An adaptation of the Biblical story of Noah's Ark, Russell Crowe stars as the man who must build an Ark to save all of creation from a coming flood.
The studio was said to be initially worried about how audiences would respond to this biblical film and insisted on holding test screenings while post-production work was still in progress. Aronofsky strongly objected to it, saying:
"I was upset -- of course. No one's ever done that to me. There was a rough patch. I imagine if I made comedies and horror films, it would be helpful. In dramas, it's very, very hard to do. I've never been open to it."
The studio suits also wooed a number of Christian viewers with the hopes that they would be the biggest fans of the movie. Instead viewers reacted badly to the film's adherence to the Bible and to the dark portrayal of Noah including one scene that sees him get drunk and contemplates genocide.
It got to the point that at least a half-dozen different cuts of the movie were tested
Ultimately though, the studio has gone with the Aronofsky's own 132 minute version. Ironically it's the only version that hasn't been test screened.
Aronofsky says:
"My guys and I were pretty sure that because of the nature of the film and how we work, there wasn't another version. That's what I told them … the scenes were so interconnected -- if you started unwinding scenes, I just knew there would be holes. I showed it to filmmaker friends, and they said the DNA was set in this film. I'm a great closer. I've never reshot a frame, and I think that's very odd on big-budget movies. We're meticulous. We come from independent film, with limited resources. They tried what they wanted to try, and eventually they came back. My version of the film hasn't been tested ... It's what we wrote and what was greenlighted."
Aronofsky defended his version in a lengthy quote to answer those who may take issue with the film for not being 100% faithful to the original story:
"It's probably is more accurate to say this movie is inspired by the story of Noah... [it contains] the key themes of the Noah story in Genesis -- of faith and hope and God's promise to mankind. Our anticipation is that the vast majority of the Christian community will embrace it. I had no problem completely honoring and respecting everything in the Bible and accepting it as truth. Of course, my production designer [Mark Friedberg] had a million ideas of what it could look like, but I said, 'No, the measurements are right there.' We wanted to smash expectations of who Noah is. The first thing I told Russell is, 'I will never shoot you on a houseboat with two giraffes behind you.' ... You're going to see Russell Crowe as a superhero, a guy who has this incredibly difficult challenge put in front of him and has to overcome it. For people who are very literal-minded, it would be great to communicate that the themes of the film are very much in line with the themes of the Bible - ideas about hope, second chances and family. If they allow that, they're going to have an incredible experience with the movie. If they don't allow it, it's theirs to lose."
Saoirse Ronan, Douglas Booth, Logan Lerman, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Durand Icelandic actors Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson Arnar Dan Mark Margolis Nick Nolte and Emma Watson also star.
Aronofsky & Ari Handel, wrote the original script for "Noah," but they eventually handed re-writing duties to John Logan (The Last Samurai, Gladiator).
Aronofsky, Mary Parent and Scott Franklin are producing the pic.
The film has a March 28th U.S. release
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