Anthony Hopkins to Play Methuselah in Darren Aronofsky’s NOAH

Though it will have been a long four years since his last film once the Biblical epic is released, director Darren Aronofsky’s Noah is shaping up to be well worth the wait.  Russell Crowe is onboard to play the titular protagonist in Aronofsky’s close adaptation of the Noah’s Ark story from the Bible, as Noah is given a divine mission of building an ark to save creation from the impending flood.  Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Douglas Booth round out an already impressive cast, and now Aronofsky has announced (via his Twitter) that the incredibly talented Sir Anthony Hopkins has signed on to star as Methuselah.  Hit the jump for more.

For those unfamiliar with the finer details of the story, Methuselah was the grandfather of Noah and has the distinction of being the longest-lived person mentioned in the Bible.  He’s noted as being 969 years old at the time of his death, which occurred seven days before the great flood.  Hopkins will next be seen as legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock in the star-studded drama Hitchcock.  He’s also set to return for the Alan Taylor-helmed sequel Thor 2.

Production on Noah begins soon, but we’ll have an excruciatingly long wait before we see the film in theaters.  Nevertheless, I’m beyond eager to see what Aronofsky has in store for us when Noah opens on March 28th, 2014.  Read the official synopsis below.

NOAH is a close adaptation of the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark. In a world ravaged by human sin, Noah is given a divine mission: to build an Ark to save creation from the coming flood. The screenplay was written by Aronofsky and Ari Handel and revised by Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter John Logan (GLADIATOR, HUGO).