Darren Aronofksy’s Noah is a film of epic proportions, telling the long tale of Noah’s fight against an almighty flood that threatens to end all of humanity and life on earth. But there was an almighty battle to be fought off screen, too. Paramount were keen to appease religious audiences on which the film was tested, attempting to gain control of the final cut.

NoahWe'll be seeing Noah as its director intended

All in all, repots suggest the film was actually cut a dozen times before Aronofsky finally got his way. "They tried what they wanted to try, and eventually they came back," he said. "My version of the film hasn't been tested ... It's what we wrote and what was greenlighted." He admitted "there was a rough patch" with the studio.

“I was upset - of course No one's ever done that to me. My guys and I were pretty sure that because of the nature of the film and how we work, there wasn't another version. That's what I told them... the scenes were so interconnected - if you started unwinding scenes, I just knew there would be holes. I showed it to film-maker friends, and they said the DNA was set in this film."

The film, which has been made on a huge £70m budget – well, huge by British standards, anyway – sees Russell Crowe star as the titular Noah, with Emma Watson and Ray Winstone in support.

Now that the drama is over regarding the final cut, Paramount Vice Chair Rob Moore, who is a "devout Christian," said that the studio anticipates "that the vast majority of the Christian community will embrace [Noah]." He added: "[The movie contains the] key themes of the Noah story in Genesis - of faith and hope and God's promise to mankind."