Eurostar Sets New Guinness World Record With Cast and Filmmakers of Columbia Pictures' The Da Vinci Code

The cast and filmmakers of Columbia Pictures' The Da Vinci Code today helped Eurostar set a Guinness World Record for the longest non-stop international train journey. The record was set as the Eurostar train arrived in Cannes, with the cast and filmmakers onboard, for the start of the Cannes Film Festival.

The Eurostar journey, which took 7 hours 25 minutes, started in London at 09.40 London time this morning, after stars Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and director Ron Howard, had named the train "The Da Vinci Code." It is the first time a Eurostar has made the journey with travellers from London to Cannes, and the longest non-stop high-speed journey in the world, with a distance of 1421km.

An official from Guinness World Records certified the record-breaking run and confirmed the record distance during a presentation on arrival at Cannes station.

Eurostar Chairman, Guillaume Pepy, commented: "This is an incredible achievement on an historic day. Eurostar has set a new world record for high-speed trains after bringing the cast and filmmakers of The Da Vinci Code in style from London to Cannes. We are confident that the team are now fully prepared for another historic event -- the film's global premiere at the Cannes Film Festival."

The Da Vinci Code will be released worldwide on May 19, 2006.

From director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, (the Oscar®-winning team of A Beautiful Mind), and producer John Calley (the Oscar®-nominated The Remains of the Day), comes the film version of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, one of the most popular and talked about novels of our time, with a cast headed by two-time Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Sir Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jurgen Prochnow, Paul Bettany and Jean Reno. Produced by Grazer and Calley, The Da Vinci Code (www.SoDarkTheConOfMan.com) involves a thrilling murder investigation that unearths the biggest cover-up in human history.

  Editor's Notes:

  1.  Eurostar is the fast train service linking London, Ashford, Paris,
      Brussels, Lille, Avignon, Calais, Disneyland Resort Paris and the
      French Alps.

  2.  Eurostar has won the title of "World's Leading Rail Service" for the
      last eight years at the World Travel Awards.

  3.  Eurostar and Eurotunnel are two entirely different companies with
      two different management teams.  Eurostar is Eurotunnel's largest
      customer.

  4.  In 2007, Eurostar will switch its UK operations to London's
      St. Pancras International.  Journey times will fall further with
      London-Paris only 2h 15m; London-Brussels 1h 51m and London-Lille
      just 1h 20m.

  5.  To book tickets for Eurostar, or to find out more information, go to
      www.eurostar.com , call 08705 186186 or contact your travel agent.

  6.  Columbia Pictures, part of the Columbia Tristar Motion Picture Group,
      is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.  Sony Pictures Entertainment
      (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a
      subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation.  SPE's global operations
      encompass motion picture production and distribution; television
      production and distribution; digital content creation and
      distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment
      acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities;
      development of new entertainment products, services and technologies;
      and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries.  Sony
      Pictures Entertainment can be found at www.sonypictures.com

  7.  Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on
      record-breaking achievement.  First published in 1955, the annual
      Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries
      and 20 languages and is one of the highest-selling books under
      copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually
      across the globe.

  For more information:

  Eurostar Press Office           Steve Elzer
  +44 (0)20 7922 4494             Senior Vice President, Media Relations
  press.office@eurostar.co.uk     Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group
                                  (310) 244-7142
                                  steve_elzer@spe.sony.com

SOURCE: Columbia Pictures

CONTACT: Eurostar Press Office, +44 (0)20 7922 4494,
press.office@eurostar.co.uk; or Steve Elzer, Senior Vice President, Media
Relations of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, +1-310-244-7142,
steve_elzer@spe.sony.com

Web site: http://www.sonypictures.com/

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http://www.eurostar.com/