Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 197

TV Icon Betty White Gets Her Own USPS Postage Stamp

Betty White was a national treasure, and the world is a lesser place without her in it. The First Lady of Television was part of the American fabric for over eighty years. Sadly, we lost her mere weeks before her 100th birthday in 2021. While she may be gone, she’s certainly not forgotten. And we don’t just mean because of the endless reruns of The Golden Girls on cable TV. According to NPR, the USPS has announced that White will feature in a new postage stamp next year. The image they are using is the same one on the book cover of White’s biography, by photographer Kwaku Alston.

USPS

Betty White received anywhere from hundreds to thousands of individual pieces of fan mail each week. So perhaps more than any other TV celebrity, it makes sense the USPS would honor her with a postage stamp of her own. Apparently, she received the majority of her letters at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Probably because folks now stuck at home marathoned old episodes of The Golden Girls, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, or any of the number of television series that White starred in. She was always a comforting presence in a chaotic time, and during the pandemic, even more so.

Touchstone Television

Betty White won’t be the only pop culture icon getting a USPS stamp next year. The Postal Service has already announced that for 2025, New Orleans musician, producer, and songwriter Allen Toussaint will also receive a stamp. The USPS is announcing other iconic names getting stamps over the next few months. But if we may be so bold, can we advocate for postage stamps for Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty, and Rue McClanahan? What’s good for one Golden Girl from Miami should be good for the rest of them if you ask us.

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A MINECRAFT MOVIE Trailer Brings Steve’s Origin Story, Block Zombies, and More

As weird as it might still sound, no one should wonder why we’re getting a live-action Minecraft movie. The real mystery is why it took so long for that to happen. You’d have thought the best-selling video game of all time would have made the jump to cinemas much faster. But gamers and moviegoers alike won’t care about how long a film adaptation took if Jason Momoa and Jack Black can help the franchise build something special on the big screen. And the latest entertaining trailer for A Minecraft Movie looks like they might have made the wait worth it. Especially when block zombies look like this much fun.

Gaming’s most popular sandbox is making the movie from digital to live-action. (At least its humans are live-action.) That switch looks like it will be a whole lot of fun. The official A Minecraft Movie trailer is full of Easter eggs and references to the game, fun creatures, and genuine intrigue. Please we really like those zombies! This A Minecraft Movie‘s trailer even reveals some of Steve’s origin story to us, which we’ve never gotten before. Spoiler alert: Steve just wanted to be a miner… and he’s been digging and digging and digging right into Minecraft‘s world. It’s a magical universe, but the caveat is that it’s ruled by blocks. Still, A Minecraft Movie‘s Steve seems pretty chuffed to have found it, and with his lifelong miner dreams, we bet it’s heaven.

Warner Bros. Pictures

But what’s really going on in this strange world of blocks? Here’s the film’s official synopsis from Warner Bros. Pictures:

Welcome to the world of Minecraft, where creativity doesn’t just help you craft, it’s essential to one’s survival! Four misfits—Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, Henry, Natalie, and Dawn—find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like Piglins and Zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve. Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.

Warner Bros. Pictures

The video game-based movie comes from director Jared Hess (Napolean Dynamite, Nacho Libre). It also stars Emma Myers (Wednesday), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple), Sebastian Eugene Hansen (Lisey’s Story), and the great Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus), who we see in action in A Minecraft Movie‘s trailer.

A Minecraft Movie will begin crafting its box office haul when it brings the video game world to big screens on April 4, 2025.

Editor’s Note: A Minecraft Movie comes from Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.

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Live-Action HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Introduces Toothless in First Trailer

Disney doesn’t have a monopoly on turning beloved animated films into remakes starring actual humans. Universal is also getting in on the fun with a live-action version of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon. And yet, despite featuring real actors, it’s a CGI-character who takes center stage in the film’s first trailer. The live-action How to Train Your Dragon trailer introduces everyone’s favorite young dragon, Toothless, to the screen—who it turns out looks the same whether he’s starring alongside cartoons or people.

We’d say welcome back to John Powell’s amazing How to Train Your Dragon score if we’d ever stopped listening to it, but obviously, that isn’t true. So instead, we’ll focus on how good this movie looks. Director Dean DeBlois has truly managed to make the animated Viking world he created feel real. He also nailed the casting for both Hiccup (Mason Thames) and Stoick (Gerard Butler, who also voiced the character previously). Of course, it helps that Toothless hasn’t changed much in this live-action How to Train Your Dragon Trailer. Or, you know, at all. And that is fine by us. You can’t improve on perfection.

