With Noah, director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Black Swan, The Fountain) has apparently made what can best be described as a “Darren Aronofsky movie”. Word surrounding the pic suggests he’s taken the Biblical character and turned him into something of an extreme environmentalist. Aronofsky has said as much in the past, saying “Noah was the first environmentalist” and adding, “Hopefully they’ll let me make it.” Well, they did, and apparently some aspects aren’t going over so well in certain circles as test screenings have started to take place.
A major piece of contention seems to be the film’s third act, which The Hollywood Reporter says may have the potential of alienating the huge Christian audience while screenings in New York (for a largely Jewish audience), in Arizona (Christians) and in Orange County, Calif. (general public) have all “generated troubling reactions”.
I hadn’t heard of it until now, but apparently faith-based screenwriter Brian Godawa‘s October 2012 blog post headlined “Darren Aronofsky’s Noah: Environmentalist Wacko” was one of the first instances where the faith community began expressing concerns. Curiously enough, all Godawa did was read Aronofsky and Ari Handel‘s script, which makes me wonder if the Paramount execs that are reportedly concerned over the final product even bothered to read it. I am sure, however, they weren’t too keen reading where Godawa says the film will be “an uninteresting and unbiblical waste of a hundred and fifty million dollars that will ruin for decades the possibility of making a really great and entertaining movie of this Bible hero.”
“Darren is not made for studio films,” a talent rep with ties to the project told The Hollywood Reporter. “He’s very dismissive. He doesn’t care about [Paramount’s] opinion.” This quote was added to the same article in which Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore said the result of the final film will be “one version of the movie that Darren is overseeing.” Whatever that means as there seems to be some debate over whether or not Aronofsky has final cut on the $140 million budgeted feature on which Paramount is splitting the bill with New Regency.
Perhaps the most interesting quote in the THR piece comes from marketer Mark Joseph, whose past marketing credits include The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Ray. While he hasn’t seen a cut of the film he says:
[I fear this is] an example of a director not listening to those voices that would have been warning of the dangers of veering too far away from the biblical text. The director is there to serve the studio and the audience, not veer off into directions that go against the core audience’s beliefs — at least if the goal is to get them to come to the theater.
For any major film fan, that last line is a dagger to the heart. I’m sure many of you could rattle off a list of at least twenty directors you would hope wouldn’t care one iota what the “core audience’s beliefs” are. Yes, this is a formula that probably works best for the likes of superhero and Twilight movies, but when it comes to an auteur, the last thing a true fan of cinema cares about is anything but that director’s vision… especially after he/she has already shot the agreed upon script.
The final lines of the THR article are at least hopeful with Moore saying that while Aronofsky “definitely wants some level of independence, he also wants a hit movie.” He adds. “We’re getting to a very good place, and we’re getting there with Darren.”
Noah is currently slated for a March 28, 2014 release and stars Russell Crowe in the title role alongside Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Emma Watson, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone, Dakota Goyo, Kevin Durand, Marton Csokas and Finn Wittrock. You can find much more on the film right here.
