Tom Hanks, Ron Howard confirmed to be returning for Dan Brown’s ‘Inferno’ adaptation

Sony enjoyed box office success with The Da Vinci Code and Angels And Demons so Sony has announced plans for its latest Dan Brown adaptation, but it’s probably not the title fans were likely expecting.

Instead of following the order published by moving on to The Lost Symbol, Deadline reports that Sony is moving forward with a movie version of Inferno, the most recent of Brown’s well-loved novels.

Tom Hanks has signed on to return as protagonist Robert Langdon, while Ron Howard will also be in the director’s chair once more.

David Koepp will be charged with adapting the script from a story in which Langdon finds himself embroiled in a plot of intrigue and mystery concerning the venerable Italian masterpiece, Dante’s Inferno.

With the novel released a matter of months ago in May, Sony is primed to capitalize on Brown’s current readers, with a release date penciled in for December 18, 2015. UPDATE: The release is now set for October 28, 2016.

From Deadline “The news means Brown’s third installment of the thriller series, The Lost Symbol, will not be the next movie for Sony. Danny Strong had been set to write that adaptation in March 2012 and the expectation was the film would be directed by Mark Romanek after Ron Howard opted out of directing as he had done on the first two pics. Not much has been heard of that project since…”