Gigli Director Martin Brest Wishes He Quit, Can't Say Film's Name 20 Years Later

Brest spoke with Variety about the 2003 film, which earned a measly $7.2 million, and how the finished product was completely different than what he originally intended.

The director noted he doesn't "even know what that movie looks like, frankly, because of the manner in which it took shape," and admitted he doesn't like to say the name of the film, which starred Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, resulting in their first coupling.

"Even the name... I refer to it as 'the G movie'," said Brest. "Probably the less said about it the better."

"I wonder if ever a movie had been changed that much," he said of Gigli. "I'm sure it has in the history of Hollywood, but it was changed so radically... The themes of the movie were radically different. The plot was different. The purpose of the movie was different. But I can't escape blame."

He also noted that he doesn't "remember the movie that was released."

"I wasn't underneath it in the way I was under the hood of all my other movies," added the director. "So it's really a bloody mess that deserved its excoriation."

Brest has directed other, more commercially acclaimed movies like Beverly Hills Cop, Scent of a Woman, and Meet Joe Black.

However, Brest had to "battle it out" with Sony, which left the film in post-production purgatory for eight months.

"In the end I was left with two choices: quit or be complicit in the mangling of the movie," said Brest. "To my eternal regret I didn't quit, so I bear responsibility for a ghastly cadaver of a movie."

"Once key scenes were cut it became like a joke with its punchline removed, endless contortions could never create the illusion that what remained was intended," continued the filmmaker. "Extensive reshooting and re-editing turned characters, scenes, story, and tone upside down in the futile attempt to make the increasing mess resemble a movie."

The film's star, Ben Affleck, has come to reconcile with the film in the years since its release. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor shared that the film led him to the path of directing, which is his "the real love of his professional life."

"If the reaction to Gigli hadn't happened, I probably wouldn't have ultimately decided, 'I don't really have any other avenue but to direct movies,'" said Affleck. "So in those ways it's a gift."

The film also paired him with JLo, whom he met on the set of the film and later became engaged to, only to split in 2004.

"And I did get to meet Jennifer, the relationship with whom has been really meaningful to me in my life," added Ben.

Back in 2022, Lopez and Affleck got married nearly 20 years after their first engagement in 2003. The couple called off their nuptials when they split in 2004 and went on to start families with different people. Ben moved on with Jennifer Garner and welcomed Violet, 17, Seraphina, 14, and Samuel, 11 while Lopez married Marc Anthony and had twins Max and Emme, 15.

When they separated from their respective relationships, the couple eventually reunited in 2021. The couple just celebrated their one year wedding anniversary by stepping out to dinner at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica, California.