10 Awful Movies That Embarrassingly Made A Fortune

Worldwide Box Office Gross: $758 million

Good god, has there ever been a more laborious film? Watching Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou charging around handsome locations looking for religious McGuffins sounds like it should at least be a laugh, but in what is essentially a lazy, po-faced, two-and-a-half-hour attack on religion, the film is incredibly void of any thrills or heart, which is especially surprising when you consider the popularity of the source novel.

Dan Brown's book was a cultural phenomenon upon release, and as Hollywood jumps on any book that is at least semi-popular quicker than flies are attracted to your dog's bowel movements, it was no surprise that there was a lot of interest in The Da Vinci Code.

So how can a revered story, a director as respected as Ron Howard and a star as loved as Tom Hanks make so much cash despite being a bloated snooze-fest? The answer is simple. All because a book is good does not mean it will make for a good film. It's high-time Hollywood realised this, but if we keep falling for the same tricks they probably won't.

It's a wonder the film made as much money as it did despite its popular source, and this is due to the amount of censorship it faced in many other countries due to its religion bashing, with some countries such as Egypt and Sri Lanka going as far as outright banning it. Despite its critical mauling Howard and Colombia Pictures went onto make two sequels based on further Dan Brown novels - Angels & Demons and this year's Inferno.

Both were panned by critics and viewers alike, yet both were financial successes. What is our problem?