Love hurts box office receipts

So publicly rubbing Jennifer Lopez’s booty turned out to be bad for business.

That’s the news flash from Ben Affleck, formerly of Bennifer, who’s been publicly acknowledging the carnage his former romance wreaked on his career as he sets about trying to get the public to focus on his upcoming directorial debut, “Gone Baby Gone.” “I ended up being in a relationship with somebody, and being in that relationship ended up poisoning the box office,” he has been quoted as saying, one of a spate of mea culpas the star has issued.

Well, Affleck can stand in line with the other stars who’ve learned the hard way that audiences often scorn stars who romance a little too publicly. History is loaded with movies sabotaged by celebrity affairs, and now the Internet has made the peril even more potent, as any hint of celebrity canoodling rockets around between the Ivy and Mumbai in a matter of seconds. For every “High School Musical,” a juggernaut that seems to have prospered from the love of duo Zac Efron-Vanessa Hudgens, there’s “Proof of Life,” “Marrying Man” and the infamous 1963 film “Cleopatra,” which nearly bankrupted the studio that made it.

Upcoming films that will have to face this potential celebri-terrorist threat include “Rendition,” out later this month, starring reported lovebirds Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, who’ve taken pains not to appear together. (Fortunately, they don’t have one scene together in the movie, so audiences won’t have to contemplate the film-reality disconnect.) There’s also “Stop Loss,” which arrives next March, the film in which Ryan Phillippe allegedly engaged in the off-screen romance with costar Abbie Cornish that sparked the dissolution of his marriage to Witherspoon.

Here’s a list of films affected by celebrity romance and how the projects fared in the wake of amour:

Misses:

“Cleopatra”: It was on the notorious 1963 film that star Elizabeth Taylor met future husband Richard Burton, and their adulterous romance provoked headlines and moral outrage. The film’s budget ballooned from $2 million to $44 million, about $275 million in 2007 dollars, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made.

“Proof of Life”: The on-set romance between married Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe led to a nasty spate of press, and the film tanked, grossing only $32 million domestically. Ryan’s career hasn’t yet rebounded from the destruction of her wholesome girl-next-door image.

“Marrying Man”: It was on this star-crossed 1991 film that Kim Basinger fell in love with Alec Baldwin. The film bombed, earning only $12 million. The resulting marriage bombed too, leading to one of the most acrimonious divorces in celebrity history.

“Gigli”: This 2003 misfire gave birth to Bennifer, the coupling of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, and grossed a measly $6 million at the box office.

“Stromboli”: This 1950 Italian neorealist film was never meant to be a box office juggernaut, but it did lead to the derailment of Ingrid Bergman’s career, after the already-married star fell in love with director Roberto Rossellini and became pregnant with his child. The scandal led to Bergman being denounced on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Sen. Edwin C. Johnson, who declared her “a horrible example of womanhood and a powerful influence for evil.” Although Bergman’s subsequent marriage to Rossellini didn’t survive, her career recovered and she won an Academy Award for 1974’s “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Hits:

“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”: This is the movie that spawned Brangelina. When Brad met Angelina and the sparks – fueled, no doubt, by a canny public relations campaign in which they refused to confirm their romance – made the box office sizzle and led to a worldwide take of $478 million. However, it remains unclear how the media frenzy is affecting their subsequent careers: So far, Pitt’s earned an art-house hit with “Babel,” a commercial hit with “Ocean’s 13” and a seeming flop with “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.” Jolie’s subsequent films, “A Mighty Heart” and “The Good Shepherd,” have both proved commercial disappointments.

“High School Musical” (1 and 2): There’s no doubt that these Disney TV movies have become an international phenomenon. On opening weekend in the U.S., “High School Musical 2” garnered more than 30 million viewers.

rachel.abramowitz@latimes.com