The movie premiere of 'The Da Vinci Code' opens in Beijing Wednesday May 17, 2006. (Xinhua Photo)

BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- "The Da Vinci Code," the film adapted from Dan Brown's best-selling novel, made its world debut in Beijing on Wednesday evening.

    About four-and-a-half hours before it was screened at this year's Cannes Film Festival, the big-budget Hollywood thriller impressed the Chinese audience with performance from Oscar-winning Tom Hanks and France's Audrey Tautou.

    The U.S. director Ron Howard's 125-million-dollar film reveals Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene and having a child by her whose descendants are still alive today, which the Roman Catholic Church stopped at nothing to try to cover up.

    With a shining cast and controversial plot, the movie is expected to be a massive hit both because of the novel's worldwide sales record of over 40 million copies and protests from religious circles.

    Xu Bing, a spokesman with the China Film Group Corporation, the movie's distributor in China, estimated the box-office value of the movie at over 60 million yuan (7.5 million U.S. dollars).

    The company has decided to show the movie simultaneously in big cities across the country with 380 copies in over 30 cinema lines, he told Xinhua at the premiere.

    "The movie has combined culture and suspense well," he added.

    Fan Xi, a 28-year-old Chinese lady who had read the book and watched the movie at the premiere, said, "The movie is not bad, but not as good as the book."

    "It is less suspenseful than the book. The book tells you what the characters are thinking of when they decode, but the movie doesn't. However, the movie's end is easier to understand than the book," she told Xinhua.

    Despite protests from Christians in several countries and regions in the world, Li Chow, General Manager of the Columbia Triastar Film Distributors International China, said no part of the movie has been cut for its release in China.

    "Everybody understands the movie is fictional," he told Xinhua.

    "The Da Vinci Code" has sparked controversy over its "sacrilegious" story and has met opposition from many countries worldwide. Some religious groups in India have called on people to protest against the movie. Singapore's national film administration listed the film into grade NC-16, saying the film is not suitable for children without discretion.

    In Britain, the film was forced to make changes in its music and sound effects so that "children aged under 12 could watch the film accompanied by their parents". Enditem