MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES BANNING ARONOFSKY’S NOAH

Darren Aronofsky’s Noah is being drowned by a flood of censorship in the Middle East, published reports said on Thursday. State censors in Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have reportedly told Paramount, which is distributing the film, that it cannot be shown in their countries because it depicts Noah, who is regarded as a messenger of Allah in the Quran. The Hollywood Reporter said on Thursday that further bans are expected in Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait. Currently, the film is scheduled to open in Egypt on March 26, two days before its launch in the U.S. The film has also stirred up controversy among religious groups in the U.S., forcing Paramount to attach a disclaimer to the movie saying that “artistic license” had been taken with it but that it remains “true to the essence, values, and integrity” of the biblical account. However, in an interview with Variety on Thursday Aronofsky maintained that he was not so much concerned about the reaction of religious zealots to the opening of the new movie as he was about non-religious moviegoers. “A lot of people are thinking, ‘Oh. I don’t want to go see a Bible movie,’ but we completely shook up all expectations and people will see that as soon as they sit down and watch the movie.”