Posted by Xyr0 at c68.115.48.221.ona.wi.charter.com on August 12, 2003 at 01:42:34:
J.Lo Ends Up on Cutting Room Floor
(SPOILER AHEAD) The failure of Gigli has enabled director Kevin Smith to rejigger his upcoming Jersey Girl into the kind of movie he had originally conceived -- one that features Ben Affleck as a single father raising a young daughter, the New York Times reported today (Monday). Until unfavorable reviews of Gigli began to roll in, Smith had been prevailed upon to expand the role of the girl's mother, played by Jennifer Lopez, in order to take advantage of the publicity surrounding the Affleck-Lopez romance. Smith told the Times that he began trimming Lopez's scenes after Jersey Girl tested poorly with preview audiences. But, he said, Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein "was always 'Let's leave as much of Jennifer in because we paid her $4 million for the movie.'" Her character now dies in the movie's first 15 minutes, the Times said.