Despite some denied rumors just earlier this month, we’ve got official casting for Darren Aronofsky‘s big-budget, edgy re-telling of the Noah story. But first, according to this new report it won’t be too edgy, as Paramount has confirmed they are shooting for a PG-13 MPAA rating. With a $125 million budget and a tentpole March release, it’s no surprise they’ve gone this route. It’ll mark the director’s return to this arena, with The Fountain being the last of his films to nab that rating.
Moving on, THR‘s conversation with Paramount President Adam Goodman also revealed that Saoirse Ronan and Jennifer Connelly have been locked down to star alongside Russell Crowe in the “big, robust production” that “will have tremendous scale.” He added that the “remarkable adventure” won’t be “what you think of when you think of Darren, but it will be very true to him as a filmmaker.”
If earlier reports are correct, Connelly will be playing Crowe’s wife, Naameh, in her re-team with the Requiem For a Dream director, as well as with Crowe, as she played his love interest in A Beautiful Mind. As for Ronan’s role, we posited Noah had three sons who each had wives. Considering there aren’t many other human characters in this story, I’d have to assume she’d be considering one of those roles.
Aronofsky wrote the screenplay with Ari Mandel, deciding to portray 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 and there is even a part for an antagonist who is against the ways of our title character.
The film will shoot in New York and Iceland this summer for a March 28th, 2014 release.