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Oz speed-reader to demystify Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol 2hrs after release

September 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, September 14 (ANI): Publishers of Dan Brown’s much-anticipated book, ‘The Lost Symbol,’ will host speed reading competition during its launch in Australia.

The person who ends reading the book fastest will be provided with an opportunity to give its first review.

Speculations are high on the closely-guarded plot, which is believed to focus on the Freemasons.

Publisher Random House will provide a copy of the book at the State Library of NSW the moment it is released.

It is expected that the first person should complete reading in two hours.

After which the reader will give a review to public and press.

“Millions of Australians have enjoyed the pure adrenalin thrill of Dan Brown’s novels, coupled with their fascinating historical insights,” News.com.au quoted Margie Seale, managing director of Random House Australia, as saying in a statement.

The publishers anticipate that the book will match 81 million copies of The Da Vinci Code sold around the world. (ANI)

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Da Vinci follow-up ‘The Last Symbol’ will be promoted with a series of puzzles

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 9 (ANI): Publishers of Dan Brown’s new novel ‘The Last Symbol’ will be launching a series of puzzles, codes, and teasers on social networking sites like Facebook, as a part of their promotional campaign.

The book, which features Harvard Professor Robert Langdon for a third time, is due for release in September.

The storyline has still been kept under wraps, but it is believed to focus on freemasonry, with the lost symbol of the title a reference to a ciphered pictogram in an ancient book called The Key of Solomon.

The publishers have also revealed six million copies of the book will be printed on its first run, reports the BBC.

Brown had said that writing the new novel was “a strange and wonderful journey”. (ANI)

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Tom Hanks plans to shift home due to terrible stink from skunk attack

May 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 13 (ANI): Actor Tom Hanks is planning to move into a new home in California because his Los Angeles mansion has been infested with a terrible stink due to a skunk attack.

It was during a recent walk after dark that the Da Vinci Code star’s German Shepherd dogs were sprayed by the creature.

The dogs later transferred the pungent smell back to the house Hanks shares with his wife Rita Wilson.

Six weeks on, the couple are contemplating moving because the entire house has been infested by the smell.

“They say the only way to get rid of skunk smell is tomato juice. This is a lie.

We have gone through vats and vats of tomato juice. It’s sticky, it’s like hair gel when the dogs leap up on you and spread the skunk goo on top of you…,” Contactmusic quoted Hanks as saying.

“I put the clothes in the dirty clothes hamper. I’ve got to burn the clothes. We’ve gotta move out because it smells so bad. We’ve got to move out of our house because our dogs got skunked!” he added. (ANI)

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Four of five Louvre visitors come to see the Mona Lisa

May 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Paris – About four out of five people who visit the Louvre Museum in Paris come expressly to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the head of the museum, Henri Loyrette, was quoted Monday as saying. “It’s true that 80 per cent of our daily visitors come to see the Mona Lisa. (The Louvre) is the only museum in the world to have an icon like that,” Loyrette said in an interview published in the daily Le Parisien.

He said that the economic crisis was also affecting the Louvre, with 10 to 20 per cent fewer American visitors to the museum.

“It is almost certain that the year 2009 will not be up to 2008, when we registered a record 8.5 million visitors,” he said.

The museum is celebrating the 20th anniversary of I. M. Pei’s Pyramid, which was a controversial addition to the museum in 1989 but has become “a work in its own right,” and one of the Louvre’s primary attractions, Loyrette said.

However, the pyramid was designed to admit only 4.5 million visitors a year. As a result, the museum and Pei are considering changes to resolve the problems caused by its success.

“We are going to have another look at the spaces below the pyramid, without changing its architecture,” Loyrette said.(dpa)

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Da Vinci Code sequel gets September date

April 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Apr 21 (ANI): After becoming one of the world’s most read authors courtesy The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown is geared up to release its much-anticipated sequel.

‘The Lost Symbol’, which Brown describes as “a strange and wonderful journey”, will see the main protagonist Robert Langdon’s journey through a 12-hour frame.

It will be published on the September 15th 2009.

While ‘The Da Vinci Code’ saw symbologist Langdon investigating a murder in The Louvre museum in Paris, a trail that led him into the murky waters of Christian history, the sequel has “a masterful and unexpected new landscape”, according to Brown’s editor Jason Kaufman.

“Weaving five years of research into the story’s 12-hour timeframe was an exhilarating challenge. Robert Langdon’s life clearly moves a lot faster than mine,” The BBC quoted Brown, as saying.

