Angels & Demons starts

Believe it or not, THE DA VINCI CODE sequel is finally official. ANGELS & DEMONS didn’t do so great when it was a thing you could hold in your hands, with paper that you needed to flip through and words that you needed to read on said paper. But after THE DA VINCI CODE grossed $758 million worldwide, Columbia Pictures would have to be delusional not to make a second film.

Variety is reporting that a February start date has been set for the sequel, set to star Tom Hanks once again in the role of Robert Langdon, directed by CODE helmer Ron Howard. Here’s the thing: Akiva Goldsman adapted CODE from the novel, and has once again been commissioned to deal with this film. But, in print ANGELS & DEMONS is a prequel, but for film, Goldsman is getting paid obscene amounts of dollars to transform it into a sequel. Good luck with all that, friend.

I know as well as all of you that a sequel to THE DA VINCI CODE is completely unnecessary, but then again I’m not the head of a studio, standing to make f*ckloads of money on this project. The “sequel” is set to follow Langdon as he investigates a secret society that leads to the Catholic church. Sound familiar? It should. Either way, production starts in about two months, with no other cast members being announced. Howard will begin production on this while he supervises editing on his recently-wrapped Frost/Nixon.