Pope briefly meets Russell Crowe after snubbing screening of 'Noah'

Russell Crowe, who lobbied hard but could not get Pope Francis to see his biblical drama 'Noah', reportedly settled for a quick meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican with his film crew.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, while both Paramount Studios and Universal Studios Italy said that Crowe, director Darren Aronofsky, producer Scott Franklin, met the pontiff, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said that no meeting had been scheduled.

Vatican officials had supposedly tentatively agreed to the meeting but it had been cancelled as the Pope was worried about the media frenzy it would create and was afraid that it would become a "huge spectacle".

Despite the conflicting reports about the encounter, Crowe recently took to Twitter to share pictures of the delegation sitting at the Pope's weekly audience in St. Peter's Square.