# Robert Langdon (franchise)

The Robert Langdon franchise consists of American action-adventure mystery-thriller installments, including three theatrical films directed by Ron Howard, and a television series. The films, based on the novel series written by Dan Brown, center on the fictional character of Robert Langdon. Though based on the book series, the films have a different chronological order, consisting of: The Da Vinci Code (2006), Angels & Demons (2009) and Inferno (2016), all starring Tom Hanks as Langdon, alongside different ensemble casts. Despite mixed-to-negative critical reception, the films are considered box office successes, having a combined gross total of $1.5 billion worldwide.
The television series, a contemporary-prequel titled The Lost Symbol (2021), starring Ashley Zukerman as Langdon, explores the early years of Langdon's career.

## Development

Dan Brown's novels about Professor Robert Langdon: Angels & Demons (2000), The Da Vinci Code (2003) and Inferno (2013), quickly became international bestsellers; they were soon adapted into films by Columbia Pictures with Ron Howard directing and producing.

## Films

| Film | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriter(s) | Producer(s) |
| The Da Vinci Code | May 19, 2006 (2006-05-19) | Ron Howard | Akiva Goldsman | Brian Grazer and John Calley |
| Angels & Demons | May 15, 2009 (2009-05-15) | Ron Howard | Akiva Goldsman and David Koepp | Brian Grazer, John Calley and Ron Howard |
| Inferno | October 28, 2016 (2016-10-28) | Ron Howard | David Koepp | Brian Grazer and Ron Howard |

## Television

| Series | Seasons | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released | Originally released | Showrunners |
| Series | Seasons | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released | Network | Showrunners |
| The Lost Symbol | 1 | 10 | 10 | September 16 – November 18, 2021 (2021-09-16 – 2021-11-18) | September 16 – November 18, 2021 (2021-09-16 – 2021-11-18) | Peacock | Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie |

### The Lost Symbol

Following the worldwide successes of the first two films, Columbia Pictures began development on a film adaptation of The Lost Symbol. Hanks and Howard were scheduled to return as star and director, with Brian Grazer and John Calley as producers, while a script was collectively co-written by Steven Knight, original author Dan Brown, and Danny Strong. By January 2013, the final draft of the script was near completion, with pre-production expected to start later that year. In July 2013, Sony Pictures announced they would adapt Inferno as the next film instead.
In June 2019, the project was announced to be re-conceived as a television series tentatively titled Langdon. The series serves as a prequel to the film series, with Daniel Cerone serving as creator, showrunner, chief executive producer, and screenwriter. Dan Brown, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, Samie Falvey and Anna Culp will act as additional executive producers. The show was a co-production between Imagine Television Studios, CBS Television Studios, and Universal Television Studios and was ordered to series on NBC.
The plot revolves around a young Robert Langdon, who is hired by the CIA to solve a number of deadly puzzles when his mentor goes missing. By March 2020, Ashley Zukerman had been cast in the lead role. Later that month it was announced that the production had been given a series order and would be moving to Peacock. The show premiered on September 16, 2021, concluded on November 18, 2021, and was officially canceled after one season on January 24, 2022.

## Cast and characters

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in the series.
* An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
* $^Y$ indicates a younger version of the character.
| Character | Film | Film | Film | Television |
| Character | The Da Vinci Code | Angels & Demons | Inferno | Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol |
| Prof. Robert Langdon | Tom Hanks Uncredited actor | Tom Hanks | Tom Hanks | Ashley Zukerman |
| Sophie Neveu | Audrey Tautou Garance Mazureck, Daisy Doidge-Hill, Lilli Ella Kelleher | | | |
| Sir Leigh Teabing The Teacher | Ian McKellen | | | |
| Bishop Manuel Aringarosa | Alfred Molina | | | |
| Capt. Bezu Fache | Jean Reno | | | |
| André Vernet | Jürgen Prochnow | | | |
| Silas | Paul Bettany Hugh Mitchell | | | |
| Jacques Saunière | Jean-Pierre Marielle | | | |
| Remy Jean | Jean-Yves Berteloot | | | |
| Father Patrick McKenna | | Ewan McGregor | | |
| Dr. Vittoria Vetra | | Ayelet Zurer | | |
| Cdr. Maximilian Richter | | Stellan Skarsgård | | |
| Cardinal Strauss | | Armin Mueller-Stahl | | |
| Lt. Chartrand | | Thure Lindhardt | | |
| Dr. Sienna Brooks | | | Felicity Jones | |
| Christoph Bouchard | | | Omar Sy | |
| Bertrand Zobrist | | | Ben Foster | |
| Elizabeth Sinskey | | | Sidse Babett Knudsen | |
| Harry Sims The Provost | | | Irrfan Khan | |
| Peter Solomon | | | | Eddie Izzard |
| Isabel Solomon | | | | Laura De Carteret |
| Katherine Solomon | | | | Valorie Curry |
| Zachary Solomon | | | | Keenan Jolliff |
| Mal'akh | | | | Beau Knapp |
| Ofc. Alfonso Nuñez | | | | Rick Gonzalez |
| DoS/CIA Inoue Sato | | | | Sumalee Montano |

## Additional crew and production details

| Film | Composer | Cinematographer | Editors | Production companies | Distributing companies | Running time |
| The Da Vinci Code | Hans Zimmer | Salvatore Totino | Dan Hanley & Mike Hill | Columbia Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Skylark Productions, Government of Malta | Sony Pictures Releasing | 2hr 28min |
| Angels & Demons | Hans Zimmer | Salvatore Totino | Dan Hanley & Mike Hill | Columbia Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Skylark Productions, Panorama Film Studios | Sony Pictures Releasing | 2hr 18min |
| Inferno | Hans Zimmer | Salvatore Totino | Dan Hanley & Tom Elkins | Columbia Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, LSG Productions, LS Capital Film Corporation, Mid Atlantic Films | Sony Pictures Releasing | 2hr 1min |
| The Lost Symbol | Will Bates | Gyula Pados, Fraser Brown, Boris Mojsovski, and David Greene | David Trachtenberg, Greg Sirota, Mark J. Goldman, Alexander Aquino-Kaljakin, and Juan Carlos Garza | Universal Television, Imagine Television Studios, Peacock Original Series, CBS Studios, Dworkin/Beattie Productions | Peacock | 5hr 30min (approx. 40 min per episode) |

## Reception
### Box office performance

| Film | Box office gross | Box office gross | Box office gross | Box office gross | Box office ranking | Box office ranking | Budget | Ref(s) |
| Film | Opening weekend (North America) | North America | Other territories | Worldwide | All time North America | All time worldwide | Budget | Ref(s) |
| The Da Vinci Code | $77,073,388 | $217,536,138 | $540,703,713 | $758,239,851 | #146 | #71 | $125 million | |
| Angels & Demons | $46,204,168 | $133,375,846 | $352,554,970 | $485,930,816 | #390 | #170 | $150 million | |
| Inferno | $14,860,425 | $34,343,574 | $185,677,685 | $220,021,259 | #2,244 | #586 | $75 million | |
| | Total | $385,255,558 | $1,078,936,368 | $1,464,191,926 | | | $350 million | |

### Critical and public response

| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore |
| The Da Vinci Code | 25% (231 reviews) | 46 (40 reviews) | B+ |
| Angels & Demons | 36% (258 reviews) | 48 (36 reviews) | B+ |
| Inferno | 23% (254 reviews) | 42 (47 reviews) | B+ |
| The Lost Symbol | 55% (11 reviews) | 57 (6 reviews) | — |