Riding tremendous success at the box office, the studio behind the
Noah film already has announced that the big-budget, big-screen epic starring Russell Crowe will get a sequel.
"We had a feeling that Noah was going to be big, but the first weekend's success already has warranted plans to keep this franchise going," Paramount Pictures President Thomas Radford said in a statement from the studio. "Audiences clearly resonated with the characters and the world of Noah."
The sequel,
Noah 2: A New Rain, picks up where
Noah left off, Radford said. A leaked script finds the characters, trying to rebuild the world, running into a tremendous challenge when Noah receives word of another flood.
Once again written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, Radford says the second film will "maintain the level of biblical inspiration that inspired the first film," while noting that "the audience will be ready for Darren's artistic license this time."
Other purported plot points include Noah discovering a mysterious island of dinosaurs that had survived the first flood, as well as an epic showdown with his son, Ham, with an army of depraved reptilians that had mutated after leaving the ark.
"Ultimately, though, Noah and his family have to build a second ark," a studio executive said on condition of anonymity. "While the new ark will be more boat-like and outfitted with more exciting features, the important thing about this sequel is Noah's struggle with futility and meaning, something we all deal with from time to time."
In addition to Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson reprising their roles, Paramount is reportedly in talks with Keanu Reeves to play the role of the Reptilian King.
"Look, we know not a lot was written about Noah's life after the Great Flood," Aronofsky said in a recent interview. "We're left to imagine the adventures and challenges they all faced once the waters receded. We think the story we're continuing is true to the spirit of what we think the Bible might've said had this been written in it."
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