History Trivia / Dogma

* ChannelHop: Creator/{{Disney}}, who owned Creator/MiramaxFilms at the time, got cold feet when the Catholic League began protesting the film and forced the Weinstein brothers to buy the film themselves. The Weinsteins then licensed it to Creator/{{Lionsgate}} for theatrical distribution and [[Creator/RCAColumbiaPicturesHomeVideo Columbia [=TriStar=] Home Entertainment]] for home video (Lionsgate was, at the time, a relatively-obscure, primarily Canadian film company with an even smaller home entertainment arm; they wouldn't acquire [[Creator/InternationalVideoEntertainment Artisan Entertainment]] for a couple more years). The result was ''Dogma'' becoming Lionsgate's highest-grossing film until ''Film/{{Twilight}}''[[note]]retroactively, as at the time of release ''Twilight'' was produced by Creator/SummitEntertainment' Summit was acquired by Lionsgate in 2012[[/note]] and one of the highest-grossing independent films ever.

* ChannelHop: Creator/{{Disney}}, who owned Creator/MiramaxFilms at the time, got cold feet when the Catholic League began protesting the film and forced the Weinstein brothers to buy the film themselves. The Weinsteins then licensed it to Creator/{{Lionsgate}} for theatrical distribution and [[Creator/RCAColumbiaPicturesHomeVideo Columbia [=TriStar=] Home Entertainment]] for home video (Lionsgate was, at the time, a relatively-obscure, primarily Canadian film company with an even smaller home entertainment arm; they wouldn't acquire [[Creator/InternationalVideoEntertainment Artisan Entertainment]] for a couple more years). The result was ''Dogma'' becoming Lionsgate's highest-grossing film until ''Film/{{Twilight}}'' and one of the highest-grossing independent films ever.

* ChannelHop: Creator/{{Disney}}, who owned Creator/MiramaxFilms at the time, got cold feet when the Catholic League began protesting the film and forced the Weinstein brothers to buy the film themselves. The Weinsteins then licensed it to Creator/{{Lionsgate}} for theatrical distribution and [[Creator/RCAColumbiaPicturesHomeVideo Columbia [=TriStar=] Home Entertainment]] for home video (Lionsgate was, at the time, a relatively-obscure, primarily Canadian film company with an even smaller home entertainment arm; they wouldn't acquire Artisan Entertainment for a couple more years). The result was ''Dogma'' becoming Lionsgate's highest-grossing film until ''Film/{{Twilight}}'' and one of the highest-grossing independent films ever.

* StillbornFranchise: After 9/11, Creator/KevinSmith toyed with the idea of doing a sequel about Islam and it's relationship with Christianity, feeling that both the tragedy itself and the fallout afterwards were extremely religiously charged from both sides. He eventually decided the subject was too complicated for him to handle gracefully and abandoned the idea.[[note]]According to Smith, Harvey Weinstein called him a week before the incriminating article about Weinstein's extensive history of sexual abuse was published to negotiate a possible sequel. Smith later realized that Weinstein had no interest in such a thing, rather he knew rumors about the article were already beginning to spread and [[SecretTestOfCharacter he was calling everyone he knew to see who was still on his side]].[[/note]]

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The afore-mentioned copyright mix-up, along with Kevin Smith understandably not wanting to renegotiate a new distribution deal with the now-disgraced Harvey Weinstein, who still owns the rights to the film, are what's presently keeping it from getting a digital release. As he put it, "My film about angels is owned by the devil."

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The afore-mentioned copyright mix-up, along with Kevin Smith understandably not wanting to renegotiate a new distribution deal with the now-disgraced Harvey Weinstein, who still owns the rights to the film, are what's presently keeping it from getting a digital release.

** Joey Lauren Adams was going to play Bethany, but Lion's Gate only agreed to finance the production if it had a more recognizable actress in the role.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Using his indie cred and connections, Smith managed to assemble an all-star cast which included ''Men in Black''[='s=] Linda Fionrentino, who had a reputation for being difficult to direct. This was Fionrentino's last stab at relevancy and she repaid him by making his life a living hell. (And Smith has a history of getting bullied by his strong-willed stars.) After the film came out, Smith talked trash about her to anyone who would listen. Supposedly there were days where Fiorentino wouldn't even speak to him on set. He believes the movie would have been better off without her, and he regrets not casting Creator/JaneaneGarofalo in the lead. All of Linda's later films were either bombs or direct-to-video.

