Paramount and New Regency To Finance Aronofsky’s $150 Million Epic ‘Noah’. Holy Moses!
I’m pretty excited for Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, which has been in development for a bit now. Finally!, finally they’ve made their securement (is that a word? I think it is, nothing is coming up.) of funds official. Paramount and New Regency, come on down!
Paramount and New Regency jointly announced today that they will distribute Darren Aronofsky‘s long gestating biblical epic Noah – a big screen adaptation of Noah’s Ark that Darren has been developing since he was 13-years-old. The deal between Paramount and New Regency was previously reported on the site when the deal was in talks, but it has now been confirmed. 20th Century Fox was also bidding on the project, which has a reported $150 million budget. John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) is currently working on rewrites of the script; Christian Bale has been rumored as a top choice to play the lead.
When Darren Aronofsky was 13-years-old, he won a United Nations poetry competition at his Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn school for a poem about the end of the world as seen through the eyes of Noah. And so started Aronofsky’s obsession with the biblical figure. In September 2008 we talked to Aronofsky about his idea for a film based on Noah:
“It’s the end of the world and it’s the second most famous ship after the Titanic. So I’m not sure why any studio won’t want to make it,” said Aronofsky. “I think it’s really timely because it’s about environmental apocalypse which is the biggest theme, for me, right now for what’s going on on this planet. So I think it’s got these big, big themes that connect with us. Noah was the first environmentalist. He’s a really interesting character. Hopefully they’ll let me make it.”
Aronofsky has released a new comment with the press release:
“Since I was a kid, I have been moved and inspired by the story of Noah and his family’s journey. The imaginations of countless generations have sparked to this epic story of faith. It’s my hope that I can present a window into Noah’s passion and perseverance for the silver screen,” said Aronofsky.
Get some get some get some! (Quickly becoming my generic turn of phrase…of choice.)