|TOP|Tom Hanks has hit out at calls from church groups and religious leaders to boycott ‘The Da Vinci’ Code film just one week before it is due for worldwide release.

The Hollywood actor, who plays the leading character Robert Langdon in the film version of Dan Brown’s controversial bestseller, has criticised the churches and religious leaders for taking the content too seriously.

"We always knew there would be a segment of society that would not want this movie to be shown," the star told London's Evening Standard newspaper ahead of the movie's release later this month.

"But the story we tell is loaded with all sorts of hooey and fun kind of scavenger-hunt-type nonsense."

|AD|He added that movie-goers would be making a “very big mistake” to take the film at face value.

"It's a damn good story and a lot of fun ... all it is is dialogue. That never hurts,” he said.

The Da Vinci Code has caused uproar throughout large sections of the global Christian community, with many regarding the claims of the novel – including the allegation that Jesus Christ had children with Mary Magdalene – as blasphemous.

The Catholic organisation Opus Dei is holding seminars up and down the UK on The Da Vinci Code to coincide with the release of the film in an attempt to shake off the film’s portrayal of the group as a dark and scary sect that would murder to keep the ‘truth’ from coming out.

Speaking to Christian Today, Catholic film critic, Fr Peter Malone defended Opus Dei, saying that it was a “challenge for Opus Dei which they have met”.

He warned that The Da Vinci Code is a “phenomenon that must be addressed,” adding that it was “something that will last”.

The film will hold its world premiere next week at the Cannes Film Festival in France.