Useless Movie Trivia
The Da Vinci Code
Memorable Quotes
Robert Langdon: What really matters is what you believe.
Robert Langdon: So dark the con of man...
Sir Leigh Teabing: As long as there has been one true God, there has been killing in his name.
Sir Leigh Teabing: It is called scotoma. The mind sees what it wants to see.
Trivia
"24" (2001) creator Joel Surnow thought that "The DaVinci Code" would provide a great storyline for the show's third season. Surnow asked his boss, producer Brian Grazer about acquiring the film rights to the book. Author Dan Brown had no intention of his book being adapted for a TV show, and rejected their bid. Months later, Sony Pictures paid $6 million for the book and hired Grazer as producer.
France's Culture Ministry granted permission for limited access for the film crew to film inside the Louvre at night.
Officials from Britain's Westminster Abbey refused to allow filming to take place in the Abbey, claiming that the book is "theologically unsound". Instead, the filming took place at Lincoln Cathedral in eastern England.
Lincoln Cathedral's bell "Great Tom" which strikes the hour was silent for the first time since World War II while filming took place in the cathedral between 15 and 19 August 2005.
To protect both the fabric of the building and the works of art it contains, the production's use of the Louvre Museum in Paris was carefully controlled. For instance, no equipment was allowed inside the Louvre during the opening hours, so filming took place at night. Since the crew were not permitted to shine light on the Mona Lisa, a replica was used to film instead. No blood or mysterious writings were permitted on the wooden floor of the museum so these scenes were shot at Pinewood Studios outside London. In the end, 5 replicas of the Mona Lisa were used.
Brian Grazer and Ron Howard received an invite from French President Jacques Chirac. They expected a five-minute photo call. Instead they spent an hour in conversation and were told to speak to him if they had problems getting filming in the Louvre. Chirac suggested Reno should have a pay rise and that his daughter's best friend, an actress, should be cast as Sophie Neveu.
Ron Howard's first envisioned choice for the role of Robert Langdon was Bill Paxton. Paxton was interested but turned it down because of scheduling conflicts. 'Russell Crowe (I)' was then seriously considered for the role but ultimately Howard decided on his long-time friend Tom Hanks for the role. Other actors considered for the part were Ralph Fiennes, Hugh Jackman and George Clooney.
Cameo: [Dan Brown] when Robert Langdon is talking with the police during the signing party for his book. He is seen to the left of Tom Hanks immediately after the line "We found your name in his daily planner." He is wearing the Harris Tweed jacket from his dust jacket publicity photo.
Producer Brian Grazer canceled 27 interviews at Cannes to minimize the surrounding controversies the film had already generated.
When Teabing is describing the passage in the lost gospel of Philip, he is interrupted before he can finish quoting a line about Jesus kissing Magdelene. During an interview on NPR's "Day to Day", religious historian Elaine Pagels (whose book on the gnostic gospels was a source for Dan Brown's novel) said that the gospel is physically broken at exactly the place that Teabing stops talking, so he would be unable to quote it any further anyway.
Author Dan Brown named character Sir Leigh Teabing after two of the authors, Richard Leigh and Michael Baigent, of the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail. Leigh is the surname of Richard Leigh and Teabing is an anagram of the surname Baigent. Leigh and Baigent unsuccessfully attempted to sue Brown for copyright infringement.
The air freshener hanging from Collet's rearview mirror is in the shape of the Angel Gabriel. The Angel Gabriel represents the messenger of a call to duty.
The novel contains a sequence in which Sophie and Langdon escape from a museum guard by Sophie threatening to destroy a Da Vinci painting. These scenes are not in the theatrical release of the film, although they were filmed and images from the scene are included with the published screenplay. Some of these scenes are restored to the film in the Extended Edition DVD, available in Great Britain (region 2), but as of 2007, not available in the Americas.
Audrey Tautou revealed that, during her audition, she asked if she could take a photo of Ron Howard and Tom Hanks to prove that she's actually met them.
