![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/227\/2014\/03\/noah-crowe-moscow.jpg\" "\\"noah-crowe-moscow\\"")
<\/a>The European promo tour for Darren Aronofsky\u2019s Noah<\/a><\/i> soldiers on. Following the film\u2019s Berlin premiere<\/a> on Thursday, the filmmakers went to Madrid<\/a> for another premiere<\/a> tonight<\/a>, while Russell Crowe attended his first Noah<\/i> premiere at the other end of Europe, in Moscow<\/a>; he had missed the previous events because he was shooting a movie in Turkey.<\/p>\nAlas, the European tour has already encountered one hiccup of sorts: Variety<\/a><\/i> reported today that the Vatican has cancelled tentative plans for a photo op that would have featured Pope Francis and a few of the filmmakers, including Crowe and Aronofsky.<\/p>\n Crowe, via Twitter, had been openly asking<\/a> the Pope to screen the film for a few weeks now, and the Vatican reportedly gave the idea enough consideration to set some time aside for a meeting on Wednesday; but they eventually decided against it because Crowe\u2019s presence would be too distracting to the Vatican\u2019s other visitors.<\/p>\n The studio, however, has denied the story, and told The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> that a meeting with the Pope was proposed by the studio but \u201cnever scheduled.\u201d<\/p>\n Interestingly, Aronofsky himself has cited the Pope and his message as one of the reasons why people might be interested in his film.<\/p>\n In a video<\/a> from the world premiere<\/a> in Mexico City last Monday that went online today, Aronofsky tells one of the red-carpet interviewers: \u201cThe Pope is talking about how we should be stewards of the environment, of creation, and if you think about it, Noah was the first one to go out and save the animals, save the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n While the film has not yet been rated in Canada or the United States, it has<\/i> been rated 12A<\/a> in Great Britain, which will get the film on April 4, one week after it opens in North America. The British Board of Film Classification notes that the film runs 138 minutes, and gives it a warning of \u201cmoderate violence, injury detail, threat\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, i09<\/a> has posted an interview with Aronofsky and his co-writer\/co-producer Ari Handel in which they talk about both the film and<\/i> the graphic novel<\/a> that was based on an early draft of the script and is coming out tomorrow<\/a>:<\/p>\n io9: What\u2019s your fascination with the Noah story?<\/b><\/p>\n Darren Aronosky and Ari Handel: Destruction by water \u2014 everything we know being washed away, but also everything being cleansed \u2014 we think that\u2019s universally fascinating. There\u2019s a reason why so many religions and cultures have flood narratives. It\u2019s a fundamental story. . . .<\/p>\n The graphic novel is beautiful, thanks to Niko Henrichon\u2019s art. How much has the comic informed the design of the film?<\/b><\/p>\n For the most part the design of the film and the graphic novel developed in isolation from each other. Niko really had a lot of freedom to draw the story as he saw it. In one or two instances, like the Ark itself, we gave Niko some design ideas we were developing with for the film, but mostly they are two separate works.<\/p>\n Story-wise, how closely will the finished movie resemble the graphic novel? Are there any significant changes?<\/b><\/p>\n The graphic novel is based on a first draft of the Noah script. While Niko was working and drawing based on that early draft, we kept on writing and refining for a few years before we started filming, so the two stories diverged quite a bit. Of course they both track along with the story in Genesis so they have a lot in common \u2014 and the themes and characters have remained very much in line. But scene to scene there are a lot of differences.<\/p>\n Is there anything in the comic you were unable to bring to the screen?<\/b><\/p>\n Obviously, film and comics are different media. For film there are some things, especially with vast landscapes and intricate sets, that are hard to do photographically or even with visual effects. But Niko does everything with his pen, so he was only limited by his imagination. Probably the biggest thing that\u2019s in the comic that isn\u2019t in the film is being able to go inside a city full of the wickedness of men. . . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In other interview news, Flicks and the City posted the following set of soundbites from the red carpet in Berlin last week, and one of the more intriguing quotes comes from Ray Winstone, on how he tried to find a sympathetic side to the villainous Tubal-Cain. \u201cThis man wanted to save humanity in his own way,\u201d he says:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=19ZpvUP4nCQ<\/p>\n Meanwhile, we\u2019ve seen a flurry of new opinions and op-ed pieces regarding the film.<\/p>\n First, Rick Warren \u2014 who played a big part in promoting Son of God<\/a><\/i> and even said people should skip church<\/a> to see that film \u2014 slammed Noah<\/i> via his Twitter and Facebook accounts yesterday. He subsequently deleted the Facebook post and one of his tweets, but the following fragment survives on Twitter:<\/p>\n Director of new \u201cNoah\u201d movie calls it \u201cThe LEAST biblical film ever made\" then uses F word referring to those wanting Bible-based,<\/p>\n \u2014 Rick Warren (@RickWarren) March 16, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n