Hollywood's star back in ascendancy

The popularity of The Da Vinci Code has helped to prompt a recovery in Hollywood’s fortunes, with box office takings reversing last year’s steep decline this year so far. Gross box office to June 30 amounted to $4.42 billion (£2.4 billion) in the United States, which accounts for about half of all film-going worldwide, up 3.9 per cent on the equivalent period last year. The recovery was underpinned by Sony Pictures’ The Da Vinci Code, which despite being panned by critics had the second biggest worldwide opening of any film in history, taking $231.8 million. Since then, The Da Vinci Code’s worldwide box office has since hit $703.5 million, ranking it at number 22 on the all-time list, according to figures compiled by Box Office Mojo, although it remains one of the highest-grossing films not aimed at children. [More]