This time the most recent stories go at the top, and the older ones are further down. If I come across any more noteworthy stories about The Da Vinci Code<\/a><\/i> in the immediate future, I\u2019ll probably just add them to this list, rather than start a new post.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This time the most recent stories go at the top, and the older ones are further down. If I come across any more noteworthy stories about The Da Vinci Code in the immediate future, I\u2019ll probably just add them to this list, rather than start a new post. Pakistani Islamists get ready to bash Da […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
Pakistan\u2019s Islamist<\/a> parties will hold nationwide demonstrations against \u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d later this week, to protest the film\u2019s \u201coffensive\u201d alternative take on the story of Jesus Christ, an opposition lawmaker said on Monday.
Reuters, May 22<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
Bootleg DVDs of \u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d were on sale all over Shanghai on Monday, days after China pipped Cannes by hours with the world premier of the movie.
Reuters, May 22<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
\u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d 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\u2019s bestseller earned 2 million euros ($2.6 million) on its opening night, nearly double the takings of Italy\u2019s previous top film, Oscar-winner Roberto Benigni\u2019s 1997 tragi-comic Holocaust drama \u201cLife is Beautiful.\u201d
Reuters, May 21<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
Moviegoers, shrugging off a burst of negative reviews, were expected to flock to Friday\u2019s opening of the religious thriller \u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d as some Catholics vowed coast-to-coast protests against the film.
The upbeat commercial outlook for the movie, adapted from Dan Brown\u2019s best-selling novel, hinged on advance ticket sales and an assumption that many of the more than 40 million people who bought the book are eager to see the film, regardless of what critics think.
Moreover, the film, directed by Ron Howard, has generated a level of publicity and media hype unseen since Mel Gibson\u2019s blockbuster \u201cThe Passion of the Christ\u201d arrived in theaters two years ago.
Reuters, May 19<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
\u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d is causing protests. But it\u2019s not just the religious themes that are causing a stir. Albino leaders are reportedly angry because the albino character in the movie is a murderous villain, a stereotype they claim is all too common is Hollywood thrillers. Meet Victor Varnado. He\u2019s a real albino. . . . And he almost got cast in \u201cThe Da Vinci Code.\u201d
CourtTV.com, May 19<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
While it will still offend some Christians, it turns out that the movie version of \u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d subtly softens some of the religiously disputed aspects of Dan Brown\u2019s novel.
The film still centers on a Jesus-Mary Magdalene marriage that\u2019s nowhere to be found in the New Testament, which will rankle some believers, yet it also includes some skepticism toward characters\u2019 claims that cut against traditional Christianity.
An early clue that the film is trying a different tack from the novel comes when it omits the book\u2019s thesis: \u201cAlmost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false.\u201d The script instead turns that concept into a question: \u201cWhat if the world discovers the greatest story ever told is a lie?\u201d
Associated Press, May 18<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
\u201cFrustrating\u201d was how director Ron Howard described the overwhelmingly negative reviews of his eagerly awaited movie \u201cThe Da Vinci Code,\u201d but he believed the news was not all bad.
Reuters, May 18<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
China\u2019s official Catholic Church urged its followers to boycott \u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d on Thursday, and the City Council in the Philippine capital banned the movie as viewers across Asia got a first glimpse of the film that suggests Jesus married and fathered a child.
The Indian censor board cleared the movie without any cuts, but required a disclaimer and insisted that it be shown to adults only. Meanwhile, a small group of protesters in Seoul, South Korea, marched outside theaters with signs that said \u201c`The Da Vinci Code\u2019 is nothing more than fiction.\u201d
The Columbia Pictures release, based on the best-selling Dan Brown novel, wasn\u2019t expected to generate a wide backlash in Asia, where Buddhism<\/a>, Hinduism and Islam are the dominant faiths.
Associated Press, May 18<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
First reviews for \u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d may be mostly scathing, but box office experts say they expect the Mona Lisa to keep smiling all the way to the bank this weekend.
The experts say the religious-themed thriller can expect to haul in between $50 million and $80 million<\/a>, when it opens domestically on Friday \u2014 more than enough to compensate for the laughter, jeers and sneers it received when shown to critics at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday.
Associated Press, May 18<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
China, in dispute with the Vatican over its appointment of bishops without papal approval, hosted a premiere of \u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d hours before the gala opening at Cannes, Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
Reuters, May 18<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
The director huffed, offended believers protested and the critics carped as \u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d premiered and started its march around the world Wednesday.
Ron Howard, who adapted Dan Brown\u2019s worldwide megaselling novel to the big screen, had a suggestion Wednesday for people riled by the way Christian history is depicted in the film: If you suspect the movie will upset you, don\u2019t go see it.
Associated Press, May 17<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
Ian McKellen, an openly gay actor who plays Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code, sought to make light of the controversy.
\u201cI\u2019m very happy to believe that Jesus was married,\u201d he said. \u201cI know the Catholic Church has problems with gay people and I thought this would be absolute proof that Jesus was not gay.\u201d
Reuters, May 17<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
A Beijing audience became the first to see \u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d when it was shown here Wednesday, beating the official Cannes premiere by hours in a move that underscored Hollywood\u2019s efforts to woo Chinese viewers.
Associated Press, May 17<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
Thais will be able to see the unexpurgated version of the controversial movie \u201cThe Da Vinci Code\u201d after a successful appeal on Wednesday against a censor\u2019s order that the last 10 minutes be sliced off.
Reuters, May 17<\/i>\n<\/li>\n
Christians in Asia are particularly worried about the movie because they believe it could threaten a religion that is already a minority in many countries.
\u201cIf Jesus Christ had a child and a wife, then Christianity would be destroyed,\u201d said Thongchai Pradabchananurat, of the Thailand Protestant Churches Coordinating Committee.
A coalition of Christian groups in Thailand, which is more than 90 percent Buddhist<\/a> and less than 1 percent Christian, demanded that censors cut the last 15 minutes of the movie, which reveal that Jesus\u2019 lineage has survived to this day.
Associated Press, May 17<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n