# Tom Hanks to star in "Da Vinci Code" movie. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831 "2004-11-15T06:54:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/1 "2004-11-15T06:54:53Z")
According to [this](http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=7198). Ron Howard will direct. I thought the book was ridiculous but the fact that it annoyed fundies was a good thing in its own way. And even though none of the theories in the book were especially credible, I think it’s a good thing just to get something besides a purely literal interpretation of the Bible into the popular imagination. So, is this movie risking the wrath of a backlash from picketing Christians or will it be a hit? ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/2 "2004-11-15T06:57:03Z")
One plus is that the movie’s got to be better than the book. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/3 "2004-11-15T07:02:15Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > One plus is that the movie’s got to be better than the book. It sounds like the book was written to be a movie, but I’m not sure this is true. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/4 "2004-11-15T07:07:07Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It sounds like the book was written to be a movie, but I’m not sure this is true. Probably was. Isn’t this the way with best-selling authors these days? Wish I was one… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/5 "2004-11-15T07:08:05Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Probably was. Isn’t this the way with best-selling authors these days? Not all of them, but it seems to be the way with Dan Brown. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/6 "2004-11-15T07:16:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer, the duo who helped make Hanks a star with their 1984 comedy Splash and rehired him 11 years later for Apollo 13, cast Hanks as the globe-trotting scholar Robert Langdon, a decision based partially on the cerebral (riddle-solving, code-cracking) nature of the action in “Da Vinci.” WTF? Tom Hanks? I hear “Tom Hanks,” I don’t think “intellectual,” I think “everyman.” Maybe you meant to say “Russel Crowe”? As in, _A Beautiful Mind?_ And . . . Ron Howard? Come on, Ron Howard? Little Opie Cunningham? The guy who directed _Willow, Apollo 13, Edtv,_ and _How the Grinch Stole Christmas?_ I don’t think so. This project should be directed by somebody who can do real creepy, disturbing, reality-is-not-what-seems, conspiracy-theory flix – maybe David Cronenberg _(eXistenZ, Naked Lunch, Videodrome)._ Or Alex Proyas _(Dark City)._ Or Richard Donner _(Conspiracy Theory)._ Or Mark Pellington _(The Mothman Prophecies)._ Or David Lynch (pretty much his entire _ouvre_ except for _Dune)_. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/7 "2004-11-15T07:23:03Z")
**Brainglutton** , I’m surprised you forgot the _king_ of conspiracy, Oliver Stone. Seriously, with a property like this, they want to remain mainstream and safe. Tom Hanks and Ron Howard is about as safe as it gets. Crist only know what David Lynch would do (but it would probably be an improvement on the book). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/8 "2004-11-15T07:36:00Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Seriously, with a property like this, they want to remain mainstream and safe. Why? Because the fundies are going to picket the opening? That’ll happen anyway, and there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Although, I must admit, considering the nature of Dan Brown’s plot, the general tone of the book was actually rather, well, tame. A typical thriller – a lot more like John Grisham than, say, Robert Anton Wilson or Thomas Pynchon. Maybe Ron Howard and Tom Hanks aren’t bad choices. :rolleyes: Damn, so much more could have been done with the “Grail Blood” premise! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/9 "2004-11-15T07:53:08Z")
Well, I thought the book was great, but I would never have picked Tom Hanks for the role. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/10 "2004-11-15T08:23:43Z")
Well I’m looking forward to it, so there. I’m not so much bothered by the choice of Tom Hanks, but Ron Howard??? Doesn’t really seem like his style. Hey, at least it’s not Will Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/11 "2004-11-15T09:11:56Z")
DavInci Code = inexplicably popular crappy book Tom Hanks = inexplicably popular crappy actor Ron Howard = inexplicably popular crappy director Colour me unsurprised. Predicted result = inexplicably popular crappy film ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/12 "2004-11-15T10:06:53Z")
Ah crap. I liked the book, such as it was. Hanks will turn the film into bubblegum. Crap. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/13 "2004-11-15T10:45:22Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I thought the book was ridiculous but the fact that it annoyed fundies was a good thing in its own way. Was that necessary? What do you want, like twelve straight years of Republicans or something? My sister is a “fundie”, and she isn’t annoyed by the DaVinci Code. It’s because of the kind of crack you made that it is hard to muster sympathy when hand-stabbers are annoyed by things like the Pledge of Allegiance. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/14 "2004-11-15T11:02:45Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > Tom Hanks = inexplicably popular crappy actor 5 Oscar nominations for best actor 2 Oscar wins for best actor 3 American Comedy Awards (Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture) American Film Institute’s Lifetime Aceivement Award 3 BAFTA (British Oscar) Nominations and scads of other stuff… Could it be that your opinion of him is just a _tad_ harsh? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/15 "2004-11-15T11:12:31Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > Could it be that your opinion of him is just a _tad_ harsh? I’ve got no problem with Tom Hanks, but when you consider how popular and beloved _Forrest Gump_ was (I’m sure the bulk of those awards came from there), and how totally stupid _Forrest Gump_ was, I can’t really blame **Tapioca**. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/16 "2004-11-15T11:25:21Z")
[Tom Hanks awards](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000158/awards) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/17 "2004-11-15T11:41:36Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > [Tom Hanks awards](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000158/awards) Okay, not the bulk, but a bunch. It was still a vastly overrated movie, and awards don’t prove you’re a good actor. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/18 "2004-11-15T11:56:04Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Okay, not the bulk, but a bunch. It was still a vastly overrated movie, and awards don’t prove you’re a good actor. Maybe not. But then what _does_ prove that you’re a good or bad actor? Or that a movie is overrated? I think Spooje was just pointing out that there is considerable evidence that some people do indeed consider him to have been a good actor in good movies. Personally, I think he’s a fine actor, sort of the James Stewart of our age. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/19 "2004-11-15T11:58:12Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Maybe not. But then what _does_ prove that you’re a good or bad actor? Or that a movie is overrated? I don’t think anything does. > [@](#): > > I think Spooje was just pointing out that there is considerable evidence that some people do indeed consider him to have been a good actor in good movies. Yes, that much is indisputable. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831/20 "2004-11-15T12:20:19Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Okay, not the bulk, but a bunch. It was still a vastly overrated movie, and awards don’t prove you’re a good actor. Multiple Oscars for Best Actor pretty much _does_ prove that. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-hanks-to-star-in-da-vinci-code-movie/274831.md?page=2)