aren’t going to say no to free money.”

Based on the sell-out response to Dogma’s steelbooks, he believes a massive, multi-studio box set is no longer a fantasy. “I think it’s a strong possibility,” he said.

A Film Worth Saving

As our conversation ended, Smith was struck by how many people see Dogma as their entry point into his filmography. When I shared that it was the first Kevin Smith movie my wife ever watched, he smiled and said, “Now you’re grown up, and you can understand it all.”

For the fans who have waited patiently — through rights limbo, scarcity, and bootleg hunting — Dogma’s 4K release is both a reclamation and a celebration.

The long-lost film is finally coming home. Dogma 4K arrives December 9.

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