Dan Brown’s "Da Vinci Code" sequel earns Goldman highest screenplay paycheck ever

Last updated on: January 26, 2013 at 5:25 pm by Jeffrey Overstreet

Dan Brown’s "Da Vinci Code" sequel earns Goldman highest screenplay paycheck ever 2013-01-26T17:25:14-07:00 Jeffrey Overstreet

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Nikke Finke at Deadline: Hollywood reports,

I’m told that Akiva Goldsman, who adapted Dan Brown’s worldwide bestseller into a $755.6 mil hit pic, is receiving $4 million for the Da Vinci Code sequel in the works by both Imagine Entertainment and Sony Pictures.

Meanwhile, the Da Vinci Code pre-quel, Angels and Demons, is coming to the big screen.

Finke says:

In A&D, Goldsman must make sense of a plot crammed with Vatican intrigue and high-tech drama: it thrusts Langdon together with an ancient and shadowy secret brotherhood, the Illuminati, the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. Their enemy is the Catholic Church and they’re detemined to carry out the final phase of a legendary vendetta against it.

Yes!! Alright! Time for Christians to re-start that media machine that declares, “Christians should engage in The Da Vinci Dialogue! Christians should buy tickets for the whole congregation, thus paying Sony ‘thank-you’ money for making entertainment that serves up lame-brained attacks on the church!”

I’m kidding, of course. I think it was one of the most embarrassing moments in Christian engagement with art and entertainment, the way we ran headline after headline, story after story, encouraging Christians to seize this opportunity to enrich a cultural dialogue.

I’m all for vigorous dialogue about art, but why spend so many resources encouraging people to spend their money on THIS movie? This movie is hot air and empty glamour. This movie is a mistake. This movie doesn’t offer us much fodder for worthwhile discussion. It’s bland, forgettable Hollywood entertainment. Instead, we could be focusing our time and attention on rich, meaningful art!

Why didn’t we bother to invite our neighbors to see and discuss Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, which is a much better movie, with an Oscar-worthy lead performance, and all kinds of great storytelling about faith, history, power, and truth-telling?

And what ever came of all of those aggressive “Christians should see The Da Vinci Code and discuss it with their neighbors!” campaigns? Do we have any stories yet of a wave of people turning to Christ? Did it bring about anything lasting and life-changing? Or did we just pat ourselves on the back for having “engaged the culture”?

What did I hear from those moviegoers who actually gave Sony ten bucks for the privilege? Believer and unbeliever alike responded, “Man oh man, that was a long, boring movie!”

How bad was the movie? It was so bad that advertisements for the DVD try to win back people’s interest with a bunch of hooey about how there are “secret symbols hidden in the movie that you didn’t see the first time! Find the symbols and solve the code!” Good grief. Suddenly, big screen movies are stooping to the tactics of cereal-box gimmickry.

Blog

Angels and Demons

The Da Vinci Code

Previous Post

November 21, 2006

Robert Altman, Remembered by Friends and Colleagues

Next Post

November 23, 2006 Publishers Weekly on "Through a Screen Darkly"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog Bloggers on "Through a Screen Darkly" Browser Coming Soon Endorsements Fiction Books Film Forum Film Reviews Inspirations Interviews Journal Kindlings Muse Movie buzz Music Reviews Non-Fiction Books radio Reviewers on "Through a Screen Darkly" The Auralia Thread Through a Screen Darkly Through a Screen Darkly - Bonus Materials Top 10 (or 20 or 100) lists Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 July 2003 May 2003 March 2003 September 1999

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Each chapter except one is an acrostic poem following the Hebrew alphabet. How many chapters make up this book of mourning?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Five Twelve Seven Three