"This is the first example of derivative-product marketing in French publishing ever," says Isabelle Laffont, president of JC Lattès. What's more, the wave of Da Vinci-related merchandise and services signifies a growing sophistication and opportunism in French marketing. It could be a cash cow for the Louvre, which already rents out more than 225,000 other audio tours annually.Īll the tie-ins and gewgaws may be crass, but they mean big money for the sluggish French economy. ![]() Developed by audio company Soundwalk (based in New York and Paris), it cost $500,000 to produce and features voiceover from actor Jean Reno and excerpts from the movie. On May 18, the Louvre will unveil a new audio tour called "Step Inside the 'Da Vinci Code'" that will be available for rental or purchase in the museum and via the Louvre Web site and Apple's iTunes store for $13. Last year, it admitted a record 7.5 million visitors, up nearly 20 percent from 2004, thanks in part to “Da Vinci Code” notoriety. But now the museum recognizes that it has a tiger by the tail. Early reports suggested a cool reaction to the idea of filming movie scenes inside the Louvre, though eventually the museum relented in exchange for an undisclosed fee. For years after “The Da Vinci Code” came out, the museum distanced itself from the book and its avid following. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the degree to which the staid Louvre is getting into the act. It carries a new dust-jacket with images taken from the movie. Editions JC Lattès, which published the original French hardcover edition of “The Da Vinci Code,” is issuing 200,000 copies of a special edition timed to the release. Indeed, the arrival of the Sony Pictures film, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard, is spurring a new wave of commercialization. "We'll have to see after the movie comes out if there's an even larger effect." "We're seeing a noticeable peak right now," McBreen says. Two years ago, director Ellen McBreen added a “Da Vinci Code” tour for groups of up to four people at $140 a head, and since then has hosted more than 800 such outings. One such company, ParisMuse, started out giving intimate art tours of Paris museums in 2002. Sulpice church, and other locales cited in the novel - and business is booming. Dozens of outfits offer guided tours of the Louvre, St. ![]() In 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available, the number of American tourists rose by 7 percent.Ī cottage industry has sprung up to milk the opportunity. But since then visitors have returned, in part due to "Da Vinci tourism," say travel experts. visitors to France by 30 percent from 2001 to 2003. Anti-French sentiment in the U.S., springing from the two countries' disagreement over the Iraq war, slashed the number of U.S. Fascination with the settings in the book, especially the Louvre museum, where some of the most important scenes take place, has given a boost to French tourism in recent years. It's not just French readers forking over cash in pursuit of the “Da Vinci Code” craze, either. Add pass-along readership, and analysts estimate a quarter of the French reading age population has read “The Da Vinci Code,” higher even than in the U.S. ![]() Despite its American origin, plot problems, and imperfect French translation, the novel has become by far the top-selling commercial book of all time in France, with more than five million copies already purchased. What's happening in Paris is a cultural event that's rapidly becoming an economic phenomenon.
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