'Noah' director, Crowe ataudience with Pope Francis

Afterconflicting reports from Paramount and trade magazines, Russell Crowe, star of the controversial biblical drama "Noah," and writer-director Darren Aronofsky had an audience with Pope Francis Wednesday, Newsday's Rafer Guzmán reports. Variety reported earlier this week that the pope had canceled a meeting with Crowe. Deadline.com, however, reported that the Vatican extended an olive branch and hosted Crowe, Aronofsky and Paramount executive Rob Moore in the official VIP section of Wednesday morning's udienza, which is an audience with the pope. "Noah" opens in theaters March 28. Related story in exploreLI.