Hanks Keeping "Code" Name?

Sony Pictures wasted no time in developing the sequel Angels & Demons after The Da Vinci Code opened to blockbuster business last summer. The studio paid Da Vinci screenwriter Akiva Goldsman a big sum of money to complete scripting duties on Angels, which, like Da Vinci, is based on a novel by Dan Brown.

Although the rumor mill has been working overdrive about who might direct the follow-up (with Da Vinci director Ron Howard appearing to be the likeliest candidate), another major question hanging over the project has been whether Tom Hanks would return in his role as symbologist Robert Langdon (pictured).



CinemaBlend.com is reporting that Hanks "has been officially locked up" for Angels & Demons. The site's "exclusive" scooper claims that Angels will mean Hanks is being offered the "biggest salary ever paid to an actor in the history of Hollywood."

They also report that filming is gearing up for a July start and that the beautiful and very fetching supermodel Gisele Bundchen is being considered for the role of "an Italian woman named Vittoria."

The plot of Angels & Demons finds Langdon out to halt a plot by the secretive Illuminati to destroy the Vatican during a papal conclave.

Truth be told...I have yet to read A&D and have only read a portion of TDC...That said, a few months ago, I rented TDC on DVD and thought it was, at best, an OK film. After hearing so much on the film version--I think I was preconditioned to be underwelmed.

As for Hanks and his purported BIG salary...Par for the course for tinstletown--Throw money at something and the issue has a better chance of getting resolved...The possible casting of Bundchen is a good move to entice the male demo to buy a ticket. Whoo-Hoo!