What’s happening here, though? Fans of the animated film know, especially with some shot-for-shot recreations. But for those new to the series, here’s the official synopsis from Universal Pictures.

On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup stands apart. The inventive yet overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast Hiccup defies centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking society. With the fierce and ambitious Astrid and the village’s quirky blacksmith Gobber by his side, Hiccup confronts a world torn by fear and misunderstanding. As an ancient threat emerges, endangering both Vikings and dragons, Hiccup’s friendship with Toothless becomes the key to forging a new future. Together, they must navigate the delicate path toward peace, soaring beyond the boundaries of their worlds and redefining what it means to be a hero and a leader.

Universal Pictures

The live-action How to Train Your Dragon also stars Nico Parker as Astrid, and Nick Frost plays Gobber, who we see in action in the trailer. It also features Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2), Gabriel Howell (Bodies), Bronwyn James (Wicked), Harry Trevaldwyn (Smothered), Ruth Codd (The Midnight Club), Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Murray McArthur (Game of Thrones).

The only thing more real than this version of Hiccup is how much longer we’ll have to wait to see him ride Toothless. How to Train Your Dragon human edition soars into theaters next summer, June 13, 2025.

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TRON: ARES Director Says Sequel Is ‘Grittier’ and ‘Industrial’

The long-delayed third film in Disney’s TRON franchise began production in Vancouver in January 2024. The original 1982 TRON was a groundbreaking sci-fi film, using then state-of-the-art computer graphics to realize the world of “the Grid.” This was a digital world, living entirely inside a computer system. Video game developer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) gets sucked into the Grid and has a grand adventure. TRON became a cult classic, and eventually spawned a follow-up film, TRON: Legacy, in 2010. A third TRON movie, TRON: Ares, is now in the works.

TRON: Ares will continue the musical legacy of the TRON franchise. This time, Nine Inch Nails will score the movie and create the TRON: Ares soundtrack. We look forward to an earful of that. This change for the score marks the film’s grittier nature, according to director Joachim Rønning. In his interview with Empire, Rønning said that TRON: Ares is a new version of this world that’s more industrial.

“With Nine Inch Nails making the music, this instalment will be a little grittier, a little bit more industrial,” the filmmaker said. “It’s been important for me to contrast The Grid and the real world. In that sense, Nine Inch Nails lends itself perfectly into this new Tron world that we are creating.”

Disney

Here’s everything else we know about TRON: Ares.

Title

The name of the third installment of the TRON franchise is TRON: Ares.

TRON: Ares’ PlotDisney

We know next to nothing about the plot for the TRON: Ares. The second film, TRON: Legacy, ended with Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) escaping the digital world of the Grid, with escaped Grid refugee Quorra (Olivia Wilde) in tow. The implications that they were going to change the “real” world were there. Will the third TRON film follow up on that plot point? Rumors are that this installment will be a reboot of sorts. Jared Leto’s character of Ares was not in previous films. The film’s director said the third TRON is “a movie subsequently about AI and what it means, and takes, to be human.”

We do have a brief synopsis for TRON: Ares:

TRON: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings.

Behind-the-ScenesDisney

Sitting in the director’s chair for the third TRON film is Joachim Rønning. Rønning became known thanks to his 2012 film Kon-Tiki, after which Disney hired him to direct Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and the upcoming Disney+ film Young Woman and the Sea. This script is from screenwriter Jesse Wigutow. Nine Inch Nails will score the film, and we hope they take notes from Daft Punk’s iconic score from TRON: Legacy.

Rønning said in a release, “I’m excited to be part of the TRON franchise and bring this new film to fans around the world. TRON: Ares builds upon the legacy of cutting-edge design, technology and storytelling. Now more than ever, it feels like the right time to return to the Grid.” 

Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, Jared Leto, Emma Ludbrook and Steven Lisberger are the producers, with Russell Allen serving as executive producer.

TRON: Ares’ CastSony/Disney

Jared Leto is in the lead for TRON: Ares as the (possibly) titular character of Ares, who joined the cast back in 2020. Joining him are Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, and Gillian Anderson.

Jeff Bridges recently revealed that he will also appear in TRON: Ares. “I’m heading off this Saturday to play a part in the third installment of the ‘Tron’ story; I’m excited about that,” he told the Film Comment podcast. “It’s wild. Jared Leto is the star of this third one, and I’m really anxious to work with him, and I’ve admired his work.” We know that his OG character, Kevin Flynn, sacrificed himself in Tron: Legacy but in a way that left his ending open for interpretation. We will see what happens.

