Plus, his mom Sharon opens up about becoming a Grandma.
Fallon wins again.
Though Disney chairman Michael Eisner prevented Pearl Harbor from having a hefty, oversized, dinosaur-big budget, there's nothing to stop the World War II epic from breaking The Lost World: Jurassic Park's opening weekend box office record.
The Jurassic Park sequel holds the record for an opening weekend, earning $90.2 million upon its 1997 release.
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Pearl Harbor
By having taken in a total of $430 million in ticket sales worldwide, Pearl Harbor has now become the top-grossing film of the year, Disney announced Tuesday.
In an apparent effort to exploit the Labor Day weekend to make good on its forecast that Pearl Harbor would earn $200 million domestically, Disney plans to expand the number of theater screens showing it to "well above 500" beginning Friday
On Jan. 15, when the DVD version of box office smash Pearl Harbor hits the shelves, audiences will be able to see a more violent version of the film, a version truer to director Michael Bay's vision, reports USA Today.
Disney will apparently attempt to keep Pearl Harbor in theaters until it passes the $200-million mark and thereby earns the studio additional bragging points.
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 31, 2000 -- In case you haven't heard, another big budget, big boat flick is about to set sail in Hollywood. Nope, it's not a sequel to "Titanic." But given its eye-popping $135 million upfront budget, it'd better be like one at the box office. The film in question is Disney's grandiose World War II opus "Pearl Harbor," and the big boat in particular is the battleship Tennessee (which was once the film's working title) -- the Pearl Harbor-docked vessel where the bulk of the film's eponymous Japanese bombing attack sequence takes place. Reuniting "Armageddon" producer-director team Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay and written by "Braveheart" scribe Randall Wallace, the flick follows the tenuous love triangle involving two buddy pilots and a nurse stationed at Pearl Harbor during and after the attack. Despite the emphasis on the
HOLLYWOOD, May 30, 2000 -- First, the big budget. Then, the rumors of the even bigger budget. And so it goes for Hollywood's high-priced highly scrutinized. The latest to be subjected to whispers of lavish spending: "Pearl Harbor." Today's New York Post reports that the WWII-themed Disney megaproject, already budgeted at a record $135 million, is "still upwards" of that amount and "could go higher." The budgetary estimates are credited to an unnamed "on-the-set mole." Disney dismisses the Page Six item, essentially accusing the "on-the-set mole" of having no idea how the film's costs are being added up. (Meow.) "Pearl Harbor," now shooting in Hawaii, features an ensemble cast led by Ben Affleck and Cuba Gooding Jr. and promises to sport an impressive array of bombs and other exploding things as choreographed by director/blower-upper master Michael ("Armageddon")
The Indian Navy denied Tuesday that it was planning to offer a retired aircraft carrier to the distributors of Pearl Harbor to use for a local premiere party next month.
Disney's Japanese film distributor, Buena Vista International Japan, has decided not to show Pearl Harbor in the city that was the home of the high school students who died in the Ehime Maru collision, CNN reported Wednesday.
The government of Malaysia said Friday that video bootleggers have flooded the underground market with thousands of copies of a film labeled Pearl Harbor that contains only five minutes of the actual movie.
Expected protests in Tokyo did not materialize Wednesday night as Pearl Harbor opened in the Japanese capital. Demonstrations by right-wing organizations have generally accompanied the opening of any firm in which Japan's role in World War II is depicted negatively. A special screening of the film was held at the Tokyo Dome, Japan's largest indoor stadium, where about 30,000 people watched the movie on a giant screen.
After barely six months on the job, Peter Schneider abruptly resigned Wednesday as chairman of Walt Disney Studios.
Even if critics slammed the film as a dud, Pearl Harbor managed to capture the record as the second-highest grossing film for a four-day opening, taking in a healthy $75.1 million box office during the Memorial Day weekend. Industry experts had estimated a $100 million opening, but Disney predicted that the three-hour epic would gross between $45 million and $55 million.
The No. 1 spot is still held by The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which earned $92.7 million during the 1997 Memorial Day weekend. In comparison, other films in this Memorial Day league that came close to World were Mission Impossible 2's $56.8 million in 2000 and Star Wars: Episode I's $64.8 in 1999. Even the recently released The Mummy Returns gave these films a run for its money, opening with $68 million--on a regular three-day weekend.
With little stiff competition, Pearl Harbor continues to dominate the overseas box office, setting numerous records in many European countries, according to Daily Variety.
Despite criticism, "Pearl Harbor" a hit abroad Pearl Harbor made $4.25 million in its opening weekend at the UK box office even after it was widely criticized by British critics for rewriting history, Reuters reports. The blockbuster film, which stars Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale, retells the story of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, which brought the United States into World War II. The film, released by Buena Vista Pictures, has been criticized for glossing over the United States military defeat and exaggerating their wartime influence. Other American films that have been criticized in the past include Saving Private Ryan and U-571.
Newsweek magazine, in an apparent spoof of itself, began running a "Web Exclusive" on its Internet site Wednesday, saying that the Walt Disney Co. is planning to spend an additional $145 million on an "enhanced edition" of Pearl Harbor that will be "longer, louder and dumber" than the original and will be the "most historically inaccurate" movie ever made. The article said that a number of big stars will be added to the film, including the musical groups 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys "who will appear together in an exciting 'battle of the bands' sequence during which they will be struck by Japanese bombs and perish. "The sequence 'tested through the roof,'" according to the satirical piece, which Newsweek credited to "The Borowitz Report."
