A Cannes-do attitude for ‘Da Vinci Code’

Ron Howard's latest is opening-night pick for famed French film festival

Damian Dovarganes / AP

The Vatican's outspoken disapproval of "The Da Vinci Code" didn't dissuade Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard from taking on the project. But will they face a backlash?

Movie video

Stewart on hot shirtless co-stars
Nov. 9: Kristen Stewart chats with Access' Shaun Robinson about all the hot, shirtless werewolves in “New Moon” and whether or not you can love two people at once. Plus, who does Kristen think would make a better husband — Taylor Lautner or Robert Pattinson?

Pattinson: Werewolves are ‘dorks’

Lautner: Jacob ‘warmer’ than Edward

The Volturi are dressed to kill

Travoltas make ‘Old Dogs’ a family affair

Slideshow

November movies
The “Twilight” sequel, “New Moon” hits the big screen, along with George Clooney in “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and the apocalyptic “2012” and “The Road.”

more photos

updated 10:47 a.m. ET Jan. 26, 2006

PARIS - Case cracked: “The Da Vinci Code” will be the opening-night movie at the Cannes Film Festival in May, organizers said.

Based on Dan Brown’s esoteric thriller about code-breaking and conspiracy, the film will debut at the Riviera festival and in French theaters on May 17, the festival said Saturday. The rest of the world will have to wait two days, until May 19.

The adaptation by Oscar-winning director Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind”) has an international cast led by Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Like the novel, the movie is set largely in France: The story line opens with the murder of the curator of the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Early this month, the Louvre said the movie’s producers were trying to decide between the museum and the Cannes festival as a site for the European premiere. The movie will not be in the running for prizes at Cannes.

Hong Kong’s Wong Kar-wai, director of “In the Mood for Love,” presides over this year’s jury at the festival, which runs May 17-28. Organizers at the glitzy festival try to strike a balance between crowd-pleasers and critically acclaimed films, and between Hollywood blockbusters and art house flicks.