Kevin Smith has accused Harvey Weinstein of holding his 1999 religious comedy Dogma hostage.
Speaking in a new interview, Smith revealed he received a phone call from Weinstein shortly before he was hit with allegations of sexual assault, and thought the disgraced Hollywood powerhouse was getting in touch to talk about Dogma, which had gone out of print since its Blu-Ray release in 2008.
According to Smith, Weinstein – who owns Dogma’s rights – was actually calling about the allegations levelled at him, and wanted to know whether Smith was one of the sources that had spoken to the New York Times before the paper’s bombshell investigation into Weinstein’s actions hit newsstands.
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Speaking to The Wrap, Smith said Weinstein called him up ‘out of the blue’, revealing: “I got really excited because I was like, ‘Oh my God, for the first time. The dude remembered me’.
"Like, after a decade he remembered that I was part of the Miramax family. And he remembered that he had Dogma and had a cool cast and I don’t know, I felt like wow, that’s, that’s cool.”
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However, it quickly became clear to Smith that Weinstein wasn’t actually interested in securing a continuation for Dogma in the streaming age.
“He was calling not because he wanted to do anything with Dogma. He wanted to see if I was one of the people who had spoken to the New York Times. I hadn’t, because I didn’t know any of that stuff,” continued Smith.
Years later, Smith learned a new DVD of Dogma was going to be produced, and Weinstein was trying to flog the rights for $5 million.
Smith said that although he had no intention of taking part in any new features for the film’s DVD release (which Weinstein would likely profit from), he did offer to buy the rights off Weinstein.
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Smith explained: “We felt very dirty about [it] because we didn’t want to give him money. But at the same time, it’s like my movie and he’s got it.”
He added: “He’s holding it hostage. My movie about angels is owned by the devil himself. And if there’s only one way out of this, maybe we could buy it away.”
Smith, who said that $5 million was an extortionate cost for Dogma’s rights, alleges that Weinstein scoffed at his camp’s offers to buy the rights for less, reiterating: “My movie about heaven is in limbo.”
“You can make a public stink, but I don’t think that guy reads the news anymore,” Smith added.
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UNILAD has approached Smith for further comment.
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Topics: Film and TV