Sony Pictures released a new trailer for Inferno, the third film adaptation from Dan Brown’s series of history based thrillers. At the very least, you probably know his most famous work, The Da Vinci Code.
I don’t mean to be rude when I phrase it those terms — Brown was, at his peak, one of the world’s most popular authors — but it’s been awhile since the Da Vinci Code was a thing. It’s been 10 years since Tom Hanks and Ron Howard made the Da Vinci Code movie, and seven years since the cinematic version of his other bestseller, Angels and Demons.
Inferno, based on Brown’s latest bestseller, the adventure-prone professor has lost his memory, but finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy involving a killer plague and Dante’s classic vision of hell. Together with Dr. Sienna Brooks (played by Felicity Jones), Langdon is hot on the trail.
Though Inferno was the best selling book of 2013, many critics hated it. And, frankly, the book did not have the cultural impact of Brown’s earlier work. In a book-to-movie pipeline dominated by teenage love triangles, a sequel coming off a seven-year hiatus starring Tom Hanks and The Divine Comedy feels like a tough sell. Even if there are casual fans who remember the names Brown and Langdon, do they still remember enough about them to get excited for their return?
Inferno hits theaters October 28.