In the DaVinci Code, a well-known director was responsible for bringing Dan Brown’s tale to life. In this article, you will learn what other ties to the entertainment world he had, as well as a couple of monetary figures associated with the film.
The director of the movie, Ron Howard, is also known in the entertainment scene as playing Opie Taylor in the “Andy Griffith Show” between 1960 and 1968.
The movie was marketed as a mystery and thriller.
The domestic gross total of the film is $217,536,138. Worldwide the movie grossed $758,239,851.
The movie was based upon a novel by Dan Brown, who also wrote ‘Angels and Demons,’ which was also made into a film starring Tom Hanks.
The film was given a PG-13 rating for disturbing images, violence, some nudity, thematic material, brief drug references, and sexual content.
The production budget for the movie was $125 million.
Dan Brown sold the film rights for $6,000,000. Filming for the movie was scheduled to begin in May of 2005, but a couple of delays regarding production started on June 30, 2005.
At the Grammy Awards, the film received recognition and was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. They did not win.
The film shown in the movie theaters ran 149 minutes with an extended cut available that lasted 174 minutes.
Columbia Pictures distributed the movie.
Thanks to the Culture Ministry of France, the film crew was granted limited access to the inside of the infamous Louvre for production to take place during the night.
James Horner, the long-time collaborator of director Ron Howard, was replaced by Hans Zimmer for composing the music for the movie. Horner went on to take over music composition for The New World (2005) , a project Zimmer was unable to accept due to scheduling conflicts.
The crew was not allowed to film at the Westminster Abbey in Britain because it was the opinion of officials that the book was “theologically unsound”. This part of the script was filmed Lincoln Cathedral in eastern England.
When it came to filling the role of Sophie, Kate Beckinsale and Julie Delpy were on the original list of potential actresses. Delpy showed great interest and truly lobbied for the part, but was turned down in the end. Other actresses that auditioned for the role include Sophie Marceau (from the World is Not Enough , 1999), Virginie Ledoyen (from the Beach with Leonardo di Caprio , 2000), Judith Godreche, and Linda Hardy. It was Ron Howard’s desire to always have Audrey Tautou fill the role of Sophie, but she was always unavailable when it came down to getting her to audition. In the beginning, the actress also showed concern that she was too young to play opposite Tom Hanks. However, Howard was persistent and he convinced her to audition.
For more trivia and facts concerning the Da Vinci Code, check out Part II, which explores some of the actors that may have won the role of Silas over Paul Bettany, as well as some of the obstacles, limitations and rejected filming plan occurred during the production phase of the movie.