Columbia Pictures is moving forward with an adaptation of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, a third theatrical installment of the Robert Langdon character after The Da Vinci Code and last year's Angels & Demons. While the trade says that leading star Tom Hanks isn't attached as of yet, director Ron Howard mentioned last year that they were planning on adapting the 2009 novel next so both the actor and director are likely ready to return. Steven Knight has been tasked to adapt the book into screenplay while Imagine's Brian Grazer and John Calley have signed on to produce the latest installment.
Plot Concept: The third book is described 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 Da Vinci Code, released in 2006, wound up grossing $758.2 million worldwide while its 2009 sequel Angels & Demons took in a global tally of $458.9 million.
I was expecting a much bigger reveal at the end of the book, but it was more of a "Really? That's it?" thing. The pacing was exciting leading up to it though, should make for a decent thriller (I haven't seen Angels and Demons, so what do I know? It could suck).
The Lost Symbol is easily one of the worst novels I've read in the last three years. Any kind of movie seriously has to change the story to try and make it better...and usually I'm against Hollywood changing the book as that's usually what makes it suck but in this case I think it might actually help.
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Wait, let me.....no, not there.....hmm...
Nope, I seem to be totally lacking in surprise on this. After a better than 6-to-1 return on investment on the first film, and nearly a 3.5-to-1 return for what was considered a lacking sequel, is it any wonder they'd be doing this movie?