Things to Watch For in 2001

Pearl Harbor: The Movie

Watch for Walt Disney Co.’s mega-budgeted Memorial Day release “Pearl Harbor” to be the must-see event movie of 2001.

The $135-million World War II epic, from director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer--the team behind such blockbusters as “Armageddon” and “The Rock”--is expected to be a huge box-office hit. The large-scale production, shot on location in Hawaii, was said to rival that of James Cameron’s 1997 Oscar-winning smash “Titanic.”

Of course, Disney hopes “Pearl Harbor” ’s box-office draw can come somewhere close to “Titanic” ’s worldwide bonanza of $1.8 billion.

Set for release May 25 over the highly competitive Memorial Day weekend, the film stars Ben Affleck, Cuba Gooding Jr., Kate Beckinsale and Josh Harnett and is based on a screenplay by Oscar-nominated writer Randall Wallace (“Braveheart”).

The story, set against the backdrop of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, follows the lives of two brothers who serve in the war--one enlisted with the U.S. Air Force, the other a pilot for the Royal Air Force--who fall in love with the same woman.

Disney chief Michael Eisner came close to not making the movie when it was originally budgeted at $145 million. He agreed to push the go button only after the filmmakers agreed to cut $10 million off the cost by reducing their fees and getting others to defer their salaries.