One can say that Noah is the
passion project for director Darren Aronofsky, so it comes to no surprise that
when Paramount decided to do test screenings, the director became upset. The studios
decision came about because they were concerned about the director’s take on
the biblical story, despite of the smooth shooting and decided to make a cut of
the film themselves and test it with audiences.
Well Aronofsky was none too pleased with the studio’s actions and were
left wondering if the final cut would be the studio’s “new and improved” cut or
the filmmaker’s vision.
Well it seems that the studio
decided to trust the director and it will be his cut that will end up in
theaters. In a recent interview to THR, Aronofsky admitted that he wasn’t thrilled
with the decision to makes test screenings.
“I was upset – of course. No one’s ever done that to me… I imagine if I
made comedies and horror films, [test screenings] would be helpful,” he says.
“In dramas, it’s very, very hard to do. I’ve never been open to it.” The studio
also insisted that test audiences are sophisticated enough to evaluate movies
without finished effects in place. “I don’t believe that,” he says."
As expected the result of the
screenings weren’t all that great, as the studio began hearing complaints from religious
viewers, who were expecting something more literal. Paramount Vice President
Rob Moore talked about some of the studios issues with the film.
“One worry, says Moore, was that
“significantly conservative folks who have a more literal expectation” from a
movie about Noah might turn against it and become hostile. “There are some
people where it’s a very emotional experience of, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa — a
Hollywood studio is trying to tell a story from my faith, and I am skeptical,’
” he says. “Not necessarily 50 percent of the people, but maybe 10 or 20
percent. And those people can be very noisy.””
But Aronofsky wanted to make a
faithful yet unique adaptation of the story that would appeal to everyone.
“I had no problem completely
honoring and respecting everything in the Bible and accepting it as truth…” For
nonbelievers, he wanted to create “this fantastical world a la Middle-earth
that they wouldn’t expect from their grandmother’s Bible school.” At the same
time, he wanted to make a film for those “who take this very, very seriously as
gospel.”
In defense, Aronofsky wanted to
step away from the preconceived idea of what the Noah story might look like.
“We wanted to smash expectations
of who Noah is. The first thing I told Russell is, ‘I will never shoot you on a
houseboat with two giraffes behind you.’ … You’re going to see Russell Crowe as
a superhero, a guy who has this incredibly difficult challenge put in front of
him and has to overcome it.”
In the end the studio went to all
the trouble of making different cuts to test and ended up using the director’s
version.
“They tried what they wanted to
try, and eventually they came back. My version of the film hasn’t been tested …
It’s what we wrote and what was greenlighted.”
Aronofsky adds.
“For people who are very
literal-minded, it would be great to communicate that the themes of the film
are very much in line with the themes of the Bible — ideas about hope, second
chances and family. If they allow that, they’re going to have an incredible
experience with the movie. If they don’t allow it, it’s theirs to lose.”
Noah hits theaters on March 28th.
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