“It always struck me as bizarre”: Ben Affleck Hated Earning $12.5M From Jennifer Lopez Starrer Movie With 6% RT Rating That Nearly Killed His Career
Ben Affleck, the extremely talented actor, director, and producer, happens to be coming up with Air, a film based on Michael Jordan’s life and his collaboration with Nike. The film is to be produced by his and Matt Damon’s production company and is waiting to be released on April 5th. While discussing the movie, Affleck spoke purposefully about big-budget films and how a major portion of their budgets is a waste.
Looking back to his acting career, Ben Affleck brought up his 6% RT-rated film with Jennifer Lopez, Gigli. Recalling the box office performance of the movie, Affleck mentions the production calculations and its payments being bizarre. He further mentioned producers and investors bringing in unnecessary expenses which eventually increased the budget of the movie. Breaking down the expenses, Affleck points out the avoidable investments.
Ben Affleck Finds Film Production Costs Bizarre
Ever since his induction in Hollywood, Ben Affleck proved to be one of the most talented personalities in the industry. After winning an Oscar at the age of 25 for the best original screenplay for Good Will Hunting, Affleck never had to look back. Finding his passion in the entertainment industry, the 50-year-old made his way into acting, directing, as well as producing films. Working in collaboration with his best pal, Matt Damon, the actor opened their own production company Artists Equity. Affleck and Damon are currently looking forward to their movie new Air, which is to be released soon.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about his movie, Ben Affleck shared his opinions about production costs. The interviewer asked, “I heard you say recently, “Fifteen percent of movie budgets are waste.” Which 15 percent are you talking about?” Affleck reverted with the thoughtful reply, “I don’t believe in the whole ‘I get paid even in failure’ thing.” Discussing finding pleasure in earning from his talent, the Batman actor stated,
“It always struck me as bizarre that I walked away with so much money from Gigli, and everyone else got flattened.”
His 2003 movie Gigli opposite Jennifer Lopez was a big-budget movie, however, it failed to perform well at the box office. Despite its failure, Affleck was offered $12.5M for his role, which seems to be troubling the actor ever since.
Ben Affleck Breaks Down Unnecessary Production Expenses
Being a producer and director himself, Ben Affleck seems to have trouble accepting the unnecessary glitz and glam that causes the film budget to exceed. Speaking in retrospect about his movie Gigli, Ben Affleck never got over the fact that he was offered a hefty amount despite the failure of the film. Breaking down the bizarre distribution of the income between the actors, directors, producers, and the crew, Affleck mentioned people got flattened because he was paid a hefty portion of the revenue.
Discussing his disagreements regarding unnecessary production costs, the Gone Girl actor stated, “I was not aligned quite with the investors in that regard.” Speaking about the differences between the professionals and the crew, Affleck mentioned,
“The studios and the people who make the movies are increasingly separate, from different worlds. They don’t understand one another’s values, and there’s suspicion. And it creates conflict.”
Further speaking about an incident that opened his eyes regarding unnecessary production costs, Ben Affleck stated a major portion of the production cost is a waste. “I was on [my 2016 movie] Live by Night, and they were dressing an extra — it must have cost $700 to dress this extra in the period. Five hundred feet away from the camera.” Affleck spoke about the irrelevant expenses. He further stated his opinion,
“And it was just like, “Guys. This is not meaningful, but it’s taking away from the time and the resources we have to do something authentically enough that it moves the audience. They don’t care if the curls are 1930 or 1920.”
It seems Ben Affleck has got some skills as a producer. Being in the film industry for more than a couple of decades, the Deep Water actor seems to have inculcated the skill of understanding the difference between necessary expenses and futile investments.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