TRON: Ares Release Date

TRON: Ares will release on October 10, 2025.

Originally published on January 23, 2024.

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HAPPY GILMORE 2 Brings Back Original Director Alongside Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler

This news might turn some fans into Unhappy Gilmores or into Really Happy Gilmores, but regardless of how anyone feels about it, a Happy Gilmore sequel is heading to Netflix. According to Deadline, Netflix announced that a sequel to Happy Gilmore had been greenlit during its Upfront presentation. Netflix confirmed that Adam Sandler would return for Happy Gilmore 2, which we’re going to call Happier Gilmore for now. But no logline for the movie is available at present. However, we recently received a casting update. Bad Bunny will join Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2, and three original actors are also back on the golf course, including Ben Stiller as Hal L. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the original director of Happy Gilmore, Dennis Dugan, will return for the sequel, which is currently in production.

Universal Pictures

In addition to Bad Bunny and Sandler, the trades share that Ben Stiller, Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald are returning for Happy Gilmore 2. As mentioned, Stiller will be back as Hal L and he brings his mustache with him.

Universal Pictures

Meanwhile, Bowen reprises her role as Virginia Venit, the love interest for Adam Sandler’s character, and McDonald is back as Shooter McGavin, the villain of the movie.

Happy Gilmore 2 is officially in production ⛳️ pic.twitter.com/IznOshH5Es

— Netflix (@netflix) September 9, 2024

For those who are somehow not in the know, Happy Gilmore is a golf movie and one of Sandler’s most famous. Its synopsis reads:

All Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) has ever wanted is to be a professional hockey player. But he soon discovers he may actually have a talent for playing an entirely different sport: golf. When his grandmother (Frances Bay) learns she is about to lose her home, Happy joins a golf tournament to try and win enough money to buy it for her. With his powerful driving skills and foulmouthed attitude, Happy becomes an unlikely golf hero — much to the chagrin of the well-mannered golf professionals.

Well, we did just see a tennis movie hit our screens, so why not bring back golf? We’ll just have to wait and see what the Happy Gilmore sequel is all about. Maybe it will bring back Sandler’s alien co-star from Spaceman. That would be fun. Happy Gilmore 2, it’s your swing.

Originally published on May 15, 2024.

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William Shatner’s Kirk Says Farewell to Nimoy’s Spock in STAR TREK Anniversary Short Film

Thirty years ago this week, William Shatner took his final bow as Captain James T. Kirk in the film Star Trek: Generations. Kirk died, with a grieving Captain Picard at his side, saving an inhabited planet from annihilation. However, most fans were not satisfied with Captain Kirk’s final goodbye. Sure, it was neat to see him share the screen with Patrick Stewart as Picard. But they had only just met. It would have meant ten times more to have Leonard Nimoy’s Spock there as Kirk departed this mortal plane of existence. Alas, it was not to be. Until now, that is.

Via Trek Movie, we’ve learned that three decades after Star Trek: Generations hit theaters, the Roddenberry Archive, together with OTOY, has rectified this mistake with a short film called 765874 – Unification. Directed by Spanish filmmaker Carlos Baena, it was made with the involvement of Shatner himself, along with the Leonard Nimoy estate. This mostly silent short film will bring tears to the eyes of any longtime Star Trek fan. Especially those who wished Kirk and Spock could have had that one, final reunion. You can watch it in full above.

OTOY/The Roddenberry Archives

Using a combination of live-action footage and computer-generated imagery, this short imagines what would have happened if Captain Kirk had left the other dimensional Nexus (where he existed for 80 years in a suspended state) to visit Spock as he died many decades later. 765874 – Unification is filled with Star Trek Easter eggs. In fact, the name Unification is also the name of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode centered on Spock in his middle-aged years. (Which, for Vulcans, is around 120 or so). Actor Lawrence Selleck plays Spock, with CGI enhancement to appear like Nimoy.

OTOY/The Roddenberry Archives

Actor Gary Lockwood, who played Kirk’s buddy Gary Mitchell, returned to the role after nearly 60 years. Mitchell ascended to godhood in Star Trek’s second pilot episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” The implication here is that he used his godlike powers to help Kirk reunite with Spock in his dying moments. And Kirk would have needed the help of a deity. Because when Spock died offscreen in Star Trek Beyond, he was actually in another universe. The iconic Vulcan passed away in the so-called Kelvin timeline, used in the modern J.J. Abrams films.

