'Da Vinci Code' tops world box office for fifth straight week

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - "The Da Vinci Code," the film based on Dan Brown's best-selling novel, reportedly topped the world's box office for a fifth straight week, raking in some 680 million dollars in ticket sales. The US blockbuster generated 20 million dollars at the box office last weekend, five million in North America and the rest around the globe, Variety said. Directed by Ron Howard and produced on a 125-million-dollar budget, Sony Pictures's controversial conspiracy tale of the supposed marriage of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene has barreled past poor reviews from critics to become the world's biggest-selling film this year, ahead of the animated "Ice Age: The Meltdown." [more]