* StarDerailingRole: Linda Fiorentino was barely seen on the big screen ever since the film's commentary track revealed how hard it was to work with her.

* HostilityOnTheSet: According to Smith, there were days where Creator/LindaFiorentino wouldn't even speak to him while shooting, which is understandably frustrating, and that he hugely regrets casting her, saying he would have made Creator/JaneaneGarofalo the lead if he had known how difficult Linda would be.

* ChannelHop: Creator/{{Disney}}, who owned Creator/MiramaxFilms at the time, got cold feet when the Catholic League began protesting the film and forced the Weinstein brothers to buy the film themselves. The Weinsteins then licensed it to Creator/{{Lionsgate}} for theatrical distribution and [[Creator/RCAColumbiaPicturesHomeVideo Columbia [=TriStar=] Home Entertainment]] for home video (Lionsgate was, at the time, a relatively-obscure, primarily Canadian film company with an even smaller home entertainment arm; they wouldn't acquire Artisan Entertainment for a couple more years). The result was ''Dogma'' becoming Lionsgate's highest-grossing film until ''Franchise/{{Twilight}}'' and one of the highest-grossing independent films ever.

* ChannelHop: Creator/{{Disney}}, who owned Creator/MiramaxFilms at the time, got cold feet when the Catholic League began protesting the film and forced the Weinstein brothers to buy the film themselves. The Weinsteins then licensed it to Creator/{{Lionsgate}} for theatrical distribution and [[Creator/RCAColumbiaPicturesHomeVideo Columbia [=TriStar=] Home Entertainment]] for home video (Lionsgate was, at the time, a relatively-obscure, primarily Canadian film company with an even smaller home entertainment arm; they wouldn't acquire Artisan Entertainment for a couple more years). The result was ''Dogma'' becoming Lionsgate's highest-grossing film until ''Franchise/{{Twilignt}}'' and one of the highest-grossing independent films ever.

* ChannelHop: Thanks to the controversy the film created, Creator/{{Disney}} (which owned Creator/MiramaxFilms at the time) [[ScrewedByTheNetwork forced the now-disgraced Weinstein brothers]] to buy the film themselves, and they went to Creator/{{Lionsgate}} (then a relatively-obscure, primarily Canadian film company) for theatrical distribution. In turn, since [=Lionsgate=]'s home entertainment arm was relatively small (they wouldn't acquire Artisan Entertainment for a couple more years), [[Creator/RCAColumbiaPicturesHomeVideo Columbia [=TriStar=] Home Entertainment]] picked up the video rights.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: [[WordOfGod According to Kevin Smith]], [[https://twitter.com/ThatKevinSmith/status/946171602684723200 a mess of copyright issues]] has prevented the film from receiving a digital release.
** To elaborate; [[OhCrap Harvey Weinstein personally owns the film]] after Disney (who owned Miramax at the time) declined to release the film in the face of the Catholic League's protests. The Weinsteins then licensed the film to Lionsgate for theatrical distribution and Sony for the video release. All of these deals expired though and weren't renewed by the time the #MeToo story broke about Harvey, and the Weinstein Company was dissolved completely a while after. So for the time being, we have to KeepCirculatingTheTapes while the rights are sorted out.

* StillbornFranchise: Creator/KevinSmith also originally wanted to do a sequel about Islam, but since it would touch on a belief system much less forgiving to jokes, he decided to abandon the idea of a sequel altogether.

** To elaborate; the Weinsteins personally own the film after Disney (who owned Miramax at the time) declined to release the film in the face of the Catholic League's protests. The Weinsteins then licensed the film to Lionsgate for theatrical distribution and Sony for the video release. All of these deals expired though and weren't renewed by the time the #MeToo story broke about them, and the Weinstein Company was dissolved completely a while after.

