Movie maker Kevin Smith has given up hope of hitting the number one spot with his new movie JERSEY GIRL - because Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have given the project the kiss of death.

The CLERKS director thought he'd landed movie gold when the then-couple agreed to appear together in his romantic comedy, but the huge failure of their last joint screen outing Gigli made him realise people don't want to see the pair together.

Smith, a longtime friend of Affleck's, thought they made a great couple in real life, but admits he can only hope that Jersey Girl isn't a flop at the box office.

He says, "I had the benefit in the beginning of knowing that the movie wasn't all about them. We kept it real quiet in the beginning because we wanted to have a big surprise but it got punched to the audience with, 'Guess what, she dies.'

"Once Gigli happened her death became a marketing hook. In all honesty, Gigli did kind of wing us and still kind of stings to this day because when I put the movie together it was Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler and Jennifer Lopez and we had a great shot at being the number one movie the weekend we open.

"After Gigli opened I realised, 'We'll never be the number one movie and we're handicapped at this point.' "

But Smith's still confident it will be a hit: "As long as they hear our picture is a little better, I think people will turn out."

08/03/2004 21:26