Da Vinci Code opening reignites controversy

Chinese viewers today became the first in the world to see The Da Vinci Code movie, as the controversial tale that challenges a basic premise of Christianity began its global rollout to protests and bad reviews.

A gala screening to a Beijing audience upstaged a highly-feted debut at the Cannes Film Festival by about four hours, in a move interpreted as underscoring the importance to Hollywood of China as a potential new market of millions of moviegoers.