Russell Crowe is taking on a whole lot of water.
The first trailer for Darren Aronofsky's Noah is out, and by the serious approach the filmmaker is taking to dramatize the biblical tale of a man instructed by God to save the world's creatures from impending doom, Evan Almighty this is not.
The teaser kicks off with Noah staring up at mountain very Moses-like, then looking down at the mud beneath his feet. It's clear he's having divine visions of the apocalyptic variety.
He subsequently seeks the advice of his grandfather, Methuselah, played by Anthony Hopkins, who tells him, "My father said that one day if man continues in his way, the creator would annihilate this world…he speaks to you."
"I saw water. Death by water," Noah replies.
Driven by this possible nightmarish future, Crowe's titular hero gets to work fulfulling God's instructions so he can save his family.
"A great flood is coming. We build a vessel to survive the storm. We build an ark," he says gravely.
(Given production on the flick was interrupted by Superstorm Sandy, Crowe & Co. might have needed one last fall).
Enter Jennifer Connelly as Noah's supportive wife Naameh, who spies a horde of men approaching their building site led by Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone), Noah's arch-enemy, who reminds the patriarch where his allegiance should lie.
"You don't know your king. I have men at my back, and you stand alone and defy me?" Tubal-cain asks.
"I'm not alone," Noah replies.
The dude's got good backup all right. And the Lord said let them come two by two and that they do—horses, birds, snakes, bats—critters of all kinds makes their way to the ark where they find shelter.
But as the preview reveals, Man and his wicked ways complicate Noah's plans on the eve of the Great Flood sent to destroy them.
Tubal-cain and his followers, who refused to listen to his tales of imminent catastrophe, aim to storm the ark and take control of it for their own survival once the deluge gets underway.
Foregoing the magical spell she cast as Hermione in the Harry Potter movies, Emma Watson costars in the film as Noah's adopted daughter, Illa, who has faith in his seemingly outlandish building project.
"Is this the end of everything?" she asks.
"The beginning," the bearded patriarch tells her.
We can't wait to see how it turns out when Noah hits theaters on March 28, 2014.