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Hollywood loves to bring best-selling novels to the screen because even people who haven’t read the books recognize the titles.

That had to have been part of the equation in turning Dan Brown’s 2003 mystery thriller THE DA VINCI CODE into the 2006 blockbuster movie, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks & Audrey Tautou. CODE sold over 80 million copies and was translated into more than 44 languages — but it still had a bumpy beginning like so many Hollywood hits.

The long road to the big screen began when Joel Surnow, co-creator & co-showrunner of Imagine Entertainment’s hit TV series “24,” told Imagine chief Brian Grazer that CODE would be perfect for the series’ third season storyline. Despite “24” being a top hit — it ran for eight seasons from 2001-2010 — Brown wouldn’t sell his book to TV. Soon afterwards, he accepted a $6M movie offer from Sony, which then brought in Grazer to produce.

Grazer took CODE to his Imagine partner, Ron Howard, who came aboard to produce and direct. To adapt CODE, they hired Akiva Goldsman, who had adapted their production of A BEAUTIFUL MIND, which won four Oscars in 2002 — including best picture, director, adapted screenplay & supporting actress (Jennifer Connelly).

CODE was actually Brown’s second novel about Hanks’ character Robert Langdon, a professor of religious symbology. He first appeared in Brown’s 2000 novel ANGELS & DEMONS and was brought back for the 2016 book  INFERNO.
In casting CODE, Howard had some prime possibilities for Langdon and police cryptologist Sophie Neveu. Bill Paxton, his first choice for Langdon,  had scheduling conflicts. George Clooney, Russell Crowe, Ralph Fiennes & Hugh Jackman also didn’t work out. Howard then turned to Hanks and now it’s hard to picture anybody else in the role.

As for Sophie, Howard wanted Tautou from the start, but her schedule kept her from auditioning. She also had concerns about whether she was too young to play opposite Hanks. When Howard got Tatou to audition, he persuaded her she was perfect for the role.

CODE’s scenes set in Paris’s Louvre Museum were actually filmed there since France’s Ministry of Culture gave the production limited access. To safeguard the Louvre and its priceless collection of art, no movie activity was allowed within the museum while it was open to visitors. Filming was, therefore, only possible at night. The Mona Lisa we see in CODE, however, is actually a replica of Da Vinci’s painting because the movie crew couldn’t shine its hot lights on the real Mona Lisa.

The result was a very hot movie. CODE was the 59th Cannes Film Festival’s opening night selection on May 17, 2006. The movie, which reportedly cost $125M to produce, opened domestically May 19 via Sony to $77.1M and brought in $760M worldwide.