Summary

• Darren Aronofsky's 2014 movie Noah entered Netflix's top 10 in the U.S., ranking 5th for the week of March 4 through 10.
• While praised by critics for its visuals and performances, the adaptation was divisive among audiences, receiving a 41% audience score.
• Despite mixed reviews, Noah was a box office hit, grossing over $362 million worldwide.

Russell Crowe’s 2014 epic biblical drama movie Noah has become a global Netflix hit. Directed by Darren Aronofsky and inspired by the scriptural story of Noah’s Ark, the movie stars Crowe as the titular lead, who God chooses to build an ark to save his family and the world's animals from a great flood that the deity has summoned to wipe out the evil of men. In addition to Crowe, the Noah cast includes Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Anthony Hopkins alongside the voices of Frank Langella, Nick Nolte, Mark Margolis, and Kevin Durand as Watchers.

Noah movie has landed on the list at No. 5 alongside more contemporary Netflix original hits such as Damsel, Spaceman, and Code 8 Part II and major non-original releases including The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Think Like a Man Too, and 27 Dresses. This resurgence in interest has come almost exactly 10 years after the release of the Aronofsky biblical movie, which originally debuted on March 28 in 2014.

Noah Was Divisive Upon Its Original Release

Critics and audiences didn't agree

Since he made his debut in 1998 with the highly-rated conceptual psychological thriller Pi, many entries from Darren Aronofsky's filmography have generally been polarizing. Even his Oscar-nominated or Oscar-winning titles including The Whale, Black Swan, and The Wrestler have divided critics and audiences either due to their subject matter or the approach they take to it. Below, see the Aronofsky movies other than Noah that have featured the widest divide between critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes:

Aronofsky's movies have such a tendency toward divisiveness that there is not any major consistency between whether critics or audiences prefer his movies. Indeed, this is borne out by the general reception to his Russell Crowe biblical epic during its original release. Even though the drama was well received by most critics, who praised the Noah cast as well as its sweeping visuals, audiences gave the movie less favorable reviews, resulting in the biggest divide of the director's entire career.

While Aronofsky's Noah boasts a fairly impressive 75% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score was a lot less impressive, with viewers only giving it 41%. This results in a difference of -34%, a massive gap for any movie on the platform. There are several reasons why many who went to theaters to watch Noah weren’t impressed with Aronofsky's adaptation, as expressed in their reviews. However, one of the major reasons is the significant number of changes that Aronofsky and co-writer Ari Handel made to the original Noah story.

Noah's Netflix Success Makes Sense Despite Its Original Audience Reception

The movie was a financial success in 2014

Although Noah received such mixed reviews, this success on Netflix isn't entirely a surprise. After all, in spite of negative audience reactions at the time, the movie was a major box office hit. Though its huge budget, which was estimated somewhere between $120 and $160 million, likely means it didn't earn too much of a profit at the end of the day, it was a major success compared to many other blockbusters of the time. This was the case from the very beginning, as it earned $43.7 million during its opening weekend, debuting in first place at the box office.

Noah took No. 1 over other major 2014 titles including Divergent, Muppets Most Wanted, and The Lego Movie.

The Noah Rotten Tomatoes score did not prevent its gross from climbing even higher in the weeks to follow, though it was knocked to No. 2 the next weekend by the release of the Marvel Cinematic Universe hit Captain America: The Winter Soldier. By the end of its run, the Aronofsky movie grossed $359.2 million worldwide, making it the 23rd highest-grossing movie of the year. It is also Aronofsky's highest-grossing film to date by a considerable margin, followed by Black Swan ($331.3 million) and The Fighter ($129.3 million).

In 2014, audiences may not have all liked the movie, but they did flock to see it. This trend seems to have carried into the modern era, which could explain the sudden success of Noah on Netflix. The movie's debut on the platform also comes during a time that faith-based titles have been thriving at the box office including The Chosen, Ordinary Angels, and Cabrini, all of which are in the Top 10 as of the time of writing. Audiences' hunger for similar titles does not seem to have diminished on streaming either.

Noah is available to stream on Netflix and Paramount+.

Source: Netflix