Tom Hanks’ caliber as an actor has been proven over his decade-spanning career. The actor has appeared in several movies, and some of them are pretty challenging, yet the actor pulled it off. Hanks’ appearance as the lead of the Da Vinci Code franchise was remarkably astounding to fans.
Well, numbers speak, and the adaptation of Dan Brown’s bestselling novel series has grossed over $1.4 billion at the box office. Despite the poor critical reception of the first installment, the movie grossed over $760 million, making room for the sequels.
Tom Hanks’ Impression of Da Vinci Code
The box office success of the franchise has certainly created a global fanbase, but Tom Hanks being one serious actor, thought that the franchise was just a bunch of “hooey.”
Of course, the movie made $760 million in global revenue,e while earning a whopping $224 million in the opening week worldwide.
Hanks played Robert Langdon, a symbolist cracking mysterious codes associated with crimes. But it appears, the actor is not a great fan of the hero’s astonishing adventure in the franchise. Talking to The New York Times, Hanks candidly admitted that these movies were very commercial and he only did it for money. “Oh, God, that was a commercial enterprise,” Hanks said.
“Yeah, those Robert Langdon sequels are hooey. The Da Vinci Code was hooey. I mean, Dan Brown, God bless him, says, Here is a sculpture in a place in Paris! No, it’s way over there. See how a cross is formed on a map? Well, it’s sort of a cross. Those are delightful scavenger hunts that are about as accurate to history as the James Bond movies are to espionage. But they’re as cynical as a crossword puzzle.”
The movies had a good run at the box office up until the last installment of the franchise, Inferno.
Tom Hanks Did Da Vinci Code for Money
As it appears, Hanks has very little empathy for the code-cracking hero. Of course, there also has been a debate over historical accuracy while presenting the movie on the screen. The Ron Howard-directed franchise created a worldwide buzz at the time of its release, however, after the first installment, the craze over the movies somewhat diminished. The second installment, Angels & Demons earned comparatively far too less than the original, closing with $486 million worldwide at the box office. With the release of the 2016 movie Inferno, the third of the franchise earned around $220 million.
Also, Hanks’ salary was pretty lucrative, as he earned a paycheck of $68 million for appearing as the lead in the trilogy. As per reports, the actor earned $18 million for the first movie, $25 million for Angels & Demons, and matched the salary for Inferno.
“There’s nothing wrong with good commerce, provided it is good commerce … By the time we made the third [movie], we proved that it wasn’t such good commerce,” Hanks said.
Despite his dislike, Hanks never regretted doing the franchise as it helped him put a few bricks to his estimated $400 million net worth. The scenario might have been different if Hugh Jackman, who was previously offered the role, played the part.
Also read: Insane Reason Captain Phillips Director Didn’t Let Tom Hanks Meet the Actors Playing Somali Pirates
Source: Showbiz CheatSheet.
