"Da Vinci" to open Cannes.

PARIS, France (Hollywood Reporter) -- Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code" will open the 59th Cannes Film Festival on May 17, two days before the film is released worldwide.

Based on the best-selling thriller by Dan Brown, the film stars Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Ian McKellen and Alfred Molina. It will screen out of competition, event organizers said Saturday.

"Da Vinci," which uses the Louvre Museum in Paris as one of its main backdrops, is an esoteric whodunit linked to a sinister plot to conceal the true meaning of the Holy Grail. The book, which has sold more than 30 million copies in about 40 languages, has been denounced by the Roman Catholic Church and historians as pure fiction.

Howard, whose "A Beautiful Mind" won Oscars for best picture and director in 2002, first came to Cannes in 1988 with "Willow." His other Cannes screenings have included "Far and Away" in 1992 and "Ed TV" in 1999.

Organizers said "Da Vinci" will be released in France the same day it opens Cannes.

Courtesy Of CNN.com