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Top 12 Stories of 2003:#4: Gigli bombs.
The chill wind that blew across the landscape of American popular culture in 2003: That was Gigli. The ravaging force that laid waste to love, hope and careers: That was Gigli. The nadir of western civilization: That, as some would lead you to believe, was Gigli.
But the year started out so darned well for those involved, especially for the stars of the film. The couple of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck was the toast of the free world. They were at the heights of their careers. Their fame knew no bounds. They were in love, with their marriage to come later in the year, a few weeks after the premiere of their movie Gigli, the movie during which they met and fell for each other. As the year grew on, the tabloidization of their relationship grew. News of their every move received blanket coverage not only by the E! channels of the world, but also by mainstream news sources. Soon overfull of daily doses of the Bennifer phenomenon, the public started to grow wary of these most luminous of lights. It can't be denied that the explosion of fame that Affleck and Lopez saw as their film approached led to the severe critical backlash the film received. Few major studio films have been so roundly reviled by critics. The pounding Gigli received is summarized at Rotten Tomatoes, where director Martin Brest's film received only 10 favorable reviews out of 143, for a nearly 93% rotten rating. And the critics were merciless in what they said about the film. Among the more eloquent bashings of the film came from A.O. Scott of the New York Times: "Hopelessly misconceived exercise in celebrity self-worship." Other attacks were more savage, calling to mind a certain review of Spinal Tap's Shark Sandwich album. Now, the film couldn't have been as bad as the critics let on, could it? Wasn't this just a case of the critics simply sensing blood in the water? Sure the film had two stars who sleepwalked through their roles, while displaying absolutely zero chemistry together; had curiously bad writing, including some numbingly awful dialog; featured meandering direction...what was my point? At any rate, scorn for the film was not saved for the critics. At year's end, the film was anchored at #7 of IMDb's Bottom 100 list, drifting only above such flotsam as Manos the Hands of Fate, Space Mutiny, Troll 2, and From Justin to Kelly. The film opened on August 1st, and was by any standard a box office catastrophe for the ages. Arriving on 2,251 screens, Gigli managed only $1.5 million on its opening day. Things did not improve much by the end of the weekend; Gigli completed its opening frame with a paltry $4.75 million, finishing in eighth place. From there, the end came with merciful swiftness. Gigli was out of the theatres in a few weekends. The film, which had cost a reported $54 million to produce, limped home banking only $6.1 million. Repercussions of the Gigli disaster continued to ripple throughout the rest of 2003. Most directly, the Kevin Smith-helmed Jersey Girl, the next film to feature Affleck and Lopez together, was pushed back from November to March 2004 immediately after Gigli opened. Later, Disney pulled the plug on another Affleck picture, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. More seriously, Paramount was reportedly considering removing Ben from the coveted role of Jack Ryan in the Tom Clancy film series. And what about the kids, our Jen and Ben? Their wedding, which was to have taken place over the September 13-14 weekend, was abruptly canceled/postponed shortly before, with the smoldering stench of Gigli still lingering in the air. Their relationship has remained in hazy limbo since then. Whether or not they'll stick together, their professional collaboration seems kaput. At the end of the year, the two publicly said that they would never work together again. Ben offered, "My relationship with Jennifer has absolutely been bad for my career. The overexposure this year has really been damaging." Turkey time, indeed. (Tony Kollath/BOP) The Top 12 Stories of 2003:Friday, December 19#12: Documentaries find box office success #11: The Passion production causes controversy Monday, December 22 #10: Hulk screener leaks #9: Greatest movie trilogy of all time comes to an end Tuesday, December 23 #8: Johnny Depp, box office star #7: Disney owns summer Friday, December 26 #6: North America to movie sequels: thanks but no thanks #5: Arnold the Governator Monday, December 29 #4: Gigli bombs Tuesday, December 30 #3: The Matrix sequels fall far short Wednesday, December 31 #2: Finding Nemo becomes top grossing movie of the year Thursday, January 1 #1: MPAA attempts to ban screeners |
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Thursday, October 31, 2024
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