Reunited — at home and at work! Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are set to collaborate on their first movie project in nearly 20 years.
The Hustlers actress, 53, is slated to star in an upcoming biopic titled Unstoppable, which will be produced by Artists Equity, the production company that her husband, 50, cofounded with Matt Damon. The film will tell the true story of Anthony Robles, a wrestler who was born with one leg.
The couple, who tied the knot last year, haven’t officially collaborated on a movie since 2004’s Jersey Girl, which was directed by Kevin Smith. Prior to that, they starred in 2003’s Gigli, a box-office bomb which is now considered one of the worst films of all time.
The “Get Right” songstress and the Argo director met while filming Gigli and got engaged in 2002 after sparking a romance on set. After calling off their planned September 2003 nuptials, the duo called it quits in early 2004.
Last year, Lopez joked that she’d be happy to make a Gigli sequel if given the chance while speaking to Vogue for the outlet’s “73 Questions” video series. When asked who makes her laugh the most between takes, she replied, “My husband, Ben.”
While Gigli was panned upon release, Affleck said that the film was actually a great learning experience for him when it came to directing his own movies. “Interestingly, I learned more about directing on that movie than anything else because Marty [Brest] is a brilliant director, really gifted,” the Massachusetts native told Entertainment Weekly in January 2022. “It’s not like it’s worse than all … there’s a bunch of horrible movies and in terms of losing money, I’ve had five movies — at least! — that have lost more money than Gigli has.”
The Justice League actor added that he was grateful the movie introduced him to Lopez. “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,’ which has turned out to be the real love of my professional life,” Affleck explained. “So, in those ways, it’s a gift. And I did get to meet Jennifer, the relationship with whom has been really meaningful to me in my life.”
Though the couple haven’t worked together on a movie since 2004, they starred in a Dunkin’ commercial for Super Bowl LVII that parodied Affleck’s love of the coffee chain. “What are you doing here?” Lopez asked in the clip after pulling up to get a drink at the drive-thru window. “Is this what you do when you say you’re going to work all day?”
Earlier this month, Affleck revealed that Lopez unofficially helped him with the script for his upcoming movie Air, which tells the story of how Nike convinced Michael Jordan to collaborate with the brand on his sneaker line.
“Jen gave me some great lines too — it just started getting better,” the Good Will Hunting screenwriter told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Thursday, March 16. “Oh, my God, she’s brilliant. She is incredibly knowledgeable about the way fashion evolves through the culture as a confluence of music, sports, entertainment and dance. She helped me in talking about the way in which a part of the reason why Jordans were so meaningful is because culture and style in America is 90 percent driven by Black culture.”
