Eastern Promises writer Steven Knight to adapt Dan Brown's THE LOST SYMBOL
Columbia Pictures has brought on screenwriter Steven Knight to pen the big-screen adaptation of The Lost Symbol, the third book in author Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code series.
Here's a description of the book:
The Lost Symbol is a masterstroke of storytelling--a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths... all under the watchful eye of Brown's most terrifying villain to date. Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol accelerates through a startling landscape toward an unthinkable finale.
As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object--artfully encoded with five symbols--is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation... one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.
When Langdon's beloved mentor, Peter Solomon--a prominent Mason and philanthropist--is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations--all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.
The first of the Ron Howard-directed adaptations of Brown's books, The Da Vinci Code, grossed $758 million worldwide in 2006, while Angels & Demons with it's bigger-budget fell short of that taking in only $486 million worldwide last year. Sony still has high hopes for The Lost Symbol, as the book sold more than 1 million copies its first day in print.
Though Tom Hanks is expected to reprise the lead role as Robert Langdon, he has not yet officially committed. Ron Howard isn't mentioned once in Variety's article, but I assume he'll be returning as well to direct.
Brian Grazer and John Calley will once again produce through Imagine.
Knight penned David Cronenberg's amazing crime thriller Eastern Promises, as well as Dirty Pretty Things. He also wrote drafts for Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
I've tuned out of the Da Vinci Code series a while ago, still having not seen Angels & Demons -- which people seemed pretty evenly split on whether or not it was better than the first movie. But everyone agreed it had more action.
I definitely think Knight is a great writer. Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons writer Akiva Goldsman (Hancock, Mr & Mrs. Smith) has more of an action sensibility than Knight. But both of their resumes are trumped by Angels & Demons co-writer David Koepp (Mission: Impossible, Jurassic Park, Spider-man).
Let us know what you think of Steven Knight adapting THE LOST SYMBOL in the rant back section.