Ray Winstone wanted to play Noah’s Ark villain

The director of a new movie based on the story of Noah’s Ark reportedly wants Ray Winstone to play the villain.

And while we may think that Biblical epics and Cockney accents are cinematic chalk and cheese, director Darren Aronofsky apparently disagrees.

[Related story: First poster for Ray Winstone-starring remake of The Sweeney]

If Winstone accepts the role ahead of fellow candidates Val Kilmer, Liev Schreiber and Liam Neeson then he’ll be playing the film’s chief antagonist, a role absent from the original Bible tale.

As great as the idea of Winstone playing a conniving storm cloud or a vengeful tidal wave is, they’re not likely to be the role Aronofsky has in mind for his cinematic follow-up to 2010’s ‘Black Swan’.

Winstone will most-likely be playing a human, but we can still hope he’ll be building his own Ark to rival Noah’s (Russell Crowe), filling it with the world’s most evil animals - wasps, killer whales, ducks etc.

Currently in pre-production, ‘Noah’ will star Crowe alongside his on-screen sons Logan Lerman and Douglas Booth, with Emma Watson as Booth’s love interest. Julianne Moore and Jennifer Connelly are reportedly in the running for the role of Noah’s wife.

‘Noah’ has a tentative release date set for 28 March 2014.