The Da Vinci Code sold 81 million copies around the world and was also made into a motion picture featuring Tom Hanks in the lead role. (ANI)

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Some producers have already blinked

April 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Most producers have refused to blink in the battle with multiplex owners. But some, like Percept Picture Company, have broken ranks. PPC, which
released its film Tasveer on April 3, has been accused of a sellout by a certain segment of the producers.

However Ashok Ahuja, who heads the distribution at PPC says, “We are not strike breakers as is being made out.” Ahuja explains that the release date of Tasveer was announced fairly long ago and his company had spent huge amounts on publicity and promotion of the film for five-and-a-half weeks. “So it would have been impossible for us to roll back its release.”

But a segment of the producers lobby feel that PPC shouldnt have settled for the 48:38 profit sharing ratio at a point when the entire film industry is united on the 50:50 profit sharing issue. But Ahuja clarifies that “if the 50:50 settlement happens even as Tasveer is running, then Percept too will settle for the same terms.”

That will make Tasveer the only Indian film that multiplexes/single screens across the country will run this week. Theatres are also screening two Hollywood films – Paramount’s Fast and Furious 4 and Jennifer Lopez’s Feel The Noise. Next week the solo release is Star Entertainment’s One Man Army. Oscar Ravichandran, producer of the Kamal Haasan film Dasavatharam, is also poised to defy the ban and release the Hindi version of his film on April 17.

Moreover, it is learnt a leading multiplex chain is on the brink of agreeing to the producers’ terms as they fear if the fight stretches their balance sheet will be adversely affected. “If that happens then movies will release in this multiplex chain from April 4 itself,” says a trade source.

With producers needing a minimum of two weeks for a film’s pre-release publicity, if the strike drags on it may mean many a Bollywood release will miss the summer vacation bus this time, as Hollywood flicks cash in. For instance, Sony Pictures’ Angels and Demons (a prequel to the Da Vinci Code) and Terminator-4 will release on schedule in May across multiplexes and single screens in the country.

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Vatican ‘poised to boycott’ Tom Hanks-starrer Angels and Demons

March 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Mar 24 (ANI): The Vatican is considering calling for a boycott of Angels and Demons, the prequel to Hollywood blockbuster The Da Vinci Code.

The film starring Tom Hanks, which is based on the novel by Dan Brown, opens worldwide on May 15.

Avvenire, the Vatican’s official newspaper, says in its latest edition that the church “cannot approve” of the film.

According to Italian newspaper La Stampa, the Vatican will soon call on Catholics to boycott the film.

However, the same article quoted Archbishop Velasio De Paolis warning that a boycott might create a “boomerang effect” by giving the movie publicity.

In the latest film, Hanks will be seen reprising his role as Harvard professor Robert Langdon. However, this time round he is on a mission to save the Vatican from being destroyed by a canister of anti-matter, reports The Telegraph.

Father Marco Fibbi, a Vatican spokesman, said: “Usually we read the script but in this case it wasn’t necessary. Just the name Dan Brown was enough.”

The Catholic Church was infuriated by The Da Vinci Code, which suggested that Jesus may have been secretly married to Mary Magdalene. (ANI)

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Tom Hanks’ social films to be booster for people amid financial crisis

March 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, Mar 16 (ANI): Hollywood actor Tom Hanks is following in the footsteps of legendary director Frank Capra by producing several social films, which might act as a booster for people battling the ongoing economic crisis.

The ‘Da Vinci Code’ star is all set to present his viewers with the films that would help them understand how to cope with bad situation.

The first film ready for release is ‘The Talk of the Town’, which is about an out-of-work 48-year-old guy who enrols in junior college to try to update his skills. He’s embarrassed at first, but Hanks says it ends up being all good.

“I’m interested in stories about people doing something out of the ordinary to cope with a bad situation, and it ends up changing their lives,” the New York Daily News quoted him as saying

Hanks is also planning to make a film titled ‘How Starbucks Changed My Life’, based on a true story about an unemployed ad exec.

“Here was a guy who was at the pinnacle of his career, and he got aged out, downsized, laid off. He goes to Starbucks and a lady says, ‘Would you be interested in working here?’” he said. (ANI)

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Controversies not behind ‘Da Vinci Code’s’ success, says Tom Hanks

March 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, Mar 12 (ANI): Tom Hanks has said that ‘The Da Vinci Code’ was a success not because of the controversies surrounding it, but because of the way Dan Brown’s iconic book was adapted into the film.

The two-time Oscar-winning actor denied that the hot-button controversies about the film helped it earn 750 million dollars worldwide.

“The book was a phenomenon, and we were able to not blow that,” the New York Daily News quoted him as saying at the Cinema Society/Brooks Brothers screening of ‘The Great Buck Howard’ on March 10.

