Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Religious Music & Entertainment
Noah news round-up: Mexico City interviews, an Egyptian debate, a Christian op-ed piece, new profiles, and more

Noah news round-up: Mexico City interviews, an Egyptian debate, a Christian op-ed piece, new profiles, and more

Last updated on: March 11, 2014 at 7:26 am by Peter T. Chattaway

Noah news round-up: Mexico City interviews, an Egyptian debate, a Christian op-ed piece, new profiles, and more 2014-03-11T07:26:35-07:00 Peter T. Chattaway

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Darren Aronofsky’s Noah was scheduled to have its world premiere in Mexico City tonight, but apparently the director popped down there a day early to speak to the public.

It’s not clear from the reports in Milenio and El Universal whether the actual film was shown yesterday, but apparently Aronofsky told the crowd that he chose Mexico City for the film’s premiere because he visits that country all the time.

Amateur videos of Mexican interviews with Douglas Booth and Logan Lerman, who play two of Noah’s sons, have already popped up on YouTube.

I have not yet found any interviews of Aronofsky himself from Mexico, though NY1 did just post this profile of the director, which looks at his life and career and includes a few video clips that are, alas, available only to Time Warner Cable subscribers.

There isn’t much about Noah itself in the article, though there is an amusing anecdote about how the studio wanted Aronofsky to cut his former teacher’s cameo:

Aronofsky calls Noah the patron saint of his creative life, because the story was the subject of a poem he wrote as a 13-year-old at Mark Twain Junior High School on Coney Island.

“I had a magical teacher, Mrs. Vera Fried, and she asked everyone to write a poem based on peace, and it turned out it was a contest for the U.N., and I ended up winning it, and it was the first time I thought maybe, ‘Hey, wow, maybe I can be a writer, a storyteller,'” he says.

Aronofsky contacted Vera Fried, now retired in Florida, and invited her to the set.

“I was like, ‘You know what, we need an extra today.’ So I stuck her and made her into this one-eyed crone, and she has some speaking lines with Russell,” he says. “And when the studio was like, ‘You know what, that shot, you should cut that shot out,’ I was like, ‘There’s no f-ing way we’re going to cut that shot out. That’s staying in the movie.'”

The New Yorker also has a new article on the making of Noah, and you have to be a subscriber to access that one, too. There’s lots of interesting stuff in there, though.

For example, it seems the studio was prepared at one point to “mak[e] the film less faithful to Genesis and more faithful to people’s sentimental recollections of Genesis,” and even went so far as to test-screen an 86-minute version that “began with a montage of religious imagery, ended with a Christian rock song, and skipped the whole middle”. Yikes. (The finished film is about 35 minutes longer than that.)

Meanwhile, Variety reports that industry insiders are predicting an opening of $35 million or more for the film when it opens March 28. The studio, however, is said to be estimating a lower opening of around $27.5 million to help manage expectations.

If the film meets either of those targets, it would automatically outgross all but one of Aronofsky’s previous films in North America. (The exception is Black Swan, which grossed $107 million over the course of the 2010 awards season.)

It would also be one of the five best opening weekends for a film starring Russell Crowe, and the second-biggest opening for a Bible film after The Passion of the Christ, which grossed $83.8 million in its first weekend back in 2004.

Estimating the first-weekend figures for Noah has been trickier than it would be for most major films, partly because the studios don’t know how to track the churchgoing demographic, which is a substantial part of the film’s intended audience but by no means the only part. Son of God had a much better opening than expected two weekends ago, and many of those who bought tickets for that film expressed interest in seeing Noah too, but the film has attracted its share of controversy, too.

Speaking of which, a representative for the censorship board in the United Arab Emirates confirmed today that the film will, in fact, be banned in that country. Said Juma Obaid Al Leem, director of the Media Content Tracking Department at the National Media Council in that country: “The film conflicts with [many] religions. Out of respect for these religious sentiments, we are banning the film.”

Noah has also been banned in Qatar and Bahrain, and censors in similarly Muslim countries like Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt are expected to follow suit.

The ban has the support at least one theatre owner in Bahrain, but historian Juan Cole notes that a secular organization in Egypt called ‘The Front for Creativity’ has slammed the local Sunni institution that called on Muslim authorities to ban the film. Cole looks at this controversy in the light of recent changes to Egypt’s constitution and asks, ‘Will Russell Crowe as Noah help Egypt Separate Religion and State?’

Closer to home, National Religious Broadcasters head honcho Jerry A. Johnson has supplemented his previous columns on the film — in which he listed five positive things and five negative things about the film — with a new column for Christianity Today in which he advocates a middle ground for Christians between enthusiastically endorsing the film on the one hand and boycotting it on the other hand.

Finally, don’t forget to check out the new videos that were released today, which I discussed in my previous post. Plus, Aronofsky has tweeted a few new images from his Noah-themed art show, and I have added them to the collection of images here.

Previous Post

March 10, 2014

Noah: our first clip from the film, and a new TV spot!

Next Post

March 11, 2014 New Noah trailer looks at Noah's sons and daughter-in-law

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Anglican Planet Articles BC Christian News BC Report Bible Movies Bible Review Blog Books & Culture Campus Times CBC Radio Christianity Today ChristianWeek Essays Faith Today Festival Cinemas Guide Film Journals Georgia Straight Interviews MB Herald National Catholic Register Salvationist Today's Christian Two Chairs Ubyssey Uncategorized Vancouver Courier Vancouver Sun

Select a Month August 2025 April 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 May 2024 February 2024 December 2023 May 2023 March 2023 November 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 January 2012 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 November 2003 October 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 March 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 April 2001 March 2001 February 2001 December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 August 2000 July 2000 June 2000 May 2000 April 2000 March 2000 January 2000 October 1999 August 1999 May 1999 April 1999 February 1999 January 1999 December 1998 November 1998 October 1998 August 1998 July 1998 June 1998 April 1998 March 1998 January 1998 November 1997 September 1997 July 1997 June 1997 April 1997 March 1997 February 1997 January 1997 December 1996 October 1996 September 1996 June 1996 March 1996 February 1996 January 1996 April 1995 November 1994 September 1994 September 1991

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the correct order for putting off the old self and putting on the new self as described in Colossians?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Clothe yourself with compassion, put on the new self, put to death earthly nature, rid yourself of anger Rid yourself of anger, take off the old self, put to death earthly nature, put on the new self Put on the new self, put to death earthly nature, clothe yourself with compassion, rid yourself of anger Put to death earthly nature, rid yourself of anger/rage/malice, take off the old self, put on the new self, clothe yourself with compassion