Pope Francis and Russell Crowe Won’t Be Meeting After All

Apparently it takes more than a Twitter campaign to woo Pope Francis.

Variety reports that a tentatively scheduled meet and greet between Pope Francis and the team behind Noah has been canceled, despite star Russell Crowe’s Twitter campaign to draw the Holy See to the project.

Crowe is in Italy to promote the film along with director Darren Aronofsky and Paramount Pictures executives, ahead of its U.S. release on March 28. Variety originally reported that a meeting between the Pope, Crowe and Aronofsky had been scheduled for Wednesday, but the Vatican canceled over fear that the arrangement would cause a “spectacle.”

But Paramount denies that a meeting was ever set in stone, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The studio told THR that they contacted the Vatican about Crowe attending the papal general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, but the Vatican wasn’t thrilled with the idea. Paramount told THR that the Vatican thought Crowe’s appearance could disrupt the weekly prayer event, so the studio abandoned the idea.

However the rejection played out, it looks like Crowe’s Twitter stalking was in vain.

[The Hollywood Reporter]