Robert Langdon (film series)

Updated on Sep 23, 2024

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Directed by Ron Howard Based on Novels by Dan Brown		Story by Dan Brown Starring Tom Hanks (See below)

Produced by Brian Grazer Ron Howard John Calley (1-2) Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman (1-2) David Koepp (2-3)

The Robert Langdon film series is a series of American mystery thriller films directed by Ron Howard. The films focus on the eponymous professor, a fictional character appearing in a series of novels by author Dan Brown. The first film in the series was The Da Vinci Code (2006), followed by Angels & Demons (2009) and Inferno (2016). The series has grossed almost $1.5 billion worldwide.

Background

Dan Brown novels about Robert Langdon series: Angels & Demons (2000), The Da Vinci Code (2003), and Inferno (2013), were successful around the world and became bestsellers, and soon adapted into films in with Ron Howard directing and producing, with Tom Hanks portrayed Professor Robert Langdon, which was released by Columbia Pictures.

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

A murder inside the Louvre and clues in Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years, which could shake the foundations of Christianity.

Angels & Demons (2009)

Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon continues to work to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican.

Inferno (2016)

When Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks, and together they must race across Europe against the clock to foil a deadly global plot.

The Lost Symbol

Following the worldwide successes of The Da Vinci Code in 2006 and Angels & Demons in 2009, which were both based on Brown's novels, starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon and produced and directed by Ron Howard, Columbia Pictures began production on a film adaptation of The Lost Symbol. Hanks and Howard were expected to return for the film adaptation of The Lost Symbol, along with the franchise's producers Brian Grazer and John Calley. Sony Pictures eventually hired three screenwriters for the project, beginning with Steven Knight and then hiring Brown himself. In March 2012, Danny Strong was also hired to collaborate on the adaptation.

According to a January 2013 article in Los Angeles Times, the final draft of the screenplay was due sometime in February, with pre-production expected to start in the mid-2013. In July 2013, Sony Pictures announced they would instead adapt Inferno for an October 14, 2016 release date with Howard as director, David Koepp adapting the screenplay and Hanks reprising his role as Robert Langdon.

Angels & Demons

There are many differences between the novel and the film.

In the novel, the papal conclave attracts relatively little public attention. In the wake of the huge international interest in the 2005 election of Pope Benedict XVI, this was judged to be out of date.

The character of CERN Director Maximillian Kohler does not appear in the film.

The Italian Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca is changed to the Irish Patrick McKenna, portrayed by Ewan McGregor.

The Boeing X-33 that takes Langdon from the United States to Geneva and then to Rome is absent in the film.

In the novel, Commander Olivetti is the commander of Swiss Guard, and his second in command is Captain Rocher, whereas in the film, Richter is the head of the Swiss Guard.

In the novel, the Assassin contacts members of the BBC in order to influence how they present the story of his activities, but this does not happen in the film.

The character Leonardo Vetra is named Silvano Bentivoglio in the film, is not related to Vittoria and his death scene is changed.

Vittoria is a love interest for Langdon in the novel while there is no attraction present in the film.

In the novel Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca is revealed to be the late pope's biological son, in the film he is his adoptive son.

In the book, the assassin has Middle Eastern looks whereas in the movie he is portrayed by a Danish actor. In the film, he is killed by a car bomb, whereas in the book he falls from a balcony at the top of the Castel Sant Angelo and breaks his back on a pile of marble cannonballs which eventually kills him.

In the novel, Vittoria is kidnapped, whereas in the film, she follows Langdon almost everywhere. In the book, all four preferiti are killed by the assassin and eventually the high elector, Cardinal Saverio Mortati, is elected as the new pope whereas in the film, the fourth preferito, Cardinal Baggia, is saved by Langdon and is elected the new pope. The high elector, renamed Cardinal Strauss, becomes the Camerlengo to the new pope.

In the end, the new Camerlengo hands over Galileo's book to Langdon instead of a Swiss guard handing the 5th brand, the Illuminati diamond (which is also different in the movie and looks like two crossed keys). In the movie before the explosion Langdon doesn't get on the helicopter unlike in the book where he does and right before the explosion jumps out, barely surviving.

Inferno

In the novel, the Inferno Virus causes sterility in one third of the human population. At the end of the novel it is revealed that the virus was released before the events of the book and that the search for its whereabouts was futile.

In the novel, Dr. Sienna Brooks intends to prevent the virus from being released and to destroy it as she believes Governments and other organisations will use it as a weapon and at the end of the novel she is offered a position in the WHO in order to address the crisis.

Dr. Elizabeth Sinskey is not a former romantic interest of Robert Langdon in the novel.

References

Robert Langdon (film series) Wikipedia

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