OTOY/The Roddenberry Archives

Another character making a cameo is Robin Curtis, who played the Vulcan Lt. Saavik in the film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The body of the younger Kirk was provided by Sam Witwer, who fans know as the voice of Darth Maul in the animated Star Wars shows. More Trek luminaries involved include Michael Giacchino, composer of the modern Kelvin-verse Star Trek films, and Picard production designer David Blass. Maybe the deepest cut reference in the film is a character from Star Trek: Discovery named Yor. This character crossed from the Kelvin Universe to the Prime Universe. Shatner’s Kirk and Nimoy’s Spock never got to say goodbye to each other on the silver screen. But 765874 – Unification is certainly the next best thing.

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Watch the First Clip From MOANA 2, and Learn New Behind-the-Scenes Details on Making the Film

Moana 2 finally hits theaters on November 27, and we have our first clip from the highly anticipated sequel, featuring the new song “We’re Back.” Featuring the vocal talent of Auliʻi Cravalho, you can watch the clip down below. Afterward, you can continue to read about our experiences getting a behind-the-scenes look at Walt Disney Animation Studios at the creation of this follow-up to the modern Disney animated classic Moana.

In early September, Walt Disney Animation Studios hosted Nerdist and other journalists at a special presentation for Moana 2. After a traditional Polynesian dance performance, we saw a presentation from the Oceanic Cultural Trust, with an “Art of Celestial Navigation and Wayfinding Session.” The Oceanic Cultural Trust is a group of anthropologists and historians from the Pacific Islands, deeply involved in the making of Moana 2. They are there to make sure the film maintains the cultural authenticity of the original. After viewing the first 30 minutes of the film, the production team gave us a peek behind the curtain on how they crafted Moana’s continuing journey.

Walt Disney Animation Studios

After an in-depth conversation with Moana 2 directors David G. Derrick Jr., Dana Ledoux Miller, and Jason Hand, which you can read here, we also got to talk to the character designers for the film. Daniel Arriaga, character art director, Amy Smeed, and Kevin Webb, the heads of animation, explained how the characters we reinvented visually. We got a lesson on how to draw an animated Disney character ourselves. The Moana 2 animators even taught us how to draw “Mini Maui.” That’s the little version of Maui that’s his own living tattoo. True, our efforts weren’t quite on a Disney Animation level. But the final results weren’t too far off from how Mini-Maui appears on screen. This is a true testament to their teaching skill and not our artistic talent.

Nerdist

For Moana 2, the animators explained to us the visual changes in the characters for the sequel. Especially as there’s a four-year time jump in the film from the first, and our heroine is now a teen. Her hairstyle received a slight update, among other things. We asked the team how they approached giving Dwayne Johnson’s Maui, and Immortal being, a visual update. Their answer? “Maui is exactly the same. He’s the one character that we just said ‘That’s Maui.'” The arrogant (but lovable) demigod now sees Moana as a peer, and his changes are internal. This young girl is now his best friend, after all. But visually, he’ll remain just as we saw him in the first film. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke…”

Nerdist

We also got to experience how the foley artist created the sounds of Moana 2. We were invited to a demonstration session at the studio, where foley artist Ronni Brown showed us how the sounds of the film were created with nothing more than wet rags, ropes, baby bottles, and more. Pretty much anything you can use to create sounds appropriate to the action on screen. Brown used coconut shells to represent the sounds of Pua’s footsteps when he ran onto Moana’s boat. For Hei-Hei, she used dried-up Wisteria pods. She even used leather and some rubber pieces to make the sounds of vines snapping while Moana took a tumble. Yes, some aspects of filmmaking feel like they are probably a chore. But during Ronni Brown’s demonstration, foley work never looks like anything but fun.

Walt Disney Animation Studios

The real highlight of our day, however, was getting a moment in the recording booth. There, the team at Disney demonstrated how they record ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement) for their films. Moana 2 actor Hualālai Chung (voice of Moni) coached us through the ADR. The scene used was Moana and her new crew encountering Kakamori pirates. They gave us a list of characters we could do ADR for, and the character of Kele was our choice. As the “grumpy old man who never leaves the island,” we saw him as a good fit. All we got to do was yell “LAND!” upon seeing shore, but it was a blast to be part of an animated Disney film. Even if it wasn’t used for the real movie. Clearly, tons of love and care went into making Moana 2, and we can’t wait to see it up on the big screen.

Moana 2 arrives in theaters on November 27.

