"Da Vinci" fever hits TV sales market

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - Call it the "Da Vinci Craze." The mind-boggling success of Dan Brown's religious thriller "The Da Vinci Code" and the feverish anticipation of
Ron Howard's feature adaptation starring Tom Hanks has set off a mad scramble at the MIPTV market here for programming with a "Da Vinci" hook. Britain's Channel 4, which scored at home and internationally with its debunking documentary "The Real Da Vinci Code," is selling "The Da Vinci Detective," a documentary about art scholar Maurizio Seracini, who is depicted in Brown's best-seller. Channel 4 is even pre-empting Brown, rushing out a poster at MIPTV for its in-development documentary, "The Real Solomon Key," named for Brown's upcoming conspiracy thriller "The Solomon Key," which features legendary secret societies the Freemasons and the Knights Templar. [More]