Post-‘Idol’ Lopez eyes films

By Nekesa Mumbi Moody

AP Music Writer

NEW YORK

Jennifer Lopez was part of the all-star cast that helped lead “Ice Age: Continental Drift” to the top of the box office over the weekend, and the entertainer is eager to focus even more attention on her once white-hot movie career.

“I do miss doing films. I feel like the last two years with ‘[American] Idol,’ I’ve really, really focused on, you know, my music. ... It was all kind of very synergistic, it worked really well together,” said Lopez, whose movie hits include “Maid in Manhattan” and “Selena,” and who was in “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” earlier this year. “But [film] is something that I really loved, it’s how I kind of started in this business, and it doesn’t leave you. I am an actress, I need to do that, too.”

She’ll certainly have more time now that she’s not going to be a judge on “American Idol.” She announced last Friday that she will not be coming back to the Fox talent competition, following in the footsteps of fellow judge Steven Tyler, who announced a day earlier that he would leave the show to devote more time to his band, Aerosmith.

But before Lopez concentrates more on film, she has a lot on her music plate. She’s releasing an upcoming greatest-hits album, and this summer, she embarked on a world tour with Enrique Iglesias.

The 42-year-old singer- actress considers this her first world tour — she briefly performed several worldwide dates with then-husband Marc Anthony four years ago, but it wasn’t as extensive as this new trek.