Mumbai,
(UNI):
The
Da
Vinci
Code,
which
will
open
the
prestigious
Cannes
Film
Festival
on
May
17,
is
set
to
release
in
Indian
theatres
on
the
same
day
of
its
global
release
on
May
19.
Directed
by
Ron
Howard,
the
film
is
an
adaptation
of
Dan
Brown's
The
Da
Vinci
Code,
one
of
the
most
popular
and
talked
about
novels
that
has
sold
over
40
million
copies
worldwide,
with
a
cast
headed
by
two-time
Academy
Award
winner
Tom
Hanks,
Audrey
Tautou,
Ian
McKellen,
Alfred
Molina,
JÜrgen
Prochnow,
Paul
Bettany
and
Jean
Reno.
Akiva
Goldsman
is
the
screenwriter.
Uday
Singh,
managing
director
of
Sony
Pictures
which
releases
the
film
in
India,
said,
The
Da
Vinci
Code
is
the
most
anticipated
film
of
the
year
and
is
the
big
ticket
event
for
this
summer.''
An
adventure
thriller
of
such
magnitude
will
be
backed
by
a
360
degree
marketing
campaign
and
dubbed
into
Hindi,
Tamil,
Telugu
and
Malayalam
so
as
to
take
it
to
the
masses,
he
said
in
a
release.
In
order
to
leverage
the
unprecedented
awareness
of
the
title
and
the
huge
international
buzz,
Sony
Pictures
India
has
decided
to
go
wide
in
terms
of
theatrical
prints
and
give
people
in
India
an
opportunity
to
view
the
film
along
with
the
rest
of
the
world,
he
said.
Ron
Howard,
who
first
came
to
Cannes
for
Willow
(1988),
followed
by
Far
and
Away
(1992)
and
more
recently
Ed
TV
(1999),
has
been
quoted
in
the
release
as
saying,
''I
discovered
the
book
more
or
less
the
way
the
whole
world
did
--
through
amazing
word-of-mouth.''
People
are
interested
in
it
for
different
reasons
and
are
personally
impacted
by
it
in
a
variety
of
ways,
he
said,
adding
that
the
story
has
all
the
style
and
traditional
suspense
elements
that
make
a
movie
work
as
an
entertaining
narrative.
''The
story
feels
familiar
as
a
mystery
and
as
a
thriller
with
a
fascinating
turn
of
events,''
said
Howard.
Having
previously
collaborated
with
screenwriter
Akiva
Goldsman
on
''A
Beautiful
Mind''
and
''Cinderella
Man'',
Howard
felt
he
was
the
natural
choice
to
adapt
Dan
Brown's
book.
Tom
Hanks,
who
embodies
Dan
Brown's
protagonist
Robert
Langdon
in
the
film,
also
acknowledges
Akiva's
screenwriting
talents.
Akiva's
job
in
adapting
something
that
is
as
specific
as
The
Da
Vinci
Code
is
a
monumental
task,
he
said.
The
story,
woven
around
a
thrilling
murder
investigation,
begins
to
unfold
after
famed
symbologist
Prof
Robert
Langdon
(Tom
Hanks)
is
called
to
the
Louvre
museum
one
night
where
a
curator
has
been
murdered,
leaving
behind
a
mysterious
trail
of
symbols
and
clues.
With
his
own
survival
at
stake,
Langdon,
aided
by
police
cryptologist
Sophie
Neveu
(Audrey
Tautou),
unveils
a
series
of
stunning
secrets
hidden
in
the
works
of
Leonardo
Da
Vinci,
all
leading
to
a
covert
society
dedicated
to
guarding
an
ancient
secret
that
has
remained
hidden
for
2000
years.