Unified Pictures builds an Ark

Evan Almighty might not have exactly floated anyone’s boat, but the idea of building a tale around the story of Noah’s Ark clearly has appeal to someone.

That someone is Unified Pictures honcho Keith Kjarval, who’s gambling that cinema audiences’ love affair with cute CG talking animals hasn’t yet been scheduled for a meeting with the vet’s needle.

Noah’s Ark will find a new spin on the classic plot, this time told from the point of view of the critters that Noah takes aboard. Cue wisecracks about pairs and those beasts that can’t swim from Philip LaZebnik, who wrote on the likes of Mulan and The Prince Of Egypt.

Unified is ploughing $35 million into the movie and is praying that can buy enough shiny CG tech to make the thing look like a big studio release. Expect a celebrity voice cast to be announced soon and the finished product to role off the production line in a couple of years.

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