Ewan McGregor will play Vatican insider in Angels & Demons

After becoming immersed in an adventure that pitted him against the Catholic Church and 2000 years of history in The Da Vinci Code, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is back in Angels & Demons, the highly anticipated film adaptation of the bestselling novel by Dan Brown. This time, Langdon finds himself in the heart of the Vatican, attempting to save the Church from one of its oldest enemies: the Illuminati.

Directed by Ron Howard and written by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman, Angels & Demons stars Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgård and Armin Mueller-Stahl.

"Langdon enters into Angels & Demons with an icy relationship vis-à-vis the Vatican because of the events of The Da Vinci Code," says Hanks, who reprises his role as the formidable Professor Langdon. "He has a great knowledge, obviously, of the organization of the church and its rituals and history but he is not necessarily a welcome person. Essentially, there is a grab for power at the Vatican in the guise of the hijacking of the papal election and, in spite of his history with the church, the right man gets the job to prevent that."

In the film, Langdon attempts to thwart the Illuminati—a 400-year-old underground organization—and its plans to wreak havoc on the Vatican. For Ron Howard, that idea made for a perfect villain and a worthy antagonist for Robert Langdon. "There are those who believe that the Illuminati have survived as an organization and are with us in secret today, influencing our everyday lives, government policy decisions, and corporate strategies."

"In our story, the Illuminati return for an act of revenge reaching back four hundred years," says producer Brian Grazer. "The Illuminati have kidnapped four Cardinals—the favorites to become the new pope—and threaten to destroy the Vatican. They call upon Robert Langdon—an old foe, in their minds—to help them in this moment of crisis. Only Langdon can decipher the mysterious Illuminati codes, tied to the ancient symbols of earth, air, fire, and water."

"What's so great about a Robert Langdon adventure is that it stimulates so much curiosity and research," Howard continues. "You read the book or see the movie, then you go to the library or on the Internet—you want to understand Bernini, Galileo, their relationships with the Vatican, with the art world, with science, and the mystery of the Illuminati. Whether you believe it or not, it's fascinating stuff, and in Dan Brown's fertile imagination, it leads to a spellbinding set of clues and a great mystery."

Producer John Calley concludes, "I was fortunate to have discovered Dan Brown's books just before the rest of the world got their hands on The Da Vinci Code and it became a phenomenon. I think what he's created in The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons is a franchise for our times. Both books are fast-paced thrillers with a dynamic, ingenious hero at the center. It's no wonder that Dan has achieved such astounding success."

Opening soon across the Philippines, Angels & Demons is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.