The film bombed in the US on release this month

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

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

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

But he also defended 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," he added.

'Schadenfreude'

"You can put scenes together and sometimes they just don't work," Affleck said.

"I think there was a certain amount of Schadenfreude, a certain amount of a critical slam dunk contest that it turned into, like some (critic) was saying, 'I have been saving up this one turn of phrase all summer'. But that's part of the deal."

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

Affleck runs Project Greenlight with Matt Damon

He said he hoped another film featuring himself and Lopez, Jersey Girl, would be better received.

I think 'Jersey Girl' is a really good movie," he said. "Jen is only in it for about 10 minutes, so it's not really like a 'Me-and-Jen' movie.

"In fact, probably after the towering success of Gigli, I suspect Miramax will find a way to sell it as other than a 'Me-and-Jen' movie."

Affleck was promoting Battle of Shaker Heights as part of his and friend Matt Damon's Project Greenlight, which offers $1m (�660,000) to aspiring film-makers.

The project has also become a successful fly-on-the-wall TV show on the US's HBO network.