The Fate of Michael Bay's PEARL HARBOR in trouble'
Got this from Harry Knowles at AICN:
“The truth is… Pearl Harbor (aka TENNESSEE) is still set to begin shooting in Hawaii on April 10th. Michael Bay and crew are currently in the midst of meeting with a wide array of actors and actresses, and it’s looking like some casting is almost ready to go forward. They will be shooting in Hawaii for 6 weeks, before moving production to Baja, California for additional shooting. Recently Michael Bay was in Texas taking a look at an old Aircraft Carrier, and the film is being made. So, while Roth MAY have very well left Disney over some heated discussion with Eisner, (Which I Do Not Know), whatever happened between Eisner and Roth… It seems it will have NO effect upon the film or the film’s future.”
Bombs Away
Nelson here… Sorry for the downtime. I was notified by my webhosting company that one of their servers went down. And guess what? It just *happened* to be the one this site is hosted on. This crap happens one more time, I’ll be…
Anyway, on with the news. Since Joe Roth’s departure from Disney, rumors regarindg Bay’s “Pearl Harbor” have begun to spread. Reel.com’s Jeffrey Wells wrote an article about “Pearl Harbor” and all the stuff going on. Personally, I believe some of it (the casting parts), and the other stoff is a bunch of crap. It seems that if this movie gets made, it will be opening summer 2001. If you want to read the article, click here to read it.. Below, you can read some excerpts:
Bombs Away
“In less than four months, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay will probably begin rolling film on Pearl Harbor „ the biggest, splashiest, most expensive World War II film ever made. The budget is starting at $145 million, and will almost certainly come in higher when all is said and done. Movies like this always do. Which is where the “probably” comes in. In the wake of Disney chairman Joe Roth’s announced resignation Wednesday, Disney chairman/CEO Michael Eisner is rattling his saber and telling The Wall Street Journal and Variety that Pearl Harbor hasn’t been greenlit. But this is probably just posturing meant to assuage the financial community. I’d say the odds favoring a Pearl Harbor “go” at this stage are roughly 80-20…”
“…I’ve been told Ed Burns (Saving Private Ryan), Jim Caviezel (The Thin Red Line) and Wes Bentley (American Beauty) „ three very intense, au courant young actors „ are top contenders for the two male lead roles, flyboys Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker. Burns is said to be a particular favorite to play McCawley; the similar-looking Caviezel and Bentley (dark hair, intense eyes) are said to be competing for the Walker role. Felicity’s Scott Speedman is also said to be in the running for one of the male roles. Gwyneth Paltrow is being sought out to play Evelyn, the romantic female lead…” I know Bruckheimer is looking to cast Gene Hackman as President Franklin Roosevelt, but I’m told Hackman is waiting for a script rewrite before committing…”
“…When this budget-buster from Disney finally opens in the summer of 2001, to put it another way, will it play like a cross between Titanic and Saving Private Ryan, which Bay is said to be aiming for…”
“…Reached by phone, Bruckheimer declined comment on most of the matters discussed here. He confirmed the projected April start date and said the location filming schedule calls for Pearl Harbor, Los Angeles, Fox Baja, Texas, and then England, in that order…”
Did Eisner Bomb Pearl Harbor?
Got this from the IMDB:
Did Eisner Bomb Pearl Harbor?
Joe Roth’s exit as Walt Disney Studios chief may have followed a clash with Michael Eisner over Roth’s decision last November to greenlight a $145-million budget for Pearl Harbor the Wall Street Journal indicated today (Thursday), citing people familiar with the matter. Reports at the time the go-ahead was announced said that producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay had been engaged in lengthy negotiations with Roth and had finally agreed to financial concessions including a downsized back-end participation and accountability for any budget overages. Nevertheless, nearly two months after the deals with Bruckheimer and Bay were struck, Eisner has yet to clear the film, the WSJ said. (Today’s Daily Variety said that Eisner told it that Pearl Harbor (2000) has not been greenlighted.) Moreover, it added, Disney’s strategic planning department, which ordinarily is engaged in handling business ventures for the company, has been directed to scrutinize the film’s budget, the highest ever authorized for any film.
Commercial Interest
Went back in to the archives of “Bay material” and picked up a small story the Hollywood Reporter did on John Schwartzman. In the article he talks about working with Michael on “Armageddon.” You can read it here.
Happy Holidays
I would like to wish everyone that visits this site a Merry Christmas. Hope you can enjoy the holidays wherever you are. To those in Venezuela and Russia, you will be in our prayers, may God be with you.
And to all those who have in some way contributed to this site (with your emails, news, pictures, etc), we only hope that by this time next year we’ll all be watching Micheal Bay’s “Pearl Harbor.”