Ben Affleck says his flop film Gigli (2003), starring fiancée Jennifer Lopez, wasn't good enough and was buried with bad publicity.

At a press conference for his new film The Battle of Shaker Heights, Affleck said tabloid stories about the couple and negative coverage on the internet had contributed to the film's failings.

"I don't think ultimately the movie held up as a whole", he said.

The film, which sees Affleck as an underworld figure who falls in love with a lesbian assassin played by Lopez, made only $3.8m (£2.4m) in its first weekend in the US earlier this month, says BBC Online.

He did defend parts of the film, saying "there is good work in it, scene by scene. I think the acting is good - it's a different character for me."

But he added: "You can put scenes together and sometimes they just don't work."

The actor dodged questions about recent revelations concerning a visit to a Vancouver strip club, joking to reporters "you can tell your news editors that you are too big for that kind of stuff".

Affleck said he hoped another film featuring himself and Lopez, Jersey Girl (2004), would be better received.

Source: Press Release