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No One Hates the ’80s HOWARD THE DUCK Movie More Than James Gunn

Which was the first big-screen Marvel movie? Most of you would probably say Blade. Some of you might think it’s the 1989 Punisher starring Dolph Lundgren. But no, the first Marvel Comics hero to get his own film was none other than Howard the Duck. The comedic character, who was indeed a part of the Marvel universe proper, received a George Lucas-produced film in 1986. Howard the Duck was a massive flop, critically and commercially. And as a report from Slashfilm reminded us, no one hates it more than Howard the Duck comics fan (and current DC Studios co-head) James Gunn. Here’s what he told Yahoo News back in 2017:

Universal Pictures

I’m a huge Howard the Duck fan. […] For people who don’t know, I’m a huge Marvel Comics fan. But Howard the Duck was maybe my favorite character as a kid. I loved the Steve Gerber Howard the Duck. I went back and I collected all of those comics, I had every comic he was ever in. […] I was young, and I went so excited about it. […] I wasn’t hip with the Caucasian eyelids. That upset me. Because they had the puppet, and it was a duck, and instead of having feathery or white eyelids, he had Caucasian eyelids, and it was creepy.

Gunn gave us a more comics-accurate Howard in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, even if it’s just in cameo form. In those cameos, actor Seth Green provided the voice. Now we know he did it as an attempt to salvage the character, although in a small way. But if Howard has any future appearances in the MCU (he’s already shown up on What If…?) it will likely be based on the version Gunn created. So Gunn’s version of Howard will no doubt have a longer shelf life than this ’80s big-screen counterpart. Which is probably for the best.

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COBRA KAI Season 6 Part 2 Uses AI to Bring Back Major THE KARATE KID Character

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Using AI to depict a deceased person’s likeness continues to be a topic of discussion, unfortunately. There are actors like the still-living (thankfully) Robert Downey, Jr. who say they absolutely do not give studios permission to resurrect or continue their careers via AI cameos. Then, there are other cases where it is being done to serve a narrative purpose, which is terrible or needed, depending on whom you ask. The latest news is that Cobra Kai season six part two used AI to bring back Mr. Miyagi, the famous The Karate Kid character. (Thank you SlashFilm for bringing this to our attention!)

The Karate Kid, Columbia

As fans of the film know, Pat Morita passed away in 2005 and since then his character has only existed spiritually. Now, AI has made it possible for Mr. Miyagi to appear in Cobra Kai. Here’s what Cobra Kai co-creator Josh Heald had to say about why this was necessary: 

“For so many seasons, we’ve told a Miyagi story that was focused on the absence of Mr. Miyagi. This season, we’re digging into a little bit more of the looming presence of new information, new ideas or a new glimpse into a part of Mr. Miyagi’s life that the series has never focused on. That Daniel has never been aware of. So by digging more into that and getting more and more in Daniel’s head with his kind of tortured idea of, ‘What didn’t he know?’ … does that affect and infect his opinion of Mr. Miyagi?”

Netflix

Interesting. It is not clear what Morita’s family nor former cast members feel about this. But Netflix and the show’s creatives said they depicted his likeness in the most respectful way possible. There’s one final part to this story so we will have to see its conclusion in 2025.

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Kevin Smith Says DOGMA 2 Will Bring Back Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Doomed Angels

Kevin Smith, who has made three Clerks movies and more Jay and Silent Bob films than you realize, is running it back yet again. But we’re not even talking about his potential Mallrats follow-up, Twilight of the Mallrats, either. The View Askewniverse creator is working on a totally different sequel to another one of his signature films. Smith has revealed he’s writing a screenplay for Dogma 2. And despite God herself yeeting their characters out of existence in the original film, he said the follow-up will bring back Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s angels.

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While speaking at the Vulture Festival, Smith revealed he’s returning to another one of his old IPs. Now that he finally owns the rights to his 1999 film Dogma he’s writing a sequel. He said he’s doing so despite people telling him not to “f***ing touch it” cause he’ll “ruin it.”

Smith said he will because he “found a way in” to continue the story. That way in apparently includes a way to bring back Affleck and Damon’s disgraced angels Bartelby and Loki. “Expect a cameo from them — more than a f***ing cameo,” Smith said. “The only way we get a Dogma sequel made is if they’re there. So count on those guys being there.”

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Will bringing back Bartelby and Loki violate in the infallible word of God, arguably the single biggest plot point of Dogma? Maybe! But maybe that will be the entire point of the film. We’ll have to wait to see to find out how that will work. That’s also true of the entire movie. Smith also said Dogma 2 will be less of a traditional “straight sequel” and more of a “companion” piece.

For now, only God herself and Kevin Smith know what the hell that actually means. But you don’t need to be a supreme deity to realize that someday we’ll probably be telling you about Chasing Amy 2.

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