Disney estimated Monday that Pearl Harbor earned $75.1 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, short of some analysts' expectations but nevertheless above the grosses of every other Memorial Day opener in history except for 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which earned $90.2 million. Referring to analysts' forecasts last week that the film would earn $100 million, the Los Angeles Times commented Tuesday that the movie was "somewhat a victim of its own media hype," while The Associated Press said that Disney was working to "defuse reports of the film falling short of expectations." Producer Jerry Bruckheimer implied that the $100-million figure was inspired by his rivals.
Besieged by critics on Friday, Pearl Harbor failed to draw the record crowds that many analysts had predicted over the Memorial Day weekend. Although several box-office forecasters had predicted a $100-million weekend for the $135-million Disney feature, actual ticket sales for the first two days of the weekend amounted to $39.7 million, with rival studios estimating that the movie would earn another $16 million on Sunday.
Pearl Harbor is well on its way to breaking box office records this Memorial Day weekend.
Among the major U.S. newspapers, only the Los Angeles Times gives Pearl Harbor a snappy salute. Curiously, the Times' review is not written by lead critic Kenneth Turan but by the newspaper's veteran movie writer, Kevin Thomas, whose taste in films generally runs to independent and foreign-produced fare, not big blockbusters.
The box office for Pearl Harbor could be hard hit by a massive attack from critics.
Top studio executives are predicting that Disney's Pearl Harbor will earn more than $100 million in its opening over the Memorial Day weekend, shattering the record $90.2 million set in 1997 by The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the online media magazine Inside reported Thursday.
Ben Affleck, to Hollywood.com, on coping with Pearl Harbor director Michael Bay's harsh ("do it again, but cooler") style amid reports of clashing on Armageddon:
"He's not the most loquacious guy in the world. And he has no superego, it's all id. Which is great for you guys [the media]. I mean, great quotes. I've had interviewers call me up and go, 'You wouldn't believe the stuff I'm voluntarily leaving out of my piece on Michael cause I don't want to create a huge firestorm.' But that's one of the things I like about Michael. There's no politician in him. He's gonna shoot you dead straight, even if you don't want to hear it."
Meanwhile, at the Navy's (i.e. taxpayers') expense the carrier John C. Stennis was moved from San Diego to Honolulu to serve as what Tuesday's New York Times called "the world's largest and most expensive outdoor theater" for Tuesday's premiere of Pearl Harbor.
Disney has reedited Pearl Harbor for its Japanese and German releases in order not to offend America's World War II enemies, the British tabloid The Sun said Tuesday.
HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 4, 2000 -- Pearl Jam has made music history. One week after release, five of the Seattle band's 25 live double CDs have debuted on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The debuts mark not only the first time more than two titles from the same artist have bowed on the chart but also the first time any artist has had more than one live album on the chart at the same time. The 25 live double CDs are from the band's recent European tour. The double CDs were first made available Sept. 5 on the band's fan club Web sites pearljam.com and tenclub.net. The five CDs on the chart are from performances in Katowice, Poland; Milan, Italy; Verona, Italy; London; and Hamburg, Germany. None of the five CDs cracked the Top 100. IN SUPPORT OF GAYS AND LESBIANS: The Human Rights Campaign announced today that VH1 will air highlights from "Equality Rocks," a concert
HOLLYWOOD, July 26, 2000 -- The members of Pearl Jam broke their silence today, slamming the Danish authorities who deemed the band "morally responsible" for the deaths of nine fans during their June 30 concert at the annual Roskilde Festival. "We feel that we are 'morally responsible' to bring out the truth with regard to what happened that night," the band said in a statement. The rockers said the deaths "cannot be written off entirely as a 'freak accident' or 'bad luck,' as some have called it," and asked authorities to investigate security at the festival and other factors in the melee. The deaths occurred when the mob of fans surged the stage. The concert, in which Pearl Jam was one of many bands that performed, was held in an outdoor venue amid muddy conditions. Pearl Jam had been criticized by authorities for continuing to play while fans were being crushe
SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 6, 2000 -- Ben Affleck's been drafted for another tour of duty with "Armageddon" director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Ben Affleck in "Reindeer Games" According to today's Hollywood Reporter, the highly recruited star has signed up for the wartime adventure "Pearl Harbor," said to carry the most expensive (budgeted) price tag in Hollywood history.Affleck's on board with previously announced co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. Both are honorably mentioned as Bruckheimer's personal pals. Affleck helped the producer's "Armageddon" cross the $200 million mark at the domestic box office. Gooding Jr. crosschecks Bruck regularly as a member of the power player's hockey league. (Tom Cruise is another distinguished sideline sub.)Gene Hackman, a Bruckheimer alum from "Enemy of the State" and "Crimson Tide," could be the next patriot to en
Bootleg copies of The Mummy Returns could be downloaded from the Internet five days before the film premiered last week, and copies of Pearl Harbor, which hasn't yet opened, are already available on line, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday.