Just as he took to the skies in 1998’s amped-up summer blockbuster Armageddon, the increasingly busy Ben Affleck may sail the high seas in Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer’s World War II epic, Pearl Harbor. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Affleck is currently in negotiations with the director-producer team to star in Disney’s $130 million-plus range action drama alongside Cuba Gooding Jr., the first confirmed member of the cast.

Bay and Bruckheimer recently received the go-ahead from Disney to get rolling with casting and preproduction, and several actors have since been rumored to be circling the project. Affleck could be one of the actors in line to play one of a pair of pilots dueling over the heart of a young woman – Harbor’s romantic subplot set against the backdrop of the historical Japanese air raid. Other names flying around in recent weeks for possible love triangle members have included Wes Bentley (American Beauty), Jim Caviezel (The Thin Red Line), Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, and Felicity’s Keri Russell and Scott Speedman.

All those actors may or may not be actual candidates for the parts, but one thing’s for sure – Kevin Costner, who was reportedly in talks with the Harbor camp for another lead role, won’t be appearing in the film. Bay told E! Online that Costner “wanted too much money . and we think we can make this without any big names.” (Besides Affleck, it would appear.) E!’s Ted Casablanca also claims that Alec Baldwin has just been cast in the role Costner was eyeing. More Pearl Harbor news should be dropping from the skies before long, as Bay and Bruckheimer will soon be shifting into “full speed ahead” production mode to hit their Summer 2001 release target date.