Not Gigli-ing now

Tue, Jan 13, 2004

Gemma Freeman

Highs and J-Los

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are facing up to the biggest flop of their careers with the movie Gigli.

Marrying later this year, the couple met as co-stars on the rom-com. But the film is proving a box office failure, making just £900,000 on its first night.

Meanwhile, American Pie 3: American Wedding topped the US box office with £34m on its first weekend. The film premieres in the UK this Thursday, August 7.

"This is disastrous for Jen and Ben. Everyone expected it to be a hit, despite what the critics said," claimed one insider, in reaction to negative reviews of Gigli.

"This is not a shock," said Tom Sherak, a partner in Revolution Studios, which made the lead balloon for Sony Pictures. "They'll continue to be big stars, and chances are they will not work together again - and they shouldn't, by the way."

Taking the bad press to heart, the pair are expected to heed that advice.

"Ben's brushing it off but J-Lo's taking it personally," said one source. "They've admitted their relationship is more of a hindrance than a boost to a movie."

However, there will be one last movie for the couple next February, when director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma) releases Jersey Girl.

Affleck is used to putting on a brave face, however. The actor claims to have practised smiling in the mirror for hours as a kid.

He said: "When I was a teenager, I'd check out in the mirror that if I smiled this way or that way to a girl, that I would get the girl. And that's so silly, of course, because it never works.

"I sure did a lot of idiot faces in those years."