The Da Vinci Code sequel The Lost Symbol won’t be directed by Ron Howard?

Looks like director Ron Howard will be stepping away from the most lucrative films he’s made since 2000’s HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS. Deadline is reporting that Howard is supposedly stepping back from THE LOST SYMBOL, the direct sequel to THE DA VINCI CODE.

Sony is obviously interested in milking this franchise for all it’s worth, so they are apparently on the hunt for a new director now while Howard will simply produce the project. An insider tells Deadline, “Ron told Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton that he was not going to be directing Dan Brown’s novels anymore. He just didn’t want to do that thing over and over, the same character and the same stories.” Truth be told, while Howard had always been expected to take the reins of the film, he was never actually attached. But if it’s true that the filmmaker feels this way about the series, then kudos to Opie.

While on the subject of non-attachments, Tom Hanks and his dubious haircut aren’t committed to the project either. If he doesn’t end up doing it, who then could possibly solve the puzzling Dan Brown Freemason mystery?