It looks as if director Darren Aronofsky will finally throw his hat into the ring of big budget filmmaking this year as his epic Biblical tale Noah gets off the ground at Paramount. His regular director of photography Matthew Libatique has stated that shooting will begin by this July with an eye on a Fall 2013 release. For such a large scale story, an appropriately hefty $130 million budget is planned. The script has been undertaken by John Logan (Hugo) and, as far as the content goes, this retelling will not be skipping over the more adult subject matter that often gets ignored. While it’s certainly exciting to hear confirmation that Noah will happen, perhaps a wait-and-see approach is still best given Aronofsky’s track record with proposed high-profile projects.

Actors like Christian Bale and Michael Fassbender have been attached to portray the titular character in the past, although neither are attached at the moment. By shooting in the summer, Fassbender probably won’t be able to fit the film into his schedule since he’ll be busy shooting Steve McQueen’s new film Twelve Years a Slave at that time. Whoever ends up with the role, expect it to be a big name to hang that sizable budget on. It has also been revealed that the film will feature a semi-antagonist role in the form of a character who constantly doubts that Noah is doing the will of God. That’s not exactly revelatory news since that’s how the story goes, but perhaps Aronofsky and company will have their own twist on the overall dynamic. Does this news give you hope that we will actually see Noah hit theaters next year?