How does one premiere one of the most expensive films ever made? For Disney executives, the answer was simple: Throw one of the most expensive parties ever.
Pearl Harbor stars Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale welcomed 2,000 invited guests aboard the USS John C Stennis, a naval aircraft carrier turned open-air theatre docked nearby the site of the December 7, 1941 attack. “I always thought we should have a premiere here,” says the film’s producer Jerry Bruckheimer. However, “I never expected them to do anything as elaborate as this,” he admitted of the lavish fireworks display and revelry held on Monday.
But Hollywood heart-throb Ben was keen that the $5 million party not only celebrate the film, but also pay tribute to the 2,4000 Americans killed in the attack that drew the US into World Wad II. “I think the message is not one about the United States or Japan or the Second World War, right or wrong. It’s about what a terrible cost it is for people to have to go to war and what a terrible thing it is,” says the Oscar winner. “In my mind it’s a great testament to the fact that people still care. People are still interested. And these sacrifices that were made by men and women my grandparents age live on.”
Guests at the extravaganza included military officers and war veterans, as well as members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. “I think this is great,” said George Brown, an 80-year-old man who survived the attack on the USS Oklahoma. “It might bring a lot of people to realize that freedom isn’t free. You have to work for it.”
The film, which cost a whopping $135 million and opens on both sides of the Atlantic this week, is a classic love triangle involving two pilots, played by Affleck and Josh Hartnett, who fall in love with the same woman (Beckinsale). The film is scheduled to premiere in Japan in mid-July, and despite the historical conflicts portrayed, Disney executives predict the blockbuster will fare well overseas.
“The content is not inflammatory to the Japanese because it’s not trying to make a political or social statement,” says a spokesman for the Buena Vista’s Japan branch. “We’re confident that the film can appeal to a wide audience. It’s entertainment, a love story.”
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
