Flyover Online

The Monday morning lesson for the army of ‘Da Vinci Code’ protestors is to be careful about what you’re fighting. ‘Da Vinci Code’ critics were worried that the big-budget adaptation of Dan Brown’s bestseller would flame its grand conspiracies about Vatican cover-ups regarding the true domestic life of Jesus Christ. So they mobilized outside theaters and on the Cannes Festival red carpet to persuade people against seeing the movie.
Holding back the ‘Da Vinci Code’ crowds was like holding back the tide. A Sunday release from Sony delivered the news. Director Ron Howard’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ earned $77 million in U.S. box office and a whopping $224 million in worldwide ticket sales.
‘The Da Vinci Code’ gives new meaning to the industry term Teflon; meaning a film resistant to vicious reviews.
But the upside for ‘Da Vinci Code’ protestors is surprising. Howard’s ‘Da Vinci Code’ is awful enough to keep any moviegoer from accepting its conspiracies as true, revised history.
No more protests are needed. In fact, ‘Da Vinci Code’ protesters need a new plan of attack. They should start buying blocks of tickets and passing them out for free. Their best ally in defrauding the ‘Da Vinci Code’ myth is the film they once targeted. If the protesters get busy, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ will continue to make more money than ever and Sony will have an unexpected ally helping bring people to theaters.
There’s also an upside for those critics (myself included) who have no problems with the film’s conspiracy fictions but take issue with its plodding dullness. Any adult-oriented film that out-earns teen action movies is a good thing for those of us who want more adult-themed stories. God willing, the next adult thriller will be better than ‘Da Vinci Code’.