Maligned ‘Gigli’ sold for laughs

It may go down in movie marketing history: “Gigli,” a film deemed so bad that one cable television network is trumpeting its poor reviews to sell it to audiences looking for a laugh.

The Starz Encore network is marketing “Gigli,” a box-office flop starring former lovers Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, as a film that has been so maligned by critics and moviegoers that “you know you want to see it.”

In marketing materials sent to reporters, Starz Encore calls it “the most talked about movie of the year,” then adds, “(OK, not all of our movies can be award-winning blockbusters).”

“If we promoted it like a good film, our credibility would be shot,” explained Steve Belgard, Starz Encore’s director of programming publicity.