Critics pan Da Vinci Code

Tom Hanks and co-actor in The Da Vinci Code

The highly anticipated drama was screened last Tuesday night at the 59th Cannes Film Festival for hundreds of journalists from around the world.

The opening comes as anger over the film escalates with Christian groups from South Korea, Thailand, Greece and India planning boycotts, a hunger strike and other attempts to block or shorten screenings.

Despite requests from Opus Dei, a small but influential group within the Catholic Church, there was no disclaimer added to the beginning of the movie stating the film is a work of fiction.

After making its print debut in 2003, The DaVinci Code has since sold more than 60.5 million copies and has been translated into 44 languages.

The movie did receive some lukewarm praise, but the majority of the response was highly critical.

The Da Vinci Code storyline proposes Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married, had a child, and that a powerful organisation linked to the Church conspired to commit murder to keep it secret.

"This book is not anti-anything," author of the book The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown writes on his web-site. "It's a novel. I wrote this story in an effort to explore certain aspects of Christian history that interest me."