The Louvre is allowing Ron Howard to shoot some scenes on location for his adaptation of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

A Louvre representative told French newspaper Le Parisien: "The production team has been here to choose settings in the Grand Gallery, but also in the Mona Lisa room which will open after restoration on April 6."

The appearance of Brown's book and anticipation of the movie has sparked an interest in Da Vinci's work, such his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, which hangs in the Louvre.

The movie, which stars Tom Hanks as Professor Robert Langdon, will begin shooting this May.