Despite tepid and even terrible reviews coming in from film critics, the first report I've received from the Cannes Film Festival today tells me Sony/Imagine's The Da Vinci Code received a standing ovation at the end of its official world premiere. (Clearly there's no accounting for taste within that VIP audience.) There was one point during the screening, I've learned, when audiences did snicker (Semi-Spoiler Alert): When Hanks (aka Robert Langdon) tells Audrey Tautou (aka Sophie Neveu) who her true ancestors were. But no one walked out in the middle, which the Cannes crowd is wont to do if they hate a movie. The black-tie premiere brought out the stars of the film -- Hanks, Tautou, Ian McKellen and Paul Bettany onto Cannes' famous red carpet. It was on that carpet that, hours before the premiere, nuns and priests supplicated themselves on the Palais steps to protest the film. At the premiere inside the theater, I'm told, Hanks made a point of meeting and greeting (and talking) to two priests in the audience. With the pair located at opposite ends of the theatre, Hanks had all eyes on him as he had to wend his way around the theatre to get to them. More as it comes in...