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THE DA VINCI CODE writer DAN BROWN has honoured two authors who inspired him to write his bestseller - by recruiting them as extras on the movie version of his book.
Brown claims his "big idea" was sparked by LYNN PICKNETT and CLIVE PRINCE's 1997 book THE TEMPLAR REVELATION.
And although he is currently in the middle of a copyright wrangle with writers RICHARD LEIGH and MICHAEL BAIGENT after allegedly plagiarising elements from their 1982 book THE HOLY BLOOD AND THE HOLY GRAIL, Picknett and Prince were far easier to placate.
Picknett says, "Dan admitted in court he got his 'big idea' after reading our book.
"It wasn't until the trial that we realised quite how much he'd used our work.
"He sorted it for us to be in the film, which was an honour. We sat behind TOM (HANKS) on a London bus." (ZJS/WNSMI/ES)
(c) 2004 World Entertainment News Network
