Why not? You know what "based on" is? That's like the new Battlestar Galactica saying it was heavily influenced by the 9/11 attacks. (The opening attack sequences simulate the same feelings Americans had of just being totally blindsided.) Or saying that Tolkein wrote LOTR from his impressions of World War. Of course authors have always been inspired by grand historical events, and used them as the basis for things in works of fiction.
I just fail to see why you want to make a "historical" movie, with "historical" figures and "historical battles", if you're then going to fictionalize everything. I promise you, there are thousands upon thousands of fiction scripts sitting unread in studios, where companies bought the rights but haven't bothered sifting through. Then some jerk comes along and says LET'S MAKE A DISNEY MOVIE ABOUT PEARL HARBOR!!!!!!!! OMG WITH BEN AFFLECK!
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