I dunno about this one. It should make big numbers but i just cant see it. I mean, i saw the trailer the other day at the cinema, and it nothing like a blockbuster. It looked dark, and i suppose if you havent read the book, it wont make too much sense?

Nope, if you haven't read the book, all the more reason to see the film.

80%+ positive reviews means this movie is going north of 320m domestic.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060407/peo ... court_dc_7

Brown vindicated in "Da Vinci Code" court case By Gideon Long



LONDON (Reuters) - Best-selling author Dan Brown was vindicated on Friday in a British court battle with two historians who accused him of plagiarizing their book in order to write "The Da Vinci Code."

A judge at the High Court in London said that while Brown may have copied bits of the 1982 book "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," that did not amount to a breach of copyright.

"Even if the central themes were copied, they are too general or of too low a level of abstraction to be capable of protection by copyright law," judge Peter Smith told the court.

Historians Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, had brought the court case against Brown's British publisher Random House.

In a case followed intensely by reporters, copyright lawyers and fans of The Da Vinci Code, Baigent and Leigh said Brown stole the central themes of their book and used them in his own, which has sold over 40 million copies worldwide.

Brown testified during the month-long trial, which was peppered with abstruse debate over the Merovingian monarchy, the Knights Templar and the bloodline of Jesus Christ, all of which feature in The Da Vinci Code.

The publicity-shy American author said he was pleased by the ruling although he was not in court to hear it.

"(It) shows that this claim was utterly without merit," he said in a statement. "I'm still astonished that these two authors chose to file their suit at all.

"A novelist must be free to draw appropriately from historical works without fear that he'll be sued ... This is a good day both for those who write and those who enjoy reading."

COMMON SENSE PREVAILS

Random House, owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, also welcomed the judgment, as did Sony Pictures, which is due to release a Hollywood film based on "The Da Vinci Code."

"We are pleased that justice and common sense have prevailed," Random House's chairman and chief executive Gail Rebuck said in a statement.

Baigent and Leigh were denied leave to appeal and face a legal bill of over 1 million pounds ($1.75 million), although an increase in sales of their own book as a result of the publicity surrounding the case may ease the pain.

Holy Blood, like The Da Vinci Code, was published by Random House and some observers have suggested the court case was orchestrated by the publisher to boost sales of both books, a suggestion Random House rejects.

The case was the second of its kind involving Brown.

Last August, he won a ruling in New York against another writer who claimed he had copied elements of two of his books to write The Da Vinci Code.

In welcoming Friday's judgment, Brown found time to praise the neo-Gothic splendor of the High Court building, which, with its pinnacles and arches, looks as though it has come straight out of one of his novels.

"I look forward to returning soon to view it from a vantage point other than the witness stand," he said.

They just had a big plug-in on The Amazing Race, where racers had to crack some lame code, and the first person to the pitstop that cracked it won tickets to the premiere of the movie. With ratings as low as it is, this won't do much, but they're obviously pushing hard.

BTW, they also aired a TV spot that said it is indeed PG-13.

Many overpredictings going on here. Honestly, from the trailers this looks nothing like a big summer blockbuster, more like a ~$120m grosser, but since it's based on a very popular book and no doubt the big marketing push it's going to receive i can see this topping out with around $200m.

I say it'll get pushed by the studio just over the $150 mark...

(Ron Howard's last summer adult drama (Cinderella Man)grossed $61,649,911 on a $18,320,205 opening; Tom Hanks last summer adult drama (The Terminal) grossed $77,872,883 on an opening of $19,053,199 -- I can see it doubling these because of the hype, but these kind of movies are wasted on the summer kids/action audience - I don't know why they don't save 'em till the Fall...)

I'll say 65/230 for now, but I could see it opening higher and getting close to $300 million. This is a cultural phenomenon, and the movie will do very well. The book is one that is easily adaptable to a thrilling movie, so the WOM should be good.

The past 15 years have had three huge huge books imo that everyone was talking about: 1) HP 2) Da Vinci Code 3) Jurassic Park

Da Vinci Code is just in a whole other league compared to "The Terminal" and "Cinderella Man", which it could outgross in its opening weekend.

50/240

I say Mr and Mrs Smith/Bourne Supremacy type numbers.

$150-180 million. Tops.

The comparison is to other summer adult drama films.

Harry Potter and Jurassic Park had the benefit of a huge audience of kids, that DaVinci Code simply will not have.

(Even National Treasure, though not a summer movie, was essentially a kid's movie a la Indiana Jones.)

