Danny Strong is now attached to draft The Lost Symbol, Sony Pictures’ third adaptation of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon books. Deadline has the news, saying that Mark Romanek is still likely to direct the big-screen version.
Ron Howard, who directed The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, will produce with his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer.The 2009 book is officially described as follows:
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.
Strong, an actor-turned-screenwiter, takes over scripting duties from Brown himself as well as from Steven Knight. Strong’s previous writing duties included Recount and Game Change.
Though no deals are in place, Tom Hanks is expected to reprise his role as Langdon.
