Fourteen months ago, in Oyster Bay, New York, the film director Darren Aronofsky was standing on top of a 170ft ark at around 1am, filming Russell Crowe as he thrashed and bellowed in a man-made rainstorm.
Today we’re in Claridge’s in Mayfair, and Aronofsky, dressed in black shirt, black jeans and black boots, bounces into the room with good news from Los Angeles. Noah, his new film, has taken $44 million on its opening weekend in the United States – almost half again more than the $30 million Paramount Pictures nervously predicted last week.
