The Da Vinci Code Illustrated Screenplay: Behind the Scenes of the Major Motion Picture (Paperback)

~ (Author), John Calley (Afterword), Dan Brown (Foreword), Ron Howard (Foreword), Brian Grazer (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Da Vinci Code Illustrated Screenplay goes behind the scenes of one of the most highly anticipated movies of all time, created by Academy Award®–winning filmmakers Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Akiva Goldsman.  Offering unprecedented access to the tightly guarded “closed set,” and a view of the filmmaking process that has never been seen publicly, screenwriter Goldsman provides a backstage look at the incredible journey to bring Dan Brown’s record-setting novel to the big screen.  Goldsman’s richly rendered screenplay is included here in its entirety.  It offers a fascinating new way to experience the story—and includes a number of moments (and even full scenes) that do not appear in the final cut of the movie.
 
Lavishly illustrated with 275 images of the actors and filmmakers—from both the movie set and the film itself—this behind-the-scenes features include:
 
• Filming in the Louvre in the dead of night, and re-creating a 400-foot section of the museum’s Grand Gallery on a soundstage—down to the precise architectural details, and complete with 120 oil-painting masterpieces

• The full digital and soundstage re-creation of the Church of Saint-Sulpice

• The transformation of Lincolnshire’s Lincoln Cathedral into London’s Westminster Abbey, and the reproduction of Sir Isaac Newton’s enormous tomb

• Handwritten notes on pages from Ron Howard’s script

• The evolution of script dialogue as it progressed from an early draft of the screenplay to final shooting form

• Dozens of never-before-seen storyboards that were used to block out scenes before filming commenced
 
For any fan of the filmmaking process, and of the extraordinary movie and novel, this exquisitely produced book will be an invaluable companion.

About the Author

AKIVA GOLDSMAN received the 2001 Academy Award®, Golden Globe , and Writers Guild Award for A Beautiful Mind. Goldsman’s credits include The Client, Batman Forever, A Time to Kill, Practical Magic, I, Robot, and Cinderella Man.  His Weed Road Pictures has produced such films as Deep Blue Sea, Starsky & Hutch, Constantine, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Born in Brooklyn Heights, New York, Goldsman graduated from Wesleyan University and attended the graduate program in creative writing at New York University.  He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Rebecca, and their dog, Fizz.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (May 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767926021
• ISBN-13: 978-0767926027
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #883,763 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting insight into the movie, May 21, 2006

By	Jennifren (Seattle, Wa) - See all my reviews

I picked this book up because I was curious about how some of the dialog evolved from the novel to the movie.

I got those answers, and more: from reading the forewards, script notes, and seeing 100's of pictures from the set, this book helped me understand the filmmakers' worldview and artistic vision as they advanced the story beyond Dan Brown's printed pages.

I also really liked that this screenplay edition included lots of storyboards and behind-the-scenes depictions of the intricately constructed sets and props.

But unless you're really into the genre, you could probably get as much from thumbing through a borrowed copy in a half-hour as you would from buying and reading this book page-for-page.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS THE BOOK......, June 9, 2006

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: The Da Vinci Code Illustrated Screenplay: Behind the Scenes of the Major Motion Picture (Hardcover)

Da Vinci Code aficionados and movie buffs will find a must-have with this lavishly illustrated volume commemorating the making of the film. First off, it's a generous size, 8 ½ by 10 ½" so the 275 images are quite compelling.

It's also interesting to note in Dan Brown's foreword how an author might feel about having his or her book made into a movie: "...a bit like sending a child off to boarding school in a foreign land. You know your child will be changed by the experience, and all you can do is hope you recognize her upon her return."

Needless to say he was quite pleased and considered watching the filming quite an adventure, as will those who peruse this book.

The cast as the world now knows is remarkable, and for this viewer could not have been better chosen. Why all the press discussion of Tom Hanks' hair when there is so much more to explore is quite beyond me. He is, of course, a fine actor and in excellent company with Ian McKellan and Alfred Molina.

Storyboards included in the text are especially revealing as readers are allowed to see how many of the scenes were visualized, in addition there are the wonderful shots of filming of and at the Louvre. All who have spent time in that museum will be delighted to pay a return visit to it via Pinewood Studios where the production designer built a 400 foot section of the Grand Gallery.

There's so much to be discovered in this volume - how a script is presented when lines are spoken in four different languages or that a 12 line car chase resulted in numerous filming days or how Newton's tomb was fully recreated.

If Brown's novel and the movie are on your A-List, you'll love this book!

- Gail Cooke

11 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Epitome of Excessive PR, May 29, 2006

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Da Vinci Code Illustrated Screenplay: Behind the Scenes of the Major Motion Picture (Hardcover)

Just when you thought you had endured all the hype and universally conflicted opinion about Dan Brown, his controversial book, and the so-so movie version of 'The Da Vinci Code', up pops yet another souvenir of the secret codex. This time we are given the screenplay adaptation by Akiva Goldsman in its entirety (a feature that explains why so much of the novel's story was crammed into the crowded dialogue of the main characters) along with comments from Dan Brown, Director Ron Howard, and notes by Brian Grazer and John Calley.

But it seems the real purpose of publishing this book is to further hype the film, and the book is actually very handsome to peruse. Included are a generous number of photographs of not only the sets and actors, but also the digitally reconstructed venues that were verboten to the cameras. There are views of the Louvre that are breathtaking and recreated interiors of many of the cathedrals that play such a prominent role in the film. That is the enjoyable part of the book.

But to actually read the script with its stilted, chewy, linguistically lazy dialogue is an activity probably best left unread. Goldsman seems a martyr to the words of Brown and every opportunity to make the book into a movie was met with decisions that actually made the film the weaker for them.

But for those who need to have pendants, sweatshirts, caps and trinkets - like leaving Disneyland - then this is a souvenir book that is certain to satisfy. Look at the pictures and read the comments, but forget the dialogue of the clunky screenplay! Grady Harp, May 06