What divine timing.
Late last week a federal district court judge in New York ruled that Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, had not plagiarized elements of the book from two novels by Lewis Perdue, who sought $150 million in damages. No courtroom chicken, Perdue will appeal, he said.
In a summary judgment, the judge wrote that "any slightly similar elements are on the level of generalized or otherwise unprotectable ideas." Perdue's Daughter of God is action-packed while by contrast, he wrote, The Da Vinci Code is "an intellectual, complex treasure hunt."
---
At the same time, it appears that the Sony movie of The Da Vinci Code,
directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, currently filming in
Europe, is under some pressure from Christian groups, including the
Catholic Church and Opus Dei, to tone down what has made the book a
phenomenon. The studio, which has blanketed the movie with unusual
secrecy, has apparently talked to different groups about how the plot
of the movie might be altered "to avoid offending the devout." Some
suggestions include making "ambiguous" the idea that Jesus had any
children; removing all references to Opus Dei, which is portrayed
negatively in the book; and correcting some errors relating to
descriptions of religious elements in art.
Apparently seeking to expand the movie's audience, the studio has already "hinted that the film is a thriller that will play down religious themes." Of course, the book's many devotees may be turned off by a bowdlerized version, and it's hard to imagine that fans of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ will cross the aisle to spend their "Passion dollars" on a Da Vinci Sort of Code. Oddly Ron Howard may be the studio's best choice as director for this project. He took some strange liberties when filming the nonfiction books Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind; here he might do a similar thing in reverse by adding nonfictional rigor to a work of fiction.
Late last week a federal district court judge in New York ruled that Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, had not plagiarized elements of the book from two novels by Lewis Perdue, who sought $150 million in damages. No courtroom chicken, Perdue will appeal, he said.
In a summary judgment, the judge wrote that "any slightly similar elements are on the level of generalized or otherwise unprotectable ideas." Perdue's Daughter of God is action-packed while by contrast, he wrote, The Da Vinci Code is "an intellectual, complex treasure hunt."
---
At the same time, it appears that the Sony movie of The Da Vinci Code,
directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, currently filming in
Europe, is under some pressure from Christian groups, including the
Catholic Church and Opus Dei, to tone down what has made the book a
phenomenon. The studio, which has blanketed the movie with unusual
secrecy, has apparently talked to different groups about how the plot
of the movie might be altered "to avoid offending the devout." Some
suggestions include making "ambiguous" the idea that Jesus had any
children; removing all references to Opus Dei, which is portrayed
negatively in the book; and correcting some errors relating to
descriptions of religious elements in art.Apparently seeking to expand the movie's audience, the studio has already "hinted that the film is a thriller that will play down religious themes." Of course, the book's many devotees may be turned off by a bowdlerized version, and it's hard to imagine that fans of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ will cross the aisle to spend their "Passion dollars" on a Da Vinci Sort of Code. Oddly Ron Howard may be the studio's best choice as director for this project. He took some strange liberties when filming the nonfiction books Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind; here he might do a similar thing in reverse by adding nonfictional rigor to a work of fiction.