In what could be termed an ironic case of life imitating art, filming of a biblical epic telling the story of Noah and his ark was put on hold this week due to Superstorm Sandy.

Darren Aronofsky's film, starring Russell Crowe as Noah, was due to be filmed on Monday at locations in New York.

Cast and crew stayed away following warnings about the path of the storm, and two arks built for the production were docked, one in Brooklyn and the other in Oyster Bay in Long Island, an area hit by the storm.

It is still unclear whether the 450 feet long and 75 feet tall vessel, which was not designed to be seaworthy, sustained any damage during the hurricane.

British actress Emma Watson, who also appears in the film, wrote on Twitter: "I take it that the irony of a massive storm holding up the production of Noah is not lost [on Darren Aronofsky and Russell Crowe]."

Although industry experts initially expected Mr Aronofsky to make the film using a CGI ark, in July the director hinted that he wanted a physical set by tweeting "Genesis 6: 14", which says: "So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out".

The film is due to be released next year, with cast including Sir Anthony Hopkins as Methusaleh.