Pope Francis Doesn't Support 'Noah' Movie, Declines Papal Meeting for Russell Crowe & Film Crew
Pope Francis is one busy man as reports have come in that the Vatican has declined to meet "Noah" star Russell Crowe.
While the group was denied a private meeting, the group composed of Crowe, director Darren Aronofsky and Paramount executive Rob Moore met with Pope Francis during the Papal general audience at the Vatican and has been confirmed by a Universal spokeswoman, reports Variety.
No other details have since been provided as Universal revealed the Vatican specifically requested for details during the general audience; open to the public, not to be disclosed.
Crowe had tweeted "Ciao Roma, my love for your eternal light just grows deeper. Thank you holy father @Pontifex for the blessing," right after the audience along with pictures of the Udienza.
While Crowe was spotted in the VIP section of St. Peter's Square, their group was too far back to reach the pope.
Crowe has posted some pictures on his Twitter page of the event.
The Guardian reports that the meeting would have been ideal for the studio to counter some of the poor publicity the film has been garnering among religious communities. A number of Evangelical Christians have been upset over the portrayal of Noah in the film including drunkenness.
Yahoo! reports that the film has been banned in much of the Muslim world because of its inaccurate depiction of the prophet and many groups have complained about its liberties with the Biblical account of the flood.
According to Vatican spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, the request from producers for a private audience had not been considered and and was immediately turned down. Further, in an email on Wednesday to The Associated Press, Lombardi confirmed that there was no scheduled "meet and greet" after Wednesday's general audience.
"They could have been at the audience like anyone else," said Lombardi.
The film opens March 28.