* UncreditedRole: While Ethan Suplee did the voice of the Golgothan, here's no record of who physically portrayed the Golgothan.

* ClumsyCopyrightCensorship: Thanks to the aforementioned issues with Disney, any references to them, Miramax, and the Weinsteins were bleeped out on the DVDCommentary.

** There was a deleted scene, which made it all the way to the Cannes screening, of Azrael giving his take on {{Hell}} of being a place of eternal HeroicSelfDeprecation, making it a place of eternal suffering. This being bad for Fallen Angels, which is shown with Bartleby, that being away from {{God}} is bad enough, but humanity's guilt in creating a hellhole drove them so insane that Azrael prefers oblivion than undergoing eternal SanitySlippage. It was cut for making him seem too sympathetic.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Staunchly atheist Creator/GeorgeCarlin as a priest (a corrupt one, so it's not ''that'' ironic). He's also seen playing OfficeGolf. Carlin ''despised'' golf.

** Creator/JasonLee was originally cast as Loki. Scheduling confilicts meant he had to take the smaller role of Azrael.

* DevelopmentHell: Kevin Smith started writing this movie before he wrote ''Film/{{Clerks}}'', but after listening to a radio interview with Creator/RobertRodriguez about the importance of writing around what was readily available, Smith wisely decided that it was too ambitious and started writing a film about the convenience store he worked in instead. He then considered doing this as his follow up, but felt that he still needed more experience as a filmmaker first.

* HostilityOnTheSet: According to Smith, there were days where Creator/LindaFiorentino wouldn't even speak to him while shooting, which is understandably frustrating, and that he hugely regrets casting her.

* CastTheRunnerUp:

* ClumsyCopyrightCensorship: Thanks to the aforementioned issues with Disney, any references to them, Miramax, and the Weinsteins were bleeped out on the DVD commentary.

** Kevin Smith found Linda Fiorentino so difficult to work with that he regretted not casting his first choice, Creator/JaneaneGarofalo (who played Bethany's co-worker Liz). Creator/GillianAnderson was also considered.

** Creator/JasonLee was originally cast as Loki, but scheduling conflicts meant he had to take the smaller role of Azrael.

* StillbornFranchise: Creator/KevinSmith also originally wanted to do a sequel, but since he mentioned it would touch on a belief system much less forgiving to jokes (Islam), he gave up on it, and has stated that the film will never get a sequel.

** Kevin Smith wanted this to be his follow-up to ''Film/{{Clerks}}'', but wisely decided that he'd need to wait a few years to become a better filmmaker.

** Smith pursued Creator/RobertRodriguez to direct the film. Rodriguez enjoyed the script but, in seeing how personal the story was, insisted that Smith himself direct.

** On the film's official website, Smith described a scene that did not make the final cut: a climactic face-off in the hospital between Silent Bob, a badly burned and half-decomposed Triplet, and the Golgothan. The battle was to end with the Triplet killing Bethany (temporarily), and God, newly liberated, transforming the Golgothan into flowers. Test audiences felt there was "too much Golgothan", and the film's run time already exceeded two hours, so the scene was eliminated.

* StillbornFranchise: Creator/KevinSmith also originally wanted to do a sequel, but since he mentioned it would touch on a belief system much less forgiving to jokes (Islam), he gave up on it, at least for now.

** An earlier version of the script available [[http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/d/dogma-script-screenplay-kevin-smith.html here]] features scenes of Jay and Silent Bob singing, a full explanation of the Stygian triplets, as well as the second fight against Noman the Golgothan.

** Kevin Smith found Linda Fiorentino so difficult to work with that he regretted not casting his first choice, Creator/JaneaneGarofalo. Creator/GillianAnderson was also considered.

** God was at one point supposed to be played by Holly Hunter (see above). Creator/ShannenDoherty wanted the role.
** Before Music/HowardShore, Music/DannyElfman was approached to score the film.

** Smith originally wanted Music/DannyElfman to compose the score for the film, but he was unavailable.

* HostilityOnTheSet: According to Smith, there were days where Linda Fiorentino wouldn't even speak to him while shooting, which is understandably frustrating, and that he hugely regrets casting her.