The
adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller earned 2 million euros ($2.6
million) on its opening night, nearly double the takings of Italy's
previous top film, Oscar-winner Roberto Benigni's 1997 tragi-comic
drama Life is Beautiful, according to Reuters.
Italian
news agencies reported record lines around the country to see the
controversial film, starring multiple-Oscar winner Tom Hanks.
In
his book, as in the movie, Brown presents Jesus as a human, not a god, who got
married to Mary Magdalene and had a child.
He
accuses the Church of having spent 2,000 years trying to cover up this
fact.
The
movie is showing on 910 screens in Italy and Italians have bought tens
of thousands of the more than 40 million copies of the books sold
worldwide.
Italy's
tourist industry has also leapt on the Dan Brown boom. Special tours
are running in Rome and to the church in Milan containing Leonardo da
Vinci's "The Last Supper," a painting central to The Da
Vinci Code plot.
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A Christian Democrat councilor burns copy of the novel in Italy. (Reuters)
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On
the other extreme, conservative Italian local councilors and activists
burned on Saturday a copy of the controversial novel.
The
book-burning ceremony took place on the main square of the village of
Ceccano, 70 kilometers (43 miles) southeast of Rome, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
It
was organized by two municipal councilors representing conservative
parties -- one from the Christian Democrats, the other from the
National Alliance.
The
demonstrators called on Christians to react "with force and
conviction against this horrible attack on the most holy person of
Jesus Christ."
"If
a film denied the Shoah (the Hebrew term for the Holocaust),"
argued Christian Democrat councilor Stefano Gizzi, "it would
spark an outcry. I don't see why Christians should refrain from
protesting."
Members
of the Catholic group Christian Militants have also picketed some
cinemas in central Rome, close to the Vatican, chanting "Dan
Brown remember you will also be judged by Christ."
Beyond
Expectations
Across
the Atlantic, the movie banked an estimated $29 million at the box
office on its first day in theaters, possibly the strongest opening
weekend for any movie this year.
The
movie opened in 3,735 theaters in the US and grossed a respectable
average of $7,764 per screen, according to the Associated Press.
"This
is the first big film of the summer to exceed box office
expectations," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor
Relations Co., Inc., which tracks box office receipts.
He
said the movie could gross $60 million to $80 million in its opening
weekend.
"We
have a great worldwide story to tell," said Jeff Blake, vice
chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment which made the film.
"It's
going to be one of the biggest worldwide openings ever," he told
Reuters by telephone on Sunday.
Blake
was confident the film, with an estimated budget of $125 million,
would do well in the biggest market of the United States.
"People
had set a target of $60 million, which would be considered the
base-case opening in the United States," he said, referring to
the figure for the opening weekend.
"We're
well in excess of the $60 million figure".
Preliminary
three-day box-office estimates were to be released Sunday, with final
figures expected Monday.
Many
Christians across the world see The Da Vinci Code as
blasphemous, and the Vatican has led an offensive against the book and
the film, calling for a boycott.
Muslims
in some parts of the world like India, the United States and Canada
have joined forces with Christians in protesting the movie.