Although members of the Catholic Church condemned the film for its portrayal of their religion, its producers publicly hinted that the media buzz helped fill movie seats around the globe.

“(But) at the end of the day, controversy does not sell tickets,” said Hanks.

He added: “Engagement does, entertainment does. There’d be a lot of [controversial] movies out there that would’ve made 500 million dollar, but none of them did.” (ANI)

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Dan Brown’s completed next book, reveals ‘Da Vinci Code’ director

February 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Feb 14 (ANI): Are you a fan of best-selling author Dan Brown’s fats-paced thrillers? Well, then it’s time to rejoice, for according to the director of ‘The Da Vinci Code’, the author has completed work on the third book featuring his hero Robert Langdon.

Speaking on the Geneva set of the second film, to be based on one of Brown’s novel Angels and Demons, Ron Howard told the US television show Entertainment Tonight that Brown had finished writing the long-awaited third book.

He also said that the author was “very excited” about the novel.

Howard added that he hadn’t had the chance to read the book yet, but he couldn’t wait to do so.

The book was originally supposed to be published in 2006, when it was listed on Amazon as ‘The Solomon Key’.

It will be the author’s first new novel since the 2003 publication of ‘The Da Vinci Code’, which went on to sell over 70million copies worldwide.

On his website, Brown said that the new book would see Langdon “embroiled in a mystery on US soil” for the first time.

“This new novel explores the hidden history of our nation’s capital,” the Guardian quoted him as saying.

According to online reports, the novel will focus on the Freemasons, but Brown’s US publisher Doubleday did not confirm the speculation.

They only said that Brown was making “great progress” with the book, and that there was as yet no title or publication date to share.

And about when the book will appear, Brown has only said that “timing is everything”. (ANI)

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Hindus, Jews urge Italian PM to visit burnt Indian immigrant in Rome hospital

February 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Rome, Feb.8 (ANI): Hindus and Jews have appealed to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to visit a savagely burnt Indian immigrant in a Rome hospital and send out a strong message against xenophobia.

Prominent Hindu American leader Rajan Zed and Jweish community leader Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich in a statement in Nevada, also asked the Italian Government to provide adequate compensation to Navtej Singh Sidhu who was brutally beaten, insulted and set on fire with petrol while asleep in Nettuno, south of Rome.

Both claimed that a visit by Berlusconi would show the Italian Government’s sense of solidarity with marginalized groups like immigrants, minorities, and Roma, who reportedly continually faced human rights violations in Italy.

The two religious leaders pointed out that Italy needed to do deep introspection of her heart and be kind to immigrants, minorities, and Roma people as xenophobic tendencies were not in tune with this great country of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Tintoretto, Verdi, Fellini, and longstanding history and traditions of tolerance.

Rajan Zed, who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged the Italian Government to improve its human rights record and come up with a more compassionate immigration policy.

The reportedly continual social discrimination and victimization of Roma should also be dealt with emergently and they should be treated humanely. Culture of exclusion, intolerance and rejection should come to a halt. (ANI)

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Magna Carta stored in Welsh cave during Second World War found

January 10, 2009 By Rajesh Leave a Comment

London, Jan 11 (ANI): Researchers delving into the archives of National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth have discovered a copy of the Magna Carta in a nearby underground chamber, along with other valuable items, which were stored during the Second World War.

According to a report in the Telegraph, the cave was also temporary home to the oldest copy of the New Testament, the works of Chaucer and letters written by the kings and queens of England.

Paintings by Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci were also among a treasure trove stored in the specially-built underground chamber.

The mass evacuation of precious artifacts from around the UK to Wales in the event of a war in Europe had been planned from 1933 onwards.

Within hours of the declaration of war in 1939 collections from many cultural institutions were crated up and sent by rail to Aberystwyth.

The collections of the British Museum took up 25 containers, with the material weighing more than 90 tons.

“London was bombed for 96 consecutive nights during the Blitz so the great artworks needed to be removed for safekeeping,” said Cultural historian Professor Peter Stead.

“Paintings don’t like too much light so, of course, the caves were ideal places to store them,” he added.

The secret operation came to light when staff at the National Library of Wales looked into their archives to research an exhibition of Da Vinci drawings now on display there, and found that they were amongst items to have arrived on the eve of war.

According to Medi Jones-Jackson, communications officer at the National Library of Wales, “It’s amazing to think some of the most historically important documents and artworks of our times were kept safe here in Aberystwyth.”

“The cave was built with specialized ventilation and heating systems to protect the valuable items placed inside,” he added.

It was built in to the side of a hill to avoid the risk of artifacts being hit by stray bombs dropped from planes chased away from industrial centres. (ANI)

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