The duo behind 'A Beautiful Mind' have picked a star for their 'Da Vinci' adaptation. A NEWSWEEK exclusive
By Devin Gordon
Newsweek
Nov. 22 issue - One of the virtues of "The Da Vinci Code," author Dan Brown's gajillion-selling thriller about a Harvard symbologist in hot pursuit of the Holy Grail, is its breathlessness. The novel unfolds over the course of 12 hours, and that's about how long it takes to read. It's fitting, then, that the man spearheading the movie version, producer Brian Grazer, first got wind of the book from the creator of his company's acclaimed TV series "24"—itself an adrenaline rush of real-time pulp fiction. Early in 2003, Joel Surnow read the book, which was popular but not yet a worldwide phenomenon, and thought it would make a terrific story line for "24's" third season. So he asked his boss to look into acquiring the rights. "It quickly became clear that we had no chance," Grazer says. Brown had no intention of handing over his book to a mere TV show. Wise move. A few months later Sony paid $6 million for the movie rights—and hired Grazer to produce it. One of Hollywood's shrewdest operators, Grazer, 53, had started out trolling for TV material and ended up piloting the biggest film adaptation since "Harry Potter."
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Now, NEWSWEEK has learned, Grazer and director Ron Howard, the Oscar-winning duo behind "A Beautiful Mind," have settled on an actor to play "The Da Vinci Code's" lead role of globe-trotting scholar Robert Langdon. Perhaps you've heard of him: Tom Hanks. Grazer and Howard helped make Hanks a star with their 1984 comedy "Splash"; they rehired him 11 years later for "Apollo 13," which earned the filmmakers their first best-picture nomination. But Howard insists that friendship alone doesn't explain Hanks's casting. Much of the action in "The Da Vinci Code" is cerebral—solving riddles, cracking codes. At one point, there's even a heart-stopping Boolean keyword search at a London library. "Tom is an exciting actor to watch thinking," Howard says. "We probably don't need his status from a box-office standpoint"—by now, "The Da Vinci Code" sells itself—"but he gives Langdon instant legitimacy."
Tom Hanks doesn't exactly fit to the picture of Langdon in my mind either, but he's such a great actor I'm sure he'll pull it off 
I love your comments Prince 
Why, you may ask. This is because you have a director like Ron Howard. I also don't really like movies based on books, however there are exceptions like The Godfather and Jaws.
