Kevin Smith is working on ‘Dogma 2,’ with hopes for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to return

“Dogma 2” needs Matt and Ben to get made. Fortunately, Kevin Smith has leverage over them. 

During an appearance at the Vulture Festival over the weekend (via Deadline) celebrating the 25th anniversary of Smith’s cult favorite fantasy comedy “Dogma,” the writer-director revealed that he’s working on a sequel to the film, which remains one of his most successful, critically and commercially. 

“Some people will be like, ‘Don’t f—ing touch it. You’ll ruin it,’” Smith said at the event. “And I’m here to tell you: I will. I’m f—ing tickled. I found a way in.”

Smith said he is confident that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who starred as fallen angels Bartleby and Loki in the original film, will return for the sequel because they owe him for helping their breakthrough film “Good Will Hunting” get made and then forgetting to thank him when they won the Oscar for it. 

“I have been able to hold that over both their heads for 25 f—ing years, which is why they keep showing up in all the movies,” Smith said. “Expect a cameo from them — more than a f—ing cameo. The only way we get a ‘Dogma’ sequel made is if they’re there. So count on those guys being there.”

Religious satire “Dogma” tells the story of two fallen angels who are trying to get back into Heaven. They found a loophole that will allow them to re-enter after being cast out, but doing so will destroy all existence in the process. It falls to Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), an abortion counselor with a surprising connection to the Almighty, to stop them. The cast also includes Chris Rock, Jason Lee, Salma Hayek, George Carlin, Alan Rickman, and Jason Mewes and Smith himself as Jay and Silent Bob. 

The film was controversial when it was released in 1999 for its satirical take on Catholicism, and was accused of blasphemy by the activist group the Catholic League. It made over $40 million at the box office against a $10 million budget, which was very high for Smith at the time, whose previous three films, “Clerks,” “Mallrats,” and “Chasing Amy,” were made for less than that combined. “Dogma” has been unavailable to stream due to rights issues, but a new owner recently bought the film from Miramax, clearing the way for Smith to re-release the film in theaters, give it a streaming release, and work on this sequel. In 2017, Smith pledged to donate his residuals from films he made with Harvey Weinstein to Women in Film, and said that Weinstein approached him about making a sequel shortly before sexual assault allegations brought down the producer, but he declined.