When Darren Aronofsky announced that he'd be turning one of his "hard to make" screenplays into a comic book, a lot of people immediately began speculating that he could be referring to his Batman origin story script. However, it turns out the filmmaker was actually referring to Noah, his retelling of the famous Biblical tale about (essentially) the end of the world.

Now that Black Swan has proven that an Aronofsky film can actually be a big hit at the box office, the director is looking to realize his version of the Noah story as a big-budgeted film production.

Deadline says that New Regency is already considering a role as co-financier of Noah, which is being envisioned as a $130 million undertaking that'll feature Aronofsky at the helm - working from his original script, which is currently being revised by Oscar-nominee John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator). If things work out, this could very well fill the hole left in Aronofsky's work schedule after he stepped down as director of The Wolverine.

Aronofsky also worked with illustrator Nico Henrichon to develop a comic book version of Noah that is slated to be published sometime next year. That move was in part inspired by The Fountain, which was also brought to life in graphic novel form before Aronofsky turned it into a feature-length film. Noah looks to follow in that sci-fi/fantasy project's foosteps (possibly with a significant budget, to boot).

Darren Aronofsky The Fountain

Part of the reason Noah is such a difficult sell has to do with Aronofsky's approach - namely, to retell the tale of Noah and his Ark in a manner that remains true to the tone and nature of the original Bible story. However, therein lies the problem, as Aronofsky has pointed out before:

"[Noah was the] first environmentalist. [The] first person to plant vineyards, drink wine and get drunk. I was stunned going back and realizing how dirty some of those [Bible] stories are. 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."

Aronofsky has also cited the theme of "environmental apocalypse" in the story of Noah as one that was particularly attractive to him. When you also consider that in combination with the general content (tests of faith, loss of human life) and the overall gloomy atmosphere of the tale, it become a bit more obvious why Aronofsky is so taken with this particular Bible story.

Noah still reads as being a pretty risky proposition for studios - between its high cost, adults-only content and potential to attract a healthy amount of controversy - so it's not yet guaranteed to become a reality. Even if things don't work out for the Noah film, Aronofsky fans will at least get to see the project brought to life in a non-compromised fashion in comic book form.

We'll let you know if Aronofsky's next directorial effort ends up being Noah - or another project, like Human Nature - once more information has been released.

Source: Deadline