5 Million Paperback Copies of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ Planned - New York Times

5 Million Paperback Copies of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ Planned - New York Times:

Random House said yesterday that it was planning to print more than five million copies of “The Da Vinci Code” in three paperback versions beginning in March. The decision signals that the publisher is confident that a huge audience remains for a book that has been near the top of the hardcover best-seller lists for almost three years.

The paperback editions of the book will be in stores on March 28, roughly seven weeks before the movie premiere on May 19 of “The Da Vinci Code,” starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard. That same day, Random House will publish two versions of an illustrated screenplay, to include the film’s full shooting script and still photographs and storyboards from its production.

Even though the book is one of the best sellers in hardcover history with 12 million copies in print in North America, Random House, a division of Bertelsmann of Germany, is operating on the assumption that many readers have been waiting for a less-expensive paperback version and that the film will generate new interest, a spokeswoman, Suzanne Herz, said. As evidence, she noted that yesterday the book jumped back to No. 2, from No. 5, on the New York Times fiction best-seller list, just after Newsweek magazine featured an article about the film on its cover.

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