If there is one thing you can say about Jennifer Lopez, it’s that she makes a hell of a comeback.
The star was close to tears this week at the premiere of her new movie, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
“There was a standing ovation, not for the movie — which is important, I think — but for her,” said New York Post critic Johnny Oleksinski, who was at the premiere.
“The audience leapt to their feet when she walked out onto the stage of the Eccles Theatre. Same theater where Best Picture nominees like ‘Call Me By Your Name,’ ‘Boyhood,’ Whiplash’ and ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ premiered. That had to have been validating for someone who rarely gets that kind of recognition.”
In fact, Lopez is already earning the 2026 Oscar buzz for the big-screen version of the Tony-winning musical.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life,” she told the crowd at Park City’s Eccles Theatre. “The reason I even wanted to be in this business is because my mom would sit me in front of the TV and [‘West Side Story’] would come on once a year. I was mesmerized and was like, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ This is the first time I actually got to do it.”
J.Lo’s emotional appearance comes on the heels of her very own annus horribilis — a rocky 2024 that saw the demise of what was supposed to be her fairytale second chance with Ben Affleck.
Last year started off with the release of “This Is Me … Now: A Love Story,” a fever-dream musical trip through Lopez’s four marriages, and the documentary “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” which featured scenes with Affleck.
And although the singer came under fire for pushing their love story into the spotlight — including using Affleck’s love letters for her new album — sources told Page Six that he was the brains behind the doc.
Months later, the pair’s marriage — which came more than 20 years after their first engagement — fell apart in public, while Lopez’s “This Is Me … Now” album met with poor reviews and sales and she canceled her concert tour.
Now Lopez is ready to reinvent. “There’s a lot of positivity for the year ahead,” said a source who knows Lopez, “It’s a big year for her.”
Her Hollywood career is soaring. Her divorce from Affleck was finally wrapped up in early January.
But that doesn’t mean he’s out of her life just yet.
Affleck produced “Kiss of the Spider Woman” along with his longtime BFF Matt Damon, through their company, Artists Equity. Lopez herself is also an executive producer.
If the movie — which has yet to be bought by a distributor — receives any awards nominations, the pair could easily end up in the same room or even on the same stage.
The exes also teamed up on Lopez’s last movie, the drama “Unstoppable,” in which she played the mother of a wrestler who was born with one leg.
That film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September — just two weeks after Lopez filed for divorce. She turned up in a “f––k it” revenge dress with open sides that showed off her incredibly toned body.
As Page Six revealed at the time, Affleck was nowhere to be seen at any of the screenings, surely by design.
As a Hollywood awards insider told us, “The director and cast can be the face of the film, producers don’t need to be there.”
Despite their break-up, Lopez remains close to Affleck’s kids, Violet, 19, Serafina, 16, and Sam, 9. (Serafina is also best pals with Emme, one of Lopez’ 16-year-old twins along with brother Max.)
We’re also told that Lopez is close to their mom, Affleck’s first wife, Jennifer Garner. “They’re still communicating, they’re on good terms,” said the Lopez source.
As for Affleck, 52, he’s moved on and has bought a new home in the Brentwood area of LA, near Garner. As we revealed, he was spotted with Kick Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., this summer and the pair are believed to have had a casual friendship.
This week, Affleck made a surprise appearance at a Netflix event in Los Angeles to promote the new thriller “‘RIP,” which he and Damon starred in and produced.
“There was an audible gasp when Ben came into the theater,” said an industry insider who was there. “It was only 9 a.m. but several women in the front row commented afterwards how amazing he looks.”
Affleck was spotted talking to The Duffer brothers, the creators of the Netflix hit “Stranger Things.” and the insider added: “Last time I saw him he was with J. Lo. It was just after their marriage, and you could see the strain on his face. He didn’t look happy like a newlywed should, he seemed stressed out. Seeing him this week was such a marked change. He looks healthy and like he doesn’t have a care in the world.”
Lopez, meanwhile, is also producing her own projects for Netflix. Her company Nuyorican is making a series out of the Emily Henry bestselling novel “Happy Place,” which “Bridgerton” Emmy nominee Leila Cohan is co-writing and show running for the streamer.
Keeping with the theme of her comeback year, Lopez was honored with the Legend & Groundbreaker Award at the 2025 Palm Springs International Film Festival in January.
“I’m humbled; I’m blown away … ” she said at the time. “But I still have so much more to do. I’m at the halfway mark. I feel like my best work is in front of me. My biggest projects are in front of me, and my biggest successes. Everything is in the future.”
“Kiss of the Spider Woman” is a feature adaptation of the Broadway musical, which won Chita Rivera a Tony Award in 1993 for the role now played by Lopez onscreen.
When the topic of Oscars buzz was brought up, Lopez said she didn’t “even want to begin the conversation” — although, she added, “Of course, I would love it to get the recognition that I believe it deserves.”
In 2020, Lopez was expected to make the Oscars shortlist for playing an enterprising stripper in “Hustlers” but failed to get a nomination — which some in Hollywood chalked up to snobbery.
The snub hurt, Lopez admitted in her 2022 Netflix doc “Halftime,” as she talked about her struggle “to be heard, to be seen, to be taken seriously” in Hollywood.
“It was hard. I just had very low self-esteem,” she said,“I had to really figure out who I was and believe in that, and not believe in anything else.”
She’s soon to start filming a new Netflix rom-com, “Office Romance” with “Ted Lasso” heartthrob Brett Goldstein.
He has made no secret that he had a crush on Lopez.
Fans found a clip of Goldstein, who co-wrote the project, talking about Lopez on a 2018 episode of his “Films to Be Buried With” podcast.
“F–king hell … ” he said of his future co-star. “I love her.”
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