Ian McKellen: "Tolkien Runs Rings Around Da Vinci Code"  5/5/06

Sir Ian McKellen insists JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings still leaves The Da Vinci Code in the shade - despite the furor over Dan Brown's bestseller.

McKellen stars in the movie adaptations of both books, as wizard Gandalf in the Tolkien saga and Sir Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code.

And he admits audiences simply cared more about how the screen version of The Lord Of The Rings would turn out - as the book is so close to people's hearts.

He says, "There's not the same sort of interest as you got with Tolkien - which was almost like filming The Bible for some people.

"It wasn't just an exciting read. It was a book they had to read 20 times in some cases.

"They were very, very interested in the movie and very disturbed about whether it was going to be the movie of their book or (director) Peter Jackson's book.

"I think that with The Da Vinci Code, I doubt if people have read it more than once. It's not that sort of book."