Popular media gave attention and interest to the film during production, primarily because Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez (the film's stars) were romantically involved at the time. After the film's release, critical reaction was universally negative and in the years since its release, "Gigli" has been considered one of the worst films of all time. It was film was also one of the more expensive box office bombs in history, grossing $7.2 million against a $75.6 million budget.