Jersey Girl

Last fall, at the height of the J. Lo hype, just four weeks before production was to begin, Disney pulled the plug on the ironically titled ''Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.'' But Affleck turned this bad break into a noble role, quickly agreeing to star in Disney's ''Glory Road'' as the first college hoops coach to win the championship with an all-black team. The next roadblock has been finding a director. Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington passed. The job is still open.

As for Affleck's big-budget franchises, both he and Paramount are committed to following up his Jack Ryan debut, ''The Sum of All Fears,'' with ''Red Rabbit'' -- pending the delivery of a shootable script.

His superhero days may be over. Instead of pursuing a ''Daredevil'' sequel, Fox opted to spin off ''Elektra,'' with Jennifer Garner. But Affleck is trying something new: comedy, with the long-wrapped end-of-2004 release ''Surviving Christmas.''

Affleck's also going back to what made him famous: writing. (He and Matt Damon shared the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for 1997's ''Good Will Hunting.'') He spent the month after his split with Lopez at his Georgia estate, working on an adaptation of ''Mystic River'' novelist Dennis Lehane’s ''Gone, Baby, Gone.''

Hollywood has been watching all this very closely. They don't want to see one of their box office mainstays fall very far. ''He fell in love,'' says Universal Pictures chairman Stacey Snider. ''People do silly things when they’re in love. That's what happens. Everyone understands that. His track record is solid. He's a really good actor and he can carry a movie.'' But after the dramatic demise of Bennifer and the pathetic performance of ''Gigli,'' few expect Affleck to carry ''Jersey Girl'' too far. ''At this point,'' Smith quips, ''the whole box office race is really just about can we make more than 'Gigli,' 'cause then we will be remembered as the more successful Ben-and-Jen film.''

Originally posted Mar 17, 2004 Published in issue #757 Mar 26, 2004 Order article reprints
Page 1 2
You Might Also Like

Add your comment

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.

500 characters remaining