First Noah poster arrives

Arks at the ready... the first poster for 'Noah' – starring Russell Crowe – has arrived.

In predictably dramatic style, the image from the 'Black Swan' director's movie, the first in a handful of biblical projects coming from Hollywood, shows Noah facing up to the elements.

And the waters look a tad choppy...

A trailer for the movie is expected soon, though there are a couple of blink-and-you'll-miss-it viral videos featuring Crowe and co-star Emma Watson circulating on YouTube.

Aside from Crowe in the lead role, there's Jennifer Connolly as Noah's wife Naameh, Anthony Hopkins as Methuselah, Watson as Noah's daughter Ila, and Ray Winstone as Noah's nemesis Tubal-Cain.

[First look inside Noah's ark]

According to reports, first screenings of the film have been 'worrisome'.

Last month, the Hollywood Reporter suggested that audiences in three test screenings did not return great reactions.

All the animals in the movie are computer-generated, while there are also 11-foot-tall angels, called 'watchers' - involved too - so it's thought that these early audiences had much to take in.

[Noah film delayed due to flooding]

But that's what test screenings are for  – to iron out any issues and make adjustments.

Also in the pipeline in terms of forthcoming biblical epics are Ridley Scott's 'Exodus', starring Christian Bale as Moses, while there is also talk of Paul Verhoeven taking on the controversial 2008 book 'Jesus of Nazareth'.

'Noah' is slated for release in March, 2014.