Armageddon

Armageddon is a 1998 American science-fiction disaster film, directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and released by Disney's Touchstone Pictures. The film follows a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers sent by NASA to stop a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth. It features an ensemble cast including William Fichtner, Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Owen Wilson, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, Michael Clarke Duncan and Steve Buscemi.

Armageddon opened in theaters only two-and-a-half months after a similar impact-based movie, Deep Impact, which starred Morgan Freeman. According to Bruce Joel Rubin, writer of Deep Impact, a "president at Disney" took notes on everything the writer said during lunch about his script and initiated Armageddon as a counter film at Disney. Astronomers described Deep Impact as being more scientifically accurate,[3] though Armageddon fared better at the box office.Both films were equally received by critics. Armageddon was an international box office success, despite generally mixed reviews from film critics. It became the highest-grossing film of 1998 worldwide surpassing the Steven Spielberg war epic, Saving Private Ryan.