Pope Francis has canceled a meeting with "Noah" star Russell Crowe and the film's creative team that had been set for Wednesday, Variety reports.
Executives at Paramount Pictures had hoped Crowe, director Darren Aronofsky, and Paramount vice chair Rob Moore meeting with the pontiff would give the $125 million film a boost, but
a source told Variety that the meeting with the pope was canceled because of concerns that a spectacle would be created if word got out that Crowe and Aronofsky were in Rome.
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Aronofsky told Variety last week that the meeting had been proposed with Pope Francis but it wouldn’t happen if it was reported on or tweeted about before the meeting.
Some religious groups have criticized the film that also stars Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson for not accurately depicting the story of Noah’s Ark.
“Noah” is scheduled to appear in theatres March 28.
In February, Pope Francis met with Philomena Lee who was the subject of “Philomena,” a film nominated for a 2014 Academy Award for Best Picture and starred Judi Dench.
When Lee met with Pope Francis,
she said she didn’t blame the Catholic Church for forcing her to give up her son for adoption; he was sent to live in the U.S. in the early 1950s. However, a U.N. human rights committee did hold the church in Ireland responsible for the forced adoptions of children born out-of-wedlock to Irish women.
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