Noah just got a granddaddy, as Darren Aronofsky himself reports with a cast update on his big-budget retelling of the classic biblical story of the ark builder. We’ve already got Russell Crowe signed as the titular character, with Jennifer Connelly as his wife Naameh, Logan Lerman and Douglas Booth as their sons, Emma Watson as female companion to the latter and Ray Winstone in a villainous role.
Now Aronofsky has took to Twitter to announce that Sir Anthony Hopkins has joined the cast as Methuselahm, grandfather of Noah and the eldest human mentioned in the Bible. He passed away a week before the flood hit at age 969, with God delaying the event to pay respects to the man. It’s another strong addition to Aronofsky’s mega-hit Black Swan follow-up and the actor can next be seen playing the great Alfred Hitchock in Sacha Gervasi‘s recently wrapped production.
Aronofsky wrote the screenplay with Ari Mandel, portraying the titular Biblical hero as “a man who loves Earth and all of its animal inhabitants, but has become disillusioned with the way humans have treated their planet.” It is also said to focus on Noah’s alcoholic tendencies, but it won’t go the usual dark Aronofsky mile, as this time it will be a PG-13 journey.
Noah kicks off production this month for a March 28th, 2014 release.