Pontifications

FLASH! Dan Brown starts his own church!

Wednesday August 6, 2008

Faux Bernini 2.jpgEvidently tired of dragging down the Catholic Church, blockbuster novelist Dan Brown has apparently decided to found his own religion--and yet it looks an awful lot like the one he has accused of everything that has ever gone wrong in the History of the World!

Hey, if you can't beat 'em...So will Ron Howard be pope? Or Tom Hanks? I'd vote for the latter, now that they've apparently tamed some of that silly mane from the first Dan Brown-Ron Howard thriller, "The Da Vinci Code." For the sequel, "Angels & Demons," the producers couldn't get permission to film in the Vatican--shocked? Here's the Telegraph's take: "The original book by Dan Brown so infuriated the Catholic Church that the Vatican banned director Ron Howard from filming there." Well, no one gets permission to film in the Vatican. Ever. But really, would you let them in?

Faux St. Peter's.jpgSo, in keeping with the best Hollywood traditions, the producers are re-constructing St. Peter's Square in Sony's Southern California studio. (Someplace, novelist and Catholic convert Walker Percy said that in the modern world, the religious choice is between Rome and California. I need to find that citation. In any case, now no one need choose...)

I registered my doubts about the novel earlier, but I must say that from what I can tell, the sets look pretty remarkable. Except where is the scaffolding that's always on every Roman monument that you really want to see?

Faux Colonnade.jpg The Church of Dan apparently does have a saint already: "During shooting in Rome earlier this year, Hanks won widespread admiration when he halted filming to escort a passing bride to her wedding at the Pantheon."

H/T: RNS blog.

Photos CARRILLO/PACIFICCOASTNEWS.COM via The Telegraph

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Comments
jestrfyl
August 7, 2008 11:44 AM

Some Adult LEGO builders have done this too - though not on a live-sized scale.

Forget the movie - when is his next book coming out?! If you think the Church was upset... wait until he has to contend with hundred of geriatric Freemasons and Shriners stormin' his book signings with walkers and canes! He'll be sorry then! "Watch out for those mini bikes and tiny cars!"

hb
August 10, 2008 1:47 PM

Umm....Dan Brown did NOT start his own religion. This post is pure garbage.

rd
August 20, 2008 2:51 PM

Clearly Dan Brown did not start his own religion. Even more clearly, the writer of this post did not think so either, but was employing a literary device known as irony, a.k.a sarcasm. For those who have never heard of it before, I'm using a little of it myself right now.
The Vatican wouldn't let them film a movie there so they built a set that looked like the Vatican. That's all.
Chill out folks.

Anonymous
August 21, 2008 8:47 AM

What rd said.

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David Gibson is an award-winning religion writer who specializes in writing about the Catholic Church, which he joined as a convert at the age of 30. He is the author The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World. He also wrote The Coming Catholic Church: How the Faithful are Shaping a New American Catholicism. He has written about Catholicism for leading newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, Boston magazine, Fortune, Commonweal, and America. Gibson worked in Rome for Vatican Radio for several years and traveled frequently with Pope John Paul II. He later covered religion for The Star-Ledger of New Jersey. He has co-written several recent documentaries on Christianity for CNN. For further information check out his website at dgibson.com.

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