The Book, the Movie, and Beyond

Rank of the book among the fastest-selling adult novels of all time. 1

In its opening weekend, The Da Vinci Code movie grossed more than $200M.

Estimated size of the Da Vinci Code industry, including Dan Brown’s earnings as well as all the books, movies, CDs, documentaries, and other spin-off products that have followed in the book's wake. $1 billion

Dan Brown’s reported initial pay package for the movie rights to The Da Vinci Code: $5 million

Tom Hanks’ reported pay package for The Da Vinci Code movie: $40 million

The number of people who believe the book is proof of anti-Catholic prejudice, according to an MSNBC poll conducted after the network broadcast a report about Cardinal Bertone’s campaign to ban The Da Vinci Code. 22%

The population of the hamlet of Rennes-le-Château. 112

The amount of money the town fathers of Rennes-le-Château say was pumped into the village by tourists in 2004 because of its ties to The Da Vinci Code book. $20 million

The amount of money the producers of The Da Vinci Code movie were willing to pay Lincoln Cathedral after the Westminster Cathedral, the actual location for an important scene in the novel, refused permission for filming there. $175,000

The amount Dan Brown and his brother and sister donated to Phillips Exeter Academy in honor of their father, Richard Brown, who taught mathematics at the school for thirty-five years. $2.2 million

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The year in which “Mona Lisa,” a ballad sung by Nat King Cole in tribute to the painting, reached number one on the hit parade and went on to sell three million copies. 1950

Admission paid by fans of the book who wanted to catch a wax-figure display of The Last Supper at a mall in Port Charlotte, Florida. $2

The number of paintings Leonardo is said to have completed during his lifetime. 2224

The size, in feet, of The Last Supper fresco. 15 x 3 x 29

The per-person cost of a two-hour discussion on The Da Vinci Code over tea at the Hotel Ritz in Paris. $47

The cost of a weeklong Da Vinci Code tour with lodging at the fifteen-bedroom, 240-acre seventeenth-century Château de Villette (breakfast included). Owned by San Francisco super real estate agent Olivia Hsu Decker, she rewards favored clients like Sharon Stone and Andre Agassi with weekends at her pied-à-terre. $55,000

The number of men to avoid, in a book of humorous one-liners (e.g., Men who stir-fry) written by Dan Brown under the pen name Danielle Brown in 1993. 187

Title of a song by Dan Brown about paid phone sex, written in the late 1980s, a time when he was striving to become a singer-songwriter. 976-LOVE

The number of pages produced by Opus Dei on its U.S. website and related links as its response to The Da Vinci Code as the result of being depicted as an extremist cult. 127

The salary given up by Ricky Williams, star Miami Dolphins running back, when he decided to take a leave from his team. “I thought, Oh my gosh, he got injured,” said his agent Leigh Steinberg, but, no, he wanted to talk about The Da Vinci Code. $3.6 million

The percentage of Canadians who are estimated to have read the book. 16%

The percentage of Canadians who have read the book and believe there are descendants of Jesus alive today and a secret society exists dedicated to keeping Jesuss bloodline a secret. 33%

The year Dan Brown read Sidney Sheldon’s pulp novel Doomsday Conspiracy and said, “I can do that.” 1993

Ranking of Dan Brown in Forbes magazine list of the most powerful celebrities in 2004. 12

The number of cubes in the stone ceiling of Rosslyn Chapel holding mystical symbols of great spiritual significance that revealed a coded six-minute piece of music for thirteen medieval players. 213

The Hollywood Boulevard address of the Ecclesia Gnostica center, home of the Gnostic movement in the United States for twenty-seven years. 4516

The year in which Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Lawn, formerly of Her Majestys World War II code-breaking squad, deciphered an inscription on the Shepherds Monument in Shugborough, England, long thought to contain a definitive clue to the location of the Holy Grail. The code decoded: Jesus (As Deity) Defy. He says, It’s connected with the Priory of Sion. She says, No, it has nothing to do with Jesus, it’s a love poem. 2005

The number of photographs based on documents and paintings by Leonardo gathered with the aim of reassessing and disclaiming The Da Vinci Code at a mock trial in Vinci, the artist’s hometown. 120

The average number of acceptances to the University of Virginia for the class of 2008 from among those who applied. 35%

The average number of acceptances to the University of Virginia among those who wrote about Vladimir Nabokov on their application essays. 67%

The average number of acceptances to the University of Virginia of those who wrote about The Da Vinci Code . Several of the admission staffers were mad because they were reading the book and didn’t want the plot spoiled, said the senior dean of admissions. 24%

The number of hits on Google for a search on "The Da Vinci Code." 57.7 million



See also:

• Anagram Fun
• The Da Vinci Code Tour of the Louvre
• Da Vinci Code: History
  
• Mary Magdalene and the Sacred Feminine

• The Dan Brown Revelations