FIRST LOOK

First Look: Four Official Photos from Angels and Demons

by Alex Billington
October 28, 2008
Source: USA Today

The first batch of official photos from Ron Howard's upcoming Angels and Demons have been unveiled over at USA Today. We've got out first look at Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, Ayelet Zurer as Vittoria Vetra, and Ewan McGregor as Carlo Ventresca. This isn't officially due out in theaters until next summer, but it's wise of Sony to start promoting it this early. In addition to the photos, producer Brian Grazer provides some commentary on the production, primarily focusing on the biggest sales tactic for this one - how it's not going to be as boring as The Da Vinci Code. He explains that that was "a puzzle movie. It wasn't a contemporary movie. It was a little static. This one is more dynamic. It's an action movie."

Angels and Demons, which is yet again directed by Ron Howard and adapted by screenwriter Akiva Goldsman from Dan Brown's popular novel, is a prequel to The Da Vinci Code. Grazer finally admits some of the mistakes they made on Da Vinci Code, which did well at the box office, but was highly disliked by moviegoers. "I think we may have been too reverential toward it. We got all the facts of the book right, but the movie was a little long and stagey." So how will they prevent that same thing from happening this time around? "Langdon doesn't stop and give a speech," Grazer says. "When he speaks, he's in motion." Anyone who has read the book knows that it progresses at a much different pace than Da Vinci Code.

Below you'll see the first four official photos from the film. The first shows Langdon and Vetra in what looks like one of the final scenes outside of the Vatican; the second shows an interior shot of the Vatican that was replicated in Los Angeles because they weren't allowed to actually shoot inside the real Vatican; the third shows Ewan McGregor as Carlo Ventresca; and the fourth shows Langdon, Vetra, Ventresca, and Lieutenant Chartrand (played by Danish actor Thure Lindhardt) investigating clues underground.

An ancient secret brotherhood. A devastating new weapon of destruction. An unthinkable target. When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to his first assignment to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati -- the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church.

Angels & Demons is directed by prolific filmmaker Ron Howard, of everything from Willow to Backdraft to Apollo 13 to A Beautiful Mind to the previous The Da Vinci Code. The script was written by veteran screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, of Lost in Space, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code, and I Am Legend previously. This is based on Dan Brown's bestselling novel of the same name. Sony will be debuting Angels & Demons in theaters on May 15th, 2009 next summer.

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