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Ron Howard's Angels and Demons Delayed Due to Writers Strike!

by Alex Billington
November 16, 2007
Source: Deadline Hollywood

If the Writers Guild strike isn't annoying you enough by killing off all your late night TV shows and ending your favorite regular TV series earlier then expected, just wait until it starts hitting hard on movies. The first big movie to be heavily affected by the writers strike is Ron Howard's adaptation of Dan Brown's novel Angels & Demons. The film was set by Sony to hit theaters on December 19th late next year, but has been moved to May 15th, 2009. Apparently the script, although "very strong," still needs revisions to become the "fully-realized production draft" that they want. Instead of just producing what they've got, Sony felt it was better to wait until the writers are back so that they can revise it. Smart move, Sony!

Here's the official statement Sony released to Nikkie Finke at Deadline Hollywood:

"With the strike nearing its third week, Columbia Pictures has postponed production of Angels & Demons. While the filmmakers and the studio feel the screenplay is very strong, we do not believe it is the fully-realized production draft required of this ambitious project. At this time, there is no new start date for Angels & Demons, but we are setting a release date of May 15, 2009 and are hopeful to deliver the movie worldwide to theaters on that date. We do not expect any other film on our 2008 slate to be affected."

Details on the film came out in October, which you can read over at SlashFilm, including that the film was slated to go into production in February of 2008. The film was going to shoot primarily on location in Rome, which if you've read the book makes sense. The screenwriter on the project is Akiva Goldsman, who also wrote A Beautiful Mind, I, Robot, Cinderella Man, and the adaptation of Robert Langdon's other adventure, The Da Vinci Code. It's likely that Goldsman will be returning once the strike is over to finish revising the script.

Based on Dan Brown's novel "Angels and Demons", the movie follows world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), who is summoned to a Swiss research facility (CERN) to analyze a mysterious symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. He discovers evidence of the unimaginable, the rebirth of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati, the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth.

This has got to be one of the smartest things any studio has done in light of the writer's strike. If it were Fox, they'd probably be putting the crappy script into production. Thank goodness Sony actually wants Angels & Demons to be very good. Maybe they're trying to recover from the rather poor reviews of The Da Vinci Code, which should have been a bigger hit, and wait for a better script. I'll definitely say that I'm quite pleased to hear Sony do this.

Filed under Movie News

From around the web:

Davor

what hell is there to write the book has been already written just follow it
avoidz

At least the delay will give Hanks's stylists more time to create better hair for him in the sequel Go the writers!
r. o. schrader

Dear Mr. Billington: Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Richard and I am interested in seeking your assistance. I would like determine who the direct contact person is at Sony Pictures that reviews screenplays. I have read and re-read Angels & Demons several times and am in the process of completing my own screenplay version just for the pleasure of it. I likely know the details of this book, and The Da Vinci Code, better than just About everyone I suspect. One could say, to quote the 60's Yardbirds, I know it over, under, upside-down, backwards, forwards, square and round. Based on the fact a number of people in Hollywood apparently have extra time on their hands at the moment, I felt it might provide mutual and multiple benefits to have my play reviewed...one never knows. Although I realize Akiva Goldsman has been writing Angels & Demons, the finished product of the Da Vinci cod movie presentation was sub-par at best. If we can expect the same with A&D then it needs to be improved upon. (all due respect to Goldsman's previous fine writings). Unlike the book it severly lacked continuity and was relatively flat throughout. Brown's writing was far more intriguing and thought provoking to the last page...something the movie simply failed to provide (confirmed by nearly all I talked to). Anyway, I appreciate your taking the time to read this (assuming you do), and I wish you and your family a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. PS...I always like to know where someone is emailing me from as it tends to add a dimension of fun to the entire process...my base of "operations" is somewhere in Massachusetts. To possibiliites, Richard O.
Moise

When can i see the first traillers?