Affleck's star has fallen to new depths

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Especially Ben Affleck.

Well, maybe "mighty" isn't the right word to describe Affleck and his once-burgeoning movie career. But at one point, he did star in some $100 million hits ("The Sum of All Fears" and "Daredevil"). He was also in the mega-hit "Armageddon" and, with longtime pal Matt Damon, won an Academy Award for co-writing the screenplay for "Good Will Hunting."

Since then, no one has fallen further than Affleck. He starred in "Gigli," a film that's become synonymous with box-office death. And there's no doubt that his presence in "Jersey Girl" effectively killed that film's chances of being a hit.

Things have gotten so bad that he's even now being out-billed by someone named Jay Lacopo.

Say what?

Lacopo wrote and co-starred in "The Third Wheel," a 2002 romantic comedy starring Luke Wilson and Denise Richards. The cover of the film's upcoming DVD release has pictures of Richards, Wilson and Lacopo, as well as Affleck, who served as executive producer and has a brief but integral supporting role.

However, the only names that appear on that cover above those photos are Wilson, Richards and Lacopo, none of whom are really household names — especially Lacopo. Even in Hollywood.

But Lacopo is a friend of Affleck, who appeared in Lacopo's 1993 short film "I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney."

Further adding insult to injury is this "The Third Wheel" cover blurb: " . . . from one of the producers of 'American Pie,' " meaning Chris Moore, another of Affleck's pals (you can see him in the "Project Greenlight" shows).

All of which makes me feel a little sorry for Affleck. And it also makes me worry for his best friend, Matt Damon, who also appears in "The Third Wheel."

Damon hasn't had a hit since "The Bourne Identity." Since that film he has been in four box-office bombs — co-starring with Greg Kinnear in "Stuck On You" and doing walk-ons in "Jersey Girl," "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and "EuroTrip." (Although, it must be acknowledged that Damon's cameo was the funniest thing in "Euro-Trip.")

Even Affleck's former fiancee, Jennifer Lopez, hasn't been immune to this failure-by-association. Obviously, she co-starred with her then-boyfriend in "Gigli." But none of her own films during their brief courtship set the box office on fire either.