It's Christmas Turkey Time For Ben

Ben Affleck can't blame Jennifer Lopez this time for delivering a turkey of a movie.

Their relationship went into a terminal decline after Gigli became an instant punchline when it was released to dire reviews and total apathy at the box office.

Affleck's new film, Surviving Christmas, inexplicably released in October, seems doomed to an even worse fate after opening at the weekend at number seven with takings of just £3m (£1.6m) at the US box office. That is a couple of hundred thousand less than Gigli's opening weekend and comes in spite of a stellar supporting cast, including Sopranos star James Gandolfini.

The film stars the hapless Affleck as a lonely rich guy who hires a pretend family for the Christmas holidays.

American critics trashed the film in general and the leading man's performance in particular.

No-one was available for comment on Sunday at DreamWorks, the Hollywood studio headed by Steven Spielberg that financed the movie.

But box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian said he didn't think the early release date for the Christmas film accounted for its poor showing.

"It is a little early, but people would accept Christmas in October if it had been a really good movie. I don't think it was the release date. I think it was the critical panning."

It will not be lost on Affleck that his old flame J-Lo's new film, Shall We Dance? which co-stars Richard Gere, more than doubled his box office takings on its second week on release, finishing