It has been rated "adults only" in the Philippines, sparked hunger strikes in India, caused consternation in the corridors of the Vatican and only narrowly escaped an all-out ban in South Korea.

Today, after months of controversy and anticipation, a final publicity push began to reach any remaining corners of the world yet to fall under the spell of The Da Vinci Code.

Tom Hanks and Amelie's Audrey Tautou joined the author Dan Brown and director Ron Howard at Waterloo station in South London for the official launch event this morning.

In keeping with the secrecy which has cloaked the project - no advance screenings, few interviews - the cast maintained an enigmatic silence when bombarded with questions from the mass of 200 journalists crammed onto platform 24.

In an off-the-cuff speech Howard, aka Richie Cunningham from Happy Days, said that making the film had been like re-living the 50-million selling book. He then unveiled a plaque christening the train The Da Vinci Code, whose every carriage has been adorned with an 8ft replica of the Mona Lisa.

For the famously publicity-shy Brown, it was his first appearance in London since the conclusion of a plagiarism court case which threatened to derail the release of the $125 million blockbuster.

After posing for cameras for several minutes, Sir Ian McKellen - who plays eccentric historian Leigh Teabing - doffed his trilby and the group climbed aboard a made-over Eurostar train which will sweep them into Cannes for the film's VIP screening to 2,000 invited guests.

The journey, a 833-mile haul to the Riviera resort town, will apparently break the record for the longest unbroken international train ride. The studio has less obscure box office records in its sights, with estimates for opening weekend ticket sales ranging from $70 million to more than $100 million.

Eurostar is already profiting from the Da Vinci Code effect with passenger numbers surging as fans of the novel tour the museums and churches around Paris and London. The search for clues has set cash registers ringing from the Louvre to Rosslyn Chapel, Edinburgh.

Most church figures have cheerfully dismissed the novel as "tosh" but several ministers are happily cashing in on the unprecedented interest it has spawned in their historically buildings, hosting guided tours and talks.

In Cannes, the planetary publicity blitz is in full swing. A black pyramid emblazoned with the movie’s title squats over the yachts in the harbour - the venue of an invitation-only party after tomorrow's premiere.

The book's mix of Catholic conspiracy theory, crazed monks and murder has made it a best-seller worldwide. Some Christian groups, however, have branded as blasphemous its central claim that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and fathered a secret dynasty of kings.

In Thailand, a coalition of Christian groups is mounting a campaign to have the final 15 minutes of the film chopped.

Hanks, paid $25 million for the role of Harvard professor Robert Langdon, dealt succinctly with such criticism. He said that the plot was "all sorts of hooey and fun kind of scavenger-hunt-type nonsense".

For all the attention and hype the film was generating in Cannes, it was little more than a curtain raiser for the festival to follow. It is not among the the 20 movies competing for the Palme d’Or prize, to be awarded May 28.

Among the entries is Volver, the latest work by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, Southland Tales, a science-fiction satire of the United States, The Cayman by previous Cannes winner Nanni Moretti and Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola.

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