TOP BOX OFFICE HITS LAST WEEKEND:
Weekend gross:
1. “The Da Vinci Code”
North America
$77.1 million
Worldwide
$238.1 million
2. “Over the Hedge”
$37.3 million
3. “Mission: Impossible III”
$11 million
4. “Poseidon”
$9.2 million
TOP OPENING WEEKENDS FOR NOVELS TURNED INTO FILMS IN U.S.:
1. “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
$102.6 million
2. “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”
$93.6 million
3. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”
$90.2 million
4. “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”
$88.3 million
5. “The Da Vinci Code”
$77.1 million
6. “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
$77 million
COSTS INVOLVED WITH FILMING THE DA VINCI CODE:
– $125 million to make the movie
– Sony paid $6 million for the movie rights
– Tom Hanks’ salary: $18 million, plus profit participation
– Court costs: Random House’s legal costs were $1.75 million (“Holy Blood, Holy Grail” authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, involved in the plagiarism lawsuit, were ordered to pay 85 percent of Random House’s legal costs.)
BOOK SALES:
– Since its release in March 2003, the book has sold more than 60 million copies
– April ’06 marked the release of the paperback: Initial printing was 5 million but was increased to 6 million after 500,000 copies quickly sold within the first week
– Baigent and Leigh’s 24-year-old book, “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” sold only a few hundred before the trial began but during the case was
selling 7,000 copies a week in Britain. Their new book’s initial print is 150,000 in the U.S.
TOM HANKS’ NOTABLE MOVIE SALARIES:
– “Forrest Gump”: $70 million (includes gross and profit participation)
– “Saving Private Ryan”: $40 million (includes gross and profit participation)
– “The Green Mile”: $20 million
– “Cast Away”: $20 million
– “The Da Vinci Code”: $18 million (plus profit participation)
Sources: www.imdb.com, www.news24.com, www.boxofficemojo.com, www.cnn.com, www.ap.org, www.Bloomberg.com, www.msnbc.msn.com
Chicago Tribune
