Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Lopez starred in the box-office failure.
Martin Brest’s Gigliwas panned by critics and audiences 20 years ago. The director claims that his feelings have not changed.
Brest talked with Variet about the 2003 film which only earned $7.2 million and how it was a completely different product than what he had originally intended.
The director admitted that he didn't know "what the movie looks like" because of how it was made. He also said he dislikes to mention the title of the film which featured Ben Affleck with Jennifer Lopez. This led to their first marriage.
Even the name... Brest said, "I refer to it as the G movie." The less said about the movie, the better.
He said, "I wonder if a film has ever been altered that much" in Gigli. "I am sure that it has happened in Hollywood's history, but the changes were so radical... The movie's themes were completely different. The plot was completely different. The movie's purpose was different. But I can't escape blame."
He said that he "doesn't remember the movie that was released."
The director added, "I didn't go under it like I did in all my other films." "It's a real bloody mess and deserved to be excoriated."
Brest is also the director of other commercially successful movies such as Beverly Hills Cop Scent of a Woman and Meeting Joe Black.
Brest was forced to "battle" with Sony over the film, leaving it in purgatory during post-production for eight months.
Brest said, "I had two options: I could quit or take part in the mutilation of the film." To my eternal regret, I did not quit. I am now responsible for a horrendous cadaver movie.
The filmmaker continued, "As soon as key scenes were removed it was like a joke without its punchline. Endless contortions couldn't create the illusion that the remaining material was the original." "An extensive reshooting, re-editing, and re-storying, turned characters, scenes and story upside down, in a futile effort to make the mess look like a film."
Ben Affleck has reconciled with the film over the years. In a Interview with Entertainment Weekly the actor revealed that the film was the catalyst for him to pursue directing as his "real love in his professional life."
Affleck said that if the response to Gigli had not happened, he would have never decided to direct films. In those ways, it's a blessing.
He was also in the film with JLo. They met on the set and became engaged, but split up in 2004.
Ben added, "I was able to meet Jennifer and I am so grateful for that."
In 2022, Lopez & Affleck were married again nearly 20 years after they first got engaged in 2003. When they separated in 2004, the couple cancelled their wedding and started families with other people. Ben had children with Jennifer Garner, including Violet, Seraphina and Samuel. Lopez, on the other hand, married Marc Anthony, and gave birth to twins Max and Emme.
The couple reunited 2021 after they split from their respective relationships. They celebrated their first anniversary of marriage by going to Giorgio Baldi, a restaurant in Santa Monica.
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Title: Gigli Director Martin Brest Wishes He Quit, Can't Say Film's Name 20 Years Later
Sourced From: www.toofab.com/2023/07/19/gigli-director-martin-brest-cant-say-films-name-20-years-later/
Published Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2023 16:01:04 +0000
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