Box-Office Romance: Jen and Vince Avoid 'Gigli' Bad Results
June 5, 2006 — -- Love conquered all at the box office this weekend, as Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston's romance helped "The Break-Up" overcome poor reviews. But one only has to look back to such horrors as "Gigli" to know what a box office killer Cupid can be.
Romantic comedies are hardly what studios like to trot out in the summertime, when action/adventure flicks rule -- but "The Break-Up" easily topped "X-Men: The Last Stand," just a week after the mutant superheroes set a box-office record by grossing $122.8 million over Memorial Day weekend.
"Off-screen romances make headlines, but they can be disastrous if the hype overwhelms the movie itself," said Brandon Gray, publisher of Box Office Mojo, a Web site that tracks the film industry.
"Vaughn and Aniston did a pretty good job of downplaying their love life, unlike some other stars," he said.
If one of them had acted like Tom Cruise -- jumping on Oprah Winfrey's couch declaring that he was in love with Katie Holmes -- they might have suffered, Gray said.
"Cruise was once very good at leaving his personal life something of a mystery," he said. "Now, not so much."
Gossip Won't Sell Tickets
Rumors spread last summer of Vaughn and Aniston's on-set romance. Even though the couple only have acknowledged their relationship recently, they've never confirmed when they started going out.
In the eyes of Aniston fans, however, the relationship seemed the perfect comeuppance for ex-husband Brad Pitt, who became involved with Angelina Jolie after they worked together on "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," another movie that seemed to benefit from romance rumors.
Indeed, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" was a smash hit, with a $50 million opening weekend in the United States, and ending the year as one of the Top 10 grossing movies of 2005, taking in more than $420 million internationally.
To make matters even more muddled, Vaughn had a bit part in "Smith" as one of Pitt's friends.
When Hollywood's gossip machine kicks into high gear, it would seem to be a good way to generate free publicity for a new movie. However, it's often resulted in some famous box-office bombs. Here's a look at a few:
Alfie -- Hollywood hunk Jude Law made headlines when he began an on-set romance with Sienna Miller, just weeks after splitting with Sadie Frost in early 2003. After the movie premiered, the papers were filled with announcements that Law and Miller were engaged. Despite all the media coverage, the movie, however, became one of 2004's biggest disappointments, earning $14 million, against a $60 million budget.
Sahara -- In 2003, Tom Cruise was visiting girlfriend Penelope Cruz in Morocco when the action movie was being filmed. Before the film hit theaters, Cruz was said to be hot and heavy with costar Matthew McConaughey. The movie now marks a turning point for Cruise, who moved on to Holmes. At the box office, however, the film was a lukewarm success, grossing $67 million domestically and $107 million worldwide, against a budge of $130 million.
Gigli -- Jennifer Lopez had tied the knot with second husband Cris Judd just months before she began filming "Gigli" in late 2002 with Ben Affleck. Lopez filed for divorce before the film hit theaters the following summer, and Affleck was courting his soon-to-be fiancee around Hollywood by the time the film came out. For all the publicity they got, their movie was one of the biggest bombs in box-office history. A domestic gross of less than $6 million barely covered half of Affleck's salary alone.
Pushing Tin -- Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie became a tabloid sensation when they met on the set of this 1999 movie. Their wild antics, including wearing vials of each other's blood as a sign of their love, made headlines. The movie -- budgeted at $33 million -- tanked from day one, grossing a little more than $8 million domestically.
Proof of Life -- Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid had one of Hollywood's most stable relationships, at least according to public perception. Their 10-year marriage came to an end after Ryan's highly publicized romance with costar Russell Crowe. The relationship quickly fizzled, and so did the film, barely earning back half of its $65 million budget at the domestic box office.
Bounce -- Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow were Hollywood's hottest young couple when they signed up for the film, but their relationship fell apart when it came time to shoot the film. All the tabloid intrigue couldn't bounce "Bounce" as a draw for moviegoers, though the love life of both stars remained a public obsession.
Shanghai Surprise -- Madonna was at the height of her fame and Sean Penn was hailed as a young Marlon Brando in the mid-1980s, when they married and began work on "Shanghai Surprise." The movie took a harder beating in the media than any of the paparazzi Penn was accused of scuffling with during his four-year marriage to Madonna.