The Darren Aronofsky masterminded, Nico Henrichon drawn graphic novel for the “Black Swan” director’s revisioned biblical epic about the iconic Noah and his ark was recently released with a gust after kicking around as a film project for years. It came as somewhat of a surprise but it now looks like there was planning behind the sudden release. Speaking with the L.A. Times, Aronofsky has discussed his hopes that the novel will help “secure studio financing so he can move forward with the film after finishing ‘The Wolverine,'” which is set to begin production this April.
The biblical epic, one developed passionately by Aronofsky for years now, of course sees the iconic Noah (of Ark fame) revisionsed as a complicated character tormented by an apocalypse, the world’s “first environmentalist” and the “first person to plant vineyards, drink wine and get drunk.”
Of his influences on the project, the helmer noted he was “a huge fan” of James L. Conway‘s 1976 documentary “In Search Of Noah’s Ark” which followed an investigation into the theory that Mt. Ararat in Turkey is the final resting place of Noah’s Ark — a film he saw at a movie theater as a child.
“I was stunned going back and realizing how dirty some of those stories are,” Aronofsky adds. “They’re not PG in any way. They’re all about sleeping with your brother’s sister who gives you a child who you don’t know. That kind of stuff got censored out of our religious upbringing.” Blasphemy and incest? Sounds like the perfect film to premiere at Sundance amongst the people of Utah.
To call Aronofsky’s search for financing on this an uphill battle would be an major understatement and, furthermore, Aronofsky has previously spoken of ambitions to make ‘Noah’s Ark’ straight after both “Requiem For A Dream” and “The Wrestler” only for that to fall through. Common sense would probably inhibit us from even getting excited about this though, we guess, after the overwhelming success of “Black Swan” and the (seemingly) lay-up of a box office hit that will be his reunion with Hugh Jackman on “The Wolverine,” this might be his best chance yet. What’s up, 20th Century Fox?