The success of Jurassic Park had nothing to do with the book and all with it having never before seen special effects and it just being a great summer popcorn ride, you know, dinosaur carnage and all...

What amazing things has Da Vinci Code to offer that will make it irresistible to pass on, some people talking? (not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not the kind of stuff the majority gets excited about)

friday day 1: 18.8 million
saturday day 2: 19.2 million
sunday day 3: 15.3 million
opening weekend : 53.3 million

monday day 4: 7.7 million
tuesday day 5: 6.9 million
wednesday day 6: 6.5 million
thursday day 7: 5.9 million
weekday grosses : 26.9 million

friday day 8: 11.7 million
saturday day 9: 15.4 million
sunday day 10: 11.9 million
weekend 2: 39 million - 27%

10 day total: 119 million

weekday gross 2: 18.1 million
weekend 3: 25.2 million - 33%

17 day total: 162 million

weekday gross 3: 11.4 million
weekend gross 4:19.4 million - 23 %
weekday gross 4:7.6 million
weekend gross 5: 12.4 million - 27%
weekday gross 5: 3.9 million
weekend gross 6: 6.8 million

6-week total heading into july 4th weekend : 212.5 million heading towards a total around 242 million.

this will be an extremely leggy film like maguns said. the reason i dont have it over 250 is magnus has it having a HUGE 70 million + opening and then great legs. i see a big but not huge opening around 53 million, en route a 242 million dollar total giving it a multiplier of 4.6. plus an additional 280 million overseas giving it 520 million worldwide. the reason its legs will be so weel is that the fans will give it the big opening, but then there are tons of people who havent read the boko but heard its good, and im sure theyd rather spend 2 1/2 hours watching a good movie about it instead of spending a month reading it, so whn they hear its good, plus its based on a good book and has tom hanks, theyll go see it over the month of june until mega movies superman and pirates open. i dont see many teens going, just lots of adults going, and going more then once.

It is guaranteed a massive opening weekend. $70+/$300m+

Fact: The first weekend of blockbusters is almost exclusively under 25s. Usually 60%+ of the audience is under the age of 25.

A film like The Da Vinci Code has a huge over 25 year old following. The people attracted to the concept who haven't read the book are also a factor. Those people will be slower in seeing it, over 25's usually lag attending a movie because they wait to hear the word of mouth and to escape the initial rush.

The cast is also an important factor in its appeal.

There will be a huge opening as the buzz for this movie is immense. But there will also be great legs. I believe it is going to be the top movie of the year.

legs for Tom Hanks movies:

The Polar Express 7.45
The Terminal 4.09
The Ladykillers 3.15
Catch Me If You Can 5.48
Road to Perdition 4.73
Cast Away 8.09
The Green Mile 7.59
Toy Story 2 4.28
You've Got Mail 6.29
Saving Private Ryan 7.08
That Thing You Do
Forrest Gump 13.48
Philadelphia 5.61
Sleepless in Seattle 7.34
A League of Their Own 7.83

Surely a 4.0+ multiplier is very possible.

It's possible to have a 4x multiplier, but from that list, I don't see one film that could be considered a summer blockbuster with a fanbase that could rush out opening weekend.

The side effect the movie would witness from frontloading will probably be extremely cushioned by having Memorial Day on its second weekend, though.

Sony have been plugging the shit out of DVC in Australia and they have yet to show one tv spot. It has a huge tie in with a high rating TV show starting next week. It has a huge promotioal deal going on with a department store, obviously to sell Sony products. The google thing has just started and Yahoo! Australia will be airing the new super long trailer next week.

Tom Hanks is set to do a promotional visit, ie via satelite or in person. The cinema chains have advertised advanced tickets in every daily newspaper.

Out of all the trailers shown in theaters, this one gets most talked about again and again.

It's funny, all these religious loonies are denouncing the film and they are slandering it and omploring others not to see it...meanwhile, they are giving it even more publicity and free publicity at that. What a bunch of looniest morons.

Of course, thats the case with every controversial movie. The Passion and F9/11 wouldn't had made nearly as much as they did if it weren't for all the publicity they got.

Last night on ET or the Insider, Ron Howard said they are still finishing the film. Still adding visual effects, still adding music, still editing. Still trying to get DVC ready on time.

It it weren't for the immediate competition of X3 and MI3, I'd say Da Vinci Code would have had a crack at 500 million. Its crazy around here. It has everything going for it except for a few weekends to itself.