Screenwriter’s fired up for Dan Brown

AT the risk of speaking too soon, all the signs are pointing to Robert Langdon’s latest cinematic outing being a surefire success.

The unwitting hero of Dan Brown’s hugely popular and successful novels returns to our screens this week in Inferno, the sequel to Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code.

But while Brown is the genius behind the books, film fans will barely be able to contain themselves over the prospect of three of the most talented individuals in three different disciplines working together on the film.

First there’s the leading man. Tom Hanks once again returns as the Harvard professor known for his brilliant problem-solving mind who finds himself dragged into a world of mystery and conspiracy.

Then there’s the director, with Ron Howard in the hot seat for the third time in the series.



Having successfully helmed the first two films in the series, the Oscar-winner is more than up to the job. But the ace in the hole may be screenwriter David Koepp, whose credits include Jurassic Park, Carlito’s Way, Mission: Impossible, Panic Room and Spider Man, to name just a few.

Here is a man with a real talent for adapting work for the big screen — and never has this been more important when using a hugely popular novel as the basis for a film.

Inferno finds the famous symbologist this time on the trail of clues tied to the great Dante himself.

When Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), a doctor he hopes will help him recover his memories. Together, they race across Europe and against the clock to foil a deadly global plot that would wipe out half of the world’s population.

Like last week’s film, The Girl on the Train, Inferno will stand or fall on the trio’s ability to interpret Brown’s work, and how willing audiences are to part with a few pounds for a story many will already know well.

Hopefully, the creativity of Hanks, Howard and Koepp will be enough to woo the crowds, and fans of the first two films, desperate to see Langdon’s pursuit of the truth across Italy.

Inferno is showing at Henley’s Regal Picturehouse from today (Friday).

Review: David White