Claim: Kate Beckinsale starred alongside Ben Affleck.

Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American romantic period war film directed by Michael Bay , produced by Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Randall Wallace . It stars Ben Affleck , Kate Beckinsale , Josh Hartnett , Cuba Gooding Jr. , Tom Sizemore , Jon Voight , Colm Feore and Alec Baldwin . The film is loosely based on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 , and the Doolittle Raid .   Despite receiving generally negative reviews from critics , the film was a major box office success , earning $ 59 million in its opening weekend and , in the end , nearly $ 450 million worldwide . It was nominated for four Academy Awards , winning in the category of Best Sound Editing . However , it was also nominated for six Golden Raspberry Awards , including Worst Picture . This marked the first occurrence of a Worst-Picture-nominated film winning an Academy Award .