3AM: CODE'S A BANK breaker; EXCLUSIVE: pounds 3.9m Vinci party is a flop.

Byline: Kiki King, Eva Simpson & Caroline Hedley

IT WAS hailed as the film of the year, but the makers of The Da Vinci Code now fear they have an expensive flop on their hands after it was roundly panned at Cannes.

People laughed out loud at "heavyweight" scenes and accompanied the end credits with a chorus of boos.

Not even a lavish pounds 700,000 (21.5million) party afterwards could win over the hostile critics, who slated the film as "lacklustre".

And even one of the film's stars noticed a blooper. Audrey Tautou revealed that her name had been misspelled "Tatou" in the credits.

Now producers fear the movie of Dan Brown's best-selling novel will bomb at the box office. If it does they will be millions of pounds out of pocket.

Not only did The Da Vinci Code cost pounds 66million (299million) to make, but the trip to Cannes alone cost a further pounds 2.6m (23.9million). "The party on Wednesday night cost at least pounds 700,000 - it was like nothing else I've ever seen in Cannes," says our mole.

"They invited 500 people to the after-party in the port where a big black pyramid, like the one in the Louvre, had been set up. It was champagne and incredible food all night. There was a spectacular light show and acrobats abseiled from the ceiling while scenes from the film played on the walls."

The hand-picked guests partied until 4am with director Ron Howard and the film's stars - Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno and Sir Ian McKellen. Accommodating such a big-name cast also proved expensive.

"The stars have taken over the best suites in the best hotels in town," adds our mole. "No other actors want to arrive until they leave because they've hogged all the best rooms. They are each in a penthouse of the Majestic at pounds 3,000 (24,400) a night. Ron is in the Imperial Suite of the Carlton Hotel for pounds 7,000 (210,500) a night, and Tom and his wife Rita are staying at the Hotel du Cap in a pounds 8,000- a-night (212,000) guesthouse."

Add to this the cost of rooms, food and drink for the hundreds of security, film staff, assistants and stylists, and the overall price zooms up by another pounds 100,000 (2145,000).

"Jean Reno's so famous he's got 18 bodyguards," adds our spy.

But the cast did enjoy one nice freebie. Squillionaire Paul Allen invited them aboard his pounds 53m yacht Tatoosh for drinks and nibbles. Luckily it was before the premiere, not afterwards...

THE BILL

PREMIERE PARTY

Huge purpose-built pyramid tent, champagne, food, staff, acrobats, dancers, DJs, lighting engineers : pounds 700,000

TRANSPORT

High-speed train for cast from London - Cannes: pounds 15,000 Chauffeur-driven limos for cast, director and producers for three days: pounds 5,000 International first-class flight from Los Angeles and London: pounds 20,000

HOTELS

For the VIPs: pounds 54,000

Assistants, security, film staff: pounds 45,000

FOOD AND DRINK

For the entire team: pounds 7,000

OTHER Staff costs: pounds 30,000

INSURANCE pounds 1million for jewellery, clothes, watches

pounds 500,000 for VIP security

pounds 250,000 for security at the party

TOTAL: pounds 2.6 million