Director Ron Howard's wife Cheryl Howard can be glimpsed (4m:15s) as an audience member (center frame/red shoulder-length hair) attending Professor Robert Langdon's (Tom Hanks) lecture on Religious Symbology. Seconds later (most noticeably 5m:40s) she can be seen clutching her copy of Langdon's autographed opus at his book-signing desk, and asking for him to sign his last book.
There are 15 deaths in the film: 3 are stabbed, 5 shot, 1 dies of a broken neck, 1 is incinerated, 3 are killed in a car accident, 1 dies after head was bashed, and 1 unknowingly drank alcohol containing traces of peanuts to which he was severely allergic.
Goofs
Alexander Pope never delivered a eulogy or did anything for Sir Isaac Newton's funeral. However, he did at one point write a poem about him.
Sophie presses the tracking device he's found in his pocket into a (white) bar of soap he's taken from the toilets and throws it out of the window into the back of a truck. The Louvre toilets are supplied with large lemon-shaped (and lemon-scented... and lemon-colored) soaps fixed to metal rods over the sinks. The Louvre toilets do not have windows at all.
The cilice that Silas is wearing is not designed to draw blood or even break the skin, as the movie leads the viewer to believe.
The movie refers to 'Leonardo da Vinci''s The Last Supper as a fresco. Leonardo painted The Last Supper on DRY and not wet plaster, so it is not a true fresco. Because a fresco cannot be modified as the artist works, Leonardo instead chose to seal the stone wall with a layer of pitch, gesso and mastic, then paint onto it with tempera. Because it is not a true fresco, it cannot be moved easily, and this fact has caused it much deterioration and damages over the years. Furthermore, as it has received so much restoration, it is impossible to read as much into the detail of the painting as the narrative implies, as the level of detail concerned is more restoration than Da Vinci's original.
When flying in the private jet and taking a call from Silas, the Bishop Aringarosa is using a cellular (GSM) phone. At this height, confirmed by a shot through the window revealing the clouds canopy below, it is impossible to get mobile network coverage.
Vinegar or scientifically known as acetic acid is a weak acid and thus unable to dissolve a sturdy material such as papyrus. Even a strong acid, like hydrochloride acid, will takes hours to dissolve papyrus. So actually they can just force open the cryptex and the vinegar-soaked papyrus would still be intact and readable.
When Sophie and Robert first enter Westminster Abbey the entire right side (their perspective) is encased in scaffolding (not an uncommon sight in London). When they exit the Abbey less than an hour later the entire scaffolding has disappeared.
The Dome of the Rock is in the background as Mary Magdalene is leaving Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock was built in the 7th century AD, about 600 years later.
Box Office Info For The USA
Budget: $125,000,000
Opening Weekend: 477,073,388
Gross: $217.536.138
Filming Locations
Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK (studio) (interiors: The Louvre gallery)
Belvoir Castle, Belvoir, Leicestershire, England, UK (aerial shots of Castel Gandolfo)
Biggin Hill Airport, Biggin Hill, Kent, England, UK
Burghley House, Cambridgeshire, England, UK (as Castel Gandolfo/garages at Chateau Villette/Saunieres country-side retreat)
Caledonian Hilton Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Chateau de Villette, Condecourt, Val-d'Oise, France
Docklands, Poplar, London, England, UK
Eglise Saint-Sulpice, Paris 6, Paris, France (exteriors)
Fairfield Halls, Croydon, London, England, UK
Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK
London, England, UK
Malta
Musée du Louvre, Paris 1, Paris, France
Palais Royal, Place du Palais Royal, Paris 1, Paris, France
Paris, France
Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK (studio)
Ritz Hotel, Paris, France
Rosslyn Chapel, Midlothian, Scotland, UK
Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK (studio)
Shoreham Airport, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England, UK (French airport)
Temple Church, Temple, Holborn, London, England, UK
Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England, UK (exteriors)
Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire, England, UK