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Posts with tag: da-vinci-code | Return to WatchersWatch.com Homepage

Columbia Moving Forward for Sequel to Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol

Dan Brown's publisher, Doubleday, announced today that the sequel to The Da Vinci Code will be released on September 15, 2009. Columbia Pictures wasted no time and is already getting the ball rolling for the film version of The Lost Symbol.
While Columbia Pictures is prepping for the May 15 release of the Ron Howard-directed Tom Hanks-starrer Angels & Demons, the studio will move quickly to get the ball rolling on the third installment of the franchise. Dan Brown has announced that his next installment of the Da Vinci Code series is The Lost Symbol, which will be published in the U.S. and Canada by Doubleday on September 15, 2009. The first print run will be a whopping 5 million copies. Sources said that Brown has completed his manuscript.

The announcement was made by Sonny Mehta, chairman/editor in chief of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. "This is a great day for readers and booksellers," said Mehta.
Tom Hanks and Ron Howard are gearing up for the May release of Angels and Demons, which the Vatican has denounced.

Posted on April 20, 2009
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The Da Vinci Code Unleashes a Blogstorm

Da Vinci CodeOur BloggersBlog.com site reports that The Da Vinci Code book and the film's release are creating a blogstorm.
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and the new film version from director Ron Howard are serving as inspiration for bloggers: the blogosphere is absolutely on fire about both. The posts have been increasing in the lead-up to the film's opening today. Not everyone is excited about the film. The film has been criticized by the Catholic Church and other religious groups. Opus Dei even started a blog to battle errors they believe are found in the book and film.

The controversy about some of the elements in the book -- especially about Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene -- are part of what is driving the blog posts. As anyone who has ever moderated a web forum or blog comments will tell you, there is nothing that starts flame wars like religious discussions. People also love the codes and secrets contained in the mystery novel.
The post also includes links to lots of Da Vinci Code resources. Many bloggers are planning on seeing the movie this weekend, which should generate even more posts on the subject. In case you missed it, here's a roundup we did of the early reviews for the film. The Da Vinci Code debuts in theatres today. You can find showtimes for The Da Vinci Code and other films at Amazon, Yahoo, Google and Movies.com.

Posted on May 19, 2006
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Early Reviews Mixed for Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci CodeColumbia Pictures did not provide advanced screenings for the Da Vinci Code but some film critics were lucky enough to watch The Da Vinci Code premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Many of them have already have filed their reviews. Here is a collection of a few of these early reviews.

  • Roger Friedman at Fox News gives Da Vinci Code a positive review: "Is 'The Da Vinci Code' the best movie of 2006? Probably not. But it's a good movie, solid entertainment with much to recommend it. The only people who could be unhappy with it are Opus Dei, which is fairly well attacked as represented in excellent performances by Paul Bettany, Jean Reno and Alfred Molina."

  • Roger Ebert gave the film three stars and a Thumbs Up. He writes, "They say The Da Vinci Code has sold more copies than any book since the Bible. Good thing it has a different ending. Dan Brown's novel is utterly preposterous; Ron Howard's movie is preposterously entertaining."

  • Four Stars from The New York Post: "Ron Howard's splendid 'The Da Vinci Code' is the Holy Grail of summer blockbusters: a crackling, fast-moving thriller that's every bit as brainy and irresistible as Dan Brown's controversial bestseller."

  • The Hollywood Reporter hated The Da Vinci Code, saying the film exposes the book's "flaws and nightmares of logic." The reviewer also claims that the film's plot "is driven not by its characters but by solutions to puzzles, the breaking of codes, interpreting covert references in works of art and a dazzling display of historical knowledge, all of which works terrifically in the novel but puts the brakes to all screen action."

  • Salon's review seems to indicate that you might learn something in an un-fun kind of a way: "What has the world of culture come to, when religious people are warning you off a picture that only makes you feel as if you're trapped in a schoolroom to begin with?"

  • The Seattle Times loved it, saying that the film is even better than the book: "On the other hand, the film has an exciting visual texture that gives body to Brown's bestseller-ese prose, and uniformly strong performances that give dimension, depth and interest to characters that the author never entirely brought to life. In this sense, I found it much more entertaining and satisfying than the novel."

    The Miami Herald gave it a bad review but the reviewer clearly clearly didn't like the book either: "It's not entirely fair to say that the makers of The Da Vinci Code have completely flubbed this most eagerly awaited of book-to-film adaptations. It is probably more accurate to state that this laborious, talky, fleetingly engaging, ultimately silly picture is about as good a movie as anyone was ever going to wring from Dan Brown's inescapable bestseller."

  • Kenneth Turan at the L.A. Times gave Da Vinci Code a so-so review and said the script had "paint-by-numbers qualities of a Classics Illustrated comic book." Turan finds predicting the box office talley a mystery: "The Hollywood mystery of the moment is whether it's going to pay off."

  • Other reviews can be found here, here, here, here and here.

    Of course, no negative reviews -- or warnings from Vatican officials -- should stop you from seeing the film for yourself and coming up with your own opinion, if you're so inclined. Director Ron Howard said that the film is meant to be "entertainment, not a documentary" and that people who might be offended by the film shouldn't go see it. Ah, Ron, using a bit of the old negative sell, eh?

    More information about the film can be found at IMDB.com, Rotten Tomatoes and on the official website.

    Posted on May 18, 2006
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