The lack of information regarding Darren Aronofsky‘s new film Noah has allowed speculation surrounding the film to run pretty much unchecked. For a while it was assumed that Christian Bale would be the lead. However, after word came that he would be unable to find the time given his commitments to Terrence Malick, attention turned to Michael Fassbender as a likely replacement. Fassbender has refused to comment definitively on this matter, but, luckily, we now have new information from the Oscar Poker podcast (via ThePlaylist) to sate our thirst for news and speculation.
On the podcast, Jeff Wells said that frequent Aronofsky contributor Matthew Libatique dropped some promising and intriguing bits of information regarding the Biblical production. First and foremost, he says that the film will begin shooting in New York and Iceland in July, with an eye toward a Fall 2013 release. (This makes sense, as it should be assumed that the studio will be hoping to gain some award consideration off of this film.) Libatique is also said to have discussed the script with Aronofsky, and, according to Wells, said that “it’s really a good script. They’re really doing the story of Noah, a very unlikely subject you might think for a cutting edge fellow like Darren Aronofsky, but that’s what they’re doing.”
Most intriguing of all, though, is the news that there will be a human antagonist, a kind of faithless doubter who will serve as Noah’s counterpoint in the tale. “And there’s a big villain part,” Wells said. “Someone who’s saying ‘Listen, don’t listen to him. We’re fine! We don’t need to build any ark. Don’t be so alarmist! Don’t be so fundamentalist.'” That’s an interesting concept, as it would seem to be an affirmation of a very heavy religious bent for the film, and a basic condemnation of an agnostic feeling that is very much prevalent in popular culture today. And if anyone can pull off such a delicate act of religious defense, I think Aronofsky would be the guy to do it. His spiritual inclinations have already been made clear by The Fountain and Pi, and seeing him back in that territory could be invigorating.
Still no official plot synopsis or release date, so, for now, hearsay is all we have to go on. At least news like this makes it easy to start chalking Noah up as a film to look out for.
Does this third-hand news make you more or less excited for this film, or are you waiting for some solid updates to really nail down an opinion?