Darren Aronofsky's Oscar Chances & Noah's Biblical Accuracy

There's been a lot of talk and controversy surrounding Aronofsky's adaptation of Noah's Arc and whether it's faithful to the story we all learned in bible school as kids.

The studio has released a video testimonial from many of those who have seen the film, with religious backgrounds. Take a look, and decide for yourself below as you watch the featurette.

Noah opens everywhere in today.




I'm having difficulties embedding the video, so just watch it here

So, is Noah a possible Oscar contender?

So far, reception for the film has been very positive (76% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 69 on Metacritic isn't bad whatsoever, especially since many were predicting that this could be another "The Fountain"). Reception wise, the film has fallen below The Wrestler (88.5 average), Black Swan (83 average) Pi (79.5) and Requiem For A Dream (73 average); Noah averages 72.5 critically.

Of Aronofsky's films, Black Swan nabbed the most Oscar nominations with 5(Picture, Director, Actress, Editing, and Cinematography) with 1 win for Actress (Natalie Portman). The Wrestler nabbed 2 nominations (Actor, S. Actress) and 0 wins, while Requiem For A Dream nabbed 1 nomination (Actress) and 0 wins. Pi was not nominated for anything.

All of Aronofsky's films that have flirted with Oscar had the priveledge of being released in the Oscar friendly months of October, November or December AND had previously run the festival circuit (Requiem debuted at Cannes, The Wrestler took home the top prize at Venice, while Swan wowed at Venice, Toronto AND Telluride). Noah is at a bit of a disadvantage of being a commercial film premiering in the Oscar unfriendly month of March.

Noah is also the most commercial film (in terms of budget; $125-$160 million) in Aronofsky's filmography, however it's unknown whether or not it will recoup what was spent to make it. Most importantly, will it even come close to Black Swan's astonishing $329 million World Wide gross? Maybe if it becomes a huge box office success, it could stick around.. but it's unlikely.
-- Swan was made for a mere $10 million, which makes that number even more incredible--

I'm going to a 7 pm showing this evening, so hold out for my review of the film which I'll post sometime tonight or tomorrow.