"Shit, so much wood I've got to find..."
It’s not necessarily a great time to be anything less than a sure-thing blockbuster in Hollywood right now, and certainly an iffy time to be an expensive Biblical epic. That said, Darren Aronofsky’s Noah seems to have steadily progressed along in the last year without much doubt or major threats of plug-pulling that have plagued even his tiny films in the past. So while Paradise Lost is put on indefinite hiatus, Aronofsky might be rolling cameras on the story of Noah as soon as July.
The production hasn’t been entirely smooth though, as the lead-casting process has hit some snags with Christian Bale stepping away and (admittedly informal) talks with Mike Fassbender not going anywhere. But it turns out some rumors of negotiations with Russell Crowe have turned out to be true, and it looks as though contract signing will soon happen and put Russell Crowe on the biggest poop deck in history.
While Crowe cracked a joke about the rumors on twitter without substantively indicating how true they were at the time, Variety suggests that both parties are now “actively working on a deal” at this point. There’s no word about Liam Neeson working on a deal (his name was also tossed around in the earlier rumors).
It’s not hard to conceive of Crowe fitting into an Aronofsky film large or small, but I’ll wait till it’s 100% before I opine too much. Frankly, at this point, I just want this to roll cameras… I trust Aronofsky will get what he needs from whoever ends up donning the beard and collaborating with him.
Twitter
Comment Below
Message Board
via JoBlo
7 comments
If this movie recognizes that religious-minded folks are the target, and they might want to bring their kids, then it could make quite a lot of money. If the movie disrespects the beliefs and principles of the religious audience, the non-religious will cheer it, but no one will pay to see it.
I respectively disagree. The story of Noah is an incredible tale with such great cinematic potential, I don’t believe one will need to prescribe to any particular religion or faith to appreciate it. After all, I didn’t have any special interest in wrestling or ballet, yet found Aronofsky’s last two films to be immensely entertaining and insightful. Sure, being a person of faith (like myself) might allow for a different and even deeper appreciation of the film, but it certainly won’t be a prerequsite, not if Darren has done his job, which I fully expect he will… and then some. And given his track record, I doubt the commerical aspects will have any affect on how he tells the story.
This is true: The Exorcist back in ’73 — all crucifix humping and Let Jesus fuck yous aside — ended up being backed by several prominent members of the Catholic church, while Scorsese’s Last Temptation of Jesus Christ, which was opposed by just about everyone, did less than stellar box office. I still crossed the picket lines to go see it, though — I couldn’t resist.
This will be the biggest budget (by far) that Aronofsky will be given. This isn’t going to be a relatively small film about ballet. I doubt the financiers would have given him the green light unless the script fully panders to the Bible thumpers.
How could this movie disrespect people of faith? An epic movie about the story of Noah that starts with, “Can you believe some idiots believe this movie is factual?” I’m pretty sure it’ll be a straight telling of the story. Some ultra conservatives will no doubt nitpick that Aronofsky got some details wrong but I can’t imagine the movie trying to be some sort of take down of religious belief.
If Crowe commits and gives it his A-game( which he has not done in awhile) then this could be an amazing film. He is hoping that Viggo gets the role that Neeson was after…
Yeah, “The Flood” story pre-dates anything remotely Christian. It’s a core myth that was appropriated by more than one religion. I do hope it has spaceships and alien planets so the Scientologists and Mormons aren’t left out.
I wonder how beefy, grumbly and Aussie Crowe will be playing Noah. I hope they linger on the kangaroos and wombats when they hussle on board, then finish as a platypus waddles on-board in a ridiculous manner with Noah going “What devilry is THIS!!?”.
Comments are shown as archived from the original site; new comments are closed.