'Noah' Featurette: Building Noah's Ark

The title of Darren Aronofsky's latest is Noah, but we all know the classic Biblical hero wouldn't be anywhere without his equally famous ark. So the latest Noah featurette focuses on the massive wooden structure that carried him through the apocalyptic flood and into legend.

Hit the jump to learn how Aronofsky's version of Noah's ark came together, why it doesn't look like a boat, and what exactly a cubit is.

In recent weeks, there's been a lot of controversy over how "accurate" Aronofsky's movie really is. A religious group was upset that the film wasn't a strictly faithful interpretation of the story as it's told in the Bible. In the end, Paramount's marketing team compromised by adding a disclaimer that while the film was "inspired by" the Bible, "artistic license" had been taken.

But at least one part of the movie seems to hew pretty closely to the source material. Aronofsky explains in the featurette that he built his ark to Biblical specifications: 30 cubits high by 50 cubits wide by 300 cubits long. It's box-shaped, because that's what Genesis describes.

Granted, a good portion of Noah's ark is made with computer graphics, and not wood as Noah's ark presumably was. And true, the look of the ark was probably the least of the religious group's worries. Still, hats off to Aronofsky and his team for constructing what just might be the most Biblically accurate ark in Hollywood history.

For an even closer look at this stunning set, visit the interactive virtual tour on the Paramount website. The ark looks huge from the outside, but the inside feels surprisingly claustrophobic. Or cozy, depending on how you look at it.

Noah opens March 28. Russell Crowe plays the title character. Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins, and Ray Winstone also star.