Author: Reuters
Publication: Yahoo News
Date: May 21, 2006
URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060521/en_nm/leisure_davinci_italy_dc_2
"The Da Vinci Code" has broken box
office records in Roman Catholic Italy as tens of thousands of Italians ignored
Vatican calls to boycott the film.
The movie adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller
earned 2 million euros ($2.6 million) on its opening night, nearly double
the takings of Italy's previous top film, Oscar-winner
Roberto Benigni's 1997 tragi-comic Holocaust drama "Life is Beautiful."
The film's distributor, Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE
- news).'s Columbia Pictures, will release worldwide sales data on Sunday.
"We had an exceptionally strong Friday
with sell-out business reported in territories virtually all over the world,"
said Steve Elzer, the studio's senior vice president of media relations.
Italian news agencies reported record lines
around the country to see the film of the novel that ignited Vatican ire by
saying Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene and the Catholic Church hushed
this up.
Millions worldwide are expected to flock to
see the film on its opening weekend, shrugging off protests by Christian groups
and tepid reviews at its Cannes film festival premier this week.
Many Christians across the world believe the
theories in "The Da Vinci Code" are blasphemous, and the Vatican
has led an offensive against the book and the film, calling for a boycott.
Members of the Catholic group Christian Militants
picketed some cinemas in central Rome, close to the Vatican, chanting "Dan
Brown remember you will also be judged by Christ."
Many Italians are fans, however, buying tens
of thousands of the more than 40 million copies of the books sold worldwide.
Italy's tourist industry has also leapt on
the Dan Brown boom. Special tours are running in Rome and to the church in
Milan containing Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper," a painting
central to "The Da Vinci Code" plot.
Florence, where the Renaissance master lived,
is holding a series of exhibitions throughout the European summer focused
on cracking the code of Da Vinci's paintings and designs.
