Tom Hanks Says 'Da Vinci Code' Movies Were 'Commercial Enterprise' And 'Hooey'

Tom Hanks has called the "Da Vinci Code" movies "hooey" and admitted that this franchise was a "commercial enterprise."

"Oh, God, that was a commercial enterprise, Yeah, those Robert Langdon sequels are hooey. The Da Vinci Code was hooey," Hanks told The New York Times on Monday, ET Canada reported.

The actor further explained how Dan Brown, who wrote the "Da Vinci Code" novel based on which the first installment was made, used to explain how a cross is formed on a map.

"I mean, Dan Brown, God bless him, says, ‘Here is a sculpture in a place in Paris! No, it’s way over there. See how a cross is formed on a map? Well, it’s sort of a cross,'" Hanks recalled.

As far as the accuracy of these movies is concerned, Hanks compared the franchise with James Bond movies.

"Those are delightful scavenger hunts that are about as accurate to history as the James Bond movies are to espionage," Hanks added. "But they’re as cynical as a crossword puzzle."

The 65-year-old actor went on to explain that the decision to make a sequel, "Angels & Demons" and "Inferno" was based on commercial success. When the third one didn't work at the box office, they stopped making further installments.

"All we were doing is promising a diversion. There’s nothing wrong with good commerce, provided it is good commerce," Hanks said. "By the time we made the third one, we proved that it wasn’t such good commerce."

The first installment of the movie was made with a budget of $125 million and it earned $760 million. The sequel was made with a budget of $150 million and it made $485 million. Whereas, the third installment made only $220 million while the budget was $75 million.

Apart from the commercial part of the franchise, Hanks also shared a fun incident when he changed his pants in front of the Mona Lisa painting.

"Let me tell you something else about ‘The Da Vinci Code’. It was my 40th-something birthday. We were shooting in the Louvre at night. I changed my pants in front of the Mona Lisa!" he recalled. "They brought me a birthday cake in the Grand Salon! Who gets to have that experience? Any cynicism there? Hell no!"

Hanks will be next seen in the movies like "Elvis," "Pinocchio," "A Man Called Otto," "Asteroid City" and "Here."