The “big cash payday” Ben Affleck regretted taking in 2001: “Doesn’t sit right with me”
Ben Affleck has expressed regret over his $12.5 million paycheque for the 2001 film Gigli, which became one of cinema's most catastrophic commercial failures. Starring opposite Jennifer Lopez, the crime comedy was critically demolished and lost over $75 million, failing to recoup even a tenth of its production budget despite its massive costs.
The actor and screenwriter acknowledges that accepting such a large payment for a project that devastated investors sits uneasily with him in retrospect. The film earned six Razzie Awards including Worst Picture, and its failure was so severe that director Martin Brest abandoned filmmaking altogether, illustrating just how completely the production misfired.
- Ben Affleck earned $12.5 million for the 2001 film 'Gigli', which lost over $75 million—one of Hollywood's worst financial disasters
- The critically panned crime comedy earned six Razzies, and Affleck now regrets his paycheque, saying it doesn't feel right to profit from such a massive failure