Da Vinci to score at box office
2006-05-18 07:39
Los Angeles - Nasty reviews, boycotts and sharp criticism from Roman Catholic authorities will not stop The Da Vinci Code from scoring big in box offices this weekend, film industry experts said on Wednesday.
The influential Hollywood press gave no quarter in criticising the film, with the Daily Variety saying Dan Brown's mega-selling 2003 novel "has become a stodgy, grim thing in its exceedingly literal-minded film version", adding that it came close to being dull.
"Even camera movement can't disguise the dramatic inertia," said the Hollywood Reporter.
'Gigantic opening'
But the most-awaited movie this year will shake off such criticism when it opens in theatres on Friday, the Hollywood Reporter and box office experts acknowledged.
"There are so many people already familiar with the book, and eager to see the visual version of the book that they like," said ticket sales specialist Gitesh Pandya of the website Boxofficeguru.com.
"Overall I still think it will have a gigantic opening weekend all over the world, because there's so much media hype and curiosity all around the world," he said.
Pandya added he expected it to sell $60m or more in tickets in the United States this weekend, a high level, though not record-breaking.
'Everybody is talking about the movie'
"There was already controversy about the film anyway, this (bad publicity) just adds to that," said Paul Degarabedian of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks box office trends.
"Everybody is talking about the movie right now. I think this will only help the film, especially this weekend."
In Mexico, where Catholic leaders have excoriated the book and film - and especially those of the Opus Dei Catholic sect, which gets an ugly portrayal in the book - theatres are mostly sold out for Friday screenings.
'Pray for Dan Brown'
Rather than attempt to ban The Da Vinci Code, the Mexican Catholic hierarchy appealed to followers' sensibility in judging the story, which it says presents "enormous historical and religious distortions".
The film "is going to feel very injurious and uncomfortable," said Raul Lopez, spokesperson for Opus Dei in Mexico.
"What is Christian is to turn the other cheek," he said.
"We tell them to pray for Dan Brown."
Boycott
The US Inter-Faith Coalition Against The Da Vinci Code, a grouping of several Christian and Jewish groups, said moviegoers should boycott the film.
"This is a blasphemous movie we shouldn't give our money to," said Reverend Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International.
"In many ways it defames our Lord Jesus Christ, in many more ways it undermines people's faith in the church that Jesus Christ established, and in even more ways it celebrates paganism and even Satanic rituals."
Euteneuer said although the Christian faith encourages followers to "turn the other cheek ... we do not have to pay someone $9.50 to sit in the theatre and slap us for two hours".
- AFP