4/23/06

Why "Da Vinci Code" will top "Titanic"

Da Vinci Code is coming out May 19th. The 1st time I saw the trailer, it looked somehow familiar. How so ? Because it was depicted exactly as I imagined it as I was reading the book. (although I had Harrison Ford and Juliette Binoche in lieu of Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou (Amelie)... off-topic: Can Tom Hanks please cut his hair now, the whole thing looks ridiculous)
A few reasons make me believe that DVC will top the likes of E.T and Spiderman in the box-office and reach "Titanic" levels ( BTW I sill don't understand the appeal of that movie) 1) we are really starved from intriguing blockbuster movies lately. It was either interesting but too challenging :) (Syriana, Brokeback Mountain, Crash) or mildly entertaining ( too many to mention. When the best movie right now is "Silent Hill", it shows the lack of quality motion pictures out there. With Da Vinci Code, There is potential here for greatness ( great plot, great subjects, great actors, great producers...) so much possibilities that I might be disappointed in the end but I don't believe so. Here are other reasons why I cannot jinx it: The best-seller book stayed in the news because of the trial that Dan Brown went through for plagiarism (which he won, no surprise there). 2) The "Gospel of Judas" phenomenon: fascinating story that merits a blurb on its own ( Judas as Jesus closest confident makes sense at many levels if you ask me but it is too long too explain) 3) The outrage generated by the storyline ( Alleged Jesus and Mary Magdalene descendants covered by Church) will be renewed pushing Christians, atheists and feminists to the theaters. 4) Aspiring art historians everywhere will come for the exclusive perspective on le Louvre and Winchester Cathedral. 5) Audrey Tautou and Jean Reno. Nuff said 6) Did I mention the "secret de Polichinelle" of the book: "Jesus' descendants is the Holy Grail" ?
So if I were a gambling man, I would say 400 millions at the box-office when all is said and done. But I am not ( as far as you know )


9 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:03 PM

    Interestingly we had our Orthodox Eastern lunch this sunday and we spoke about DVC with a bunch of Chritians and agnostic people and very inquiring young one; of course none could really give The reponses but ...again the feminists would be praised! mrie Madeleine was the only one who stand by Jesus up to the end of his crucifixion..

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  2. Anonymous3:03 PM

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  3. So why is orthodox easter a week later ?
    I definetely wonder why the role of Mary Magdalene has been so reduced in the bible. It is also odd that on the depiction of the last supper, there were no women to be found. If the supper was performed in the jewish tradition of that time, surely women would have been present to contribute to the supper. Of other interest is the role of a French priest in deciding that only the gospel of John, Marc, Mathew and Luc would be the true gospels.

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  4. irenaeus is the french priest who 1st mention the 4 gospels as divinely inspired.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irenaeus

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  5. Anonymous11:36 AM

    this is based on the EASTERN churches calendar, quite different to the gregorian one.

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  6. Anonymous4:47 PM

    I am so not gonna miss this movie! I anticipate this movie more than Madagascar the movie or Memoirs of a Geisha (which both disappointed me BTW)

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  7. Unless the movie is any good, I'm not going to bother with it. Lately there seems to be so much hype about movies before they've even released yet when they're released, often they turn out to be real let-downs. Thank goodness for Rotten Tomatoes. I really need my 10 bucks worth for sure if I'm going to shell them out at the movies.

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  8. Those are some really interesting thoughts...i agree with much of your logic...especially the way that quality movies are inaccessible to the majority of the audience and this is one of the 1st in awhile to have story/plot/actors/good production value...and be on the pop culture radar.

    i knew this would be the biggest movie of the summer but i'm not sure if i think it'll do better than titanic...

    there were a lot of teenage girls who saw titanic a dozen times...that helped alot.

    --RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com

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