In theaters: May 15
Studio: Sony
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Ayelet Zurer

This sequel to 2006’s massive worldwide hit The Da Vinci Code reunites director Howard and star Hanks for their fourth collaboration, their second based on a Dan Brown bestseller. Angels follows symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) as he investigates the death of a world-renowned physicist found mutilated and with the symbol of the mystical secret society the Illuminati branded on his chest. Vittoria (Zurer), the physicist’s daughter and research partner, enlists Langdon’s help in recovering her research on antimatter.  “When we started shooting, I realized everyone else knew each other from four or five movies,” says Zurer (Munich). “Tom and Ron have their own language, so I was chasing my tail a little.”

McGregor and Skarsgard play Vatican City officials, and the liberties Brown’s story takes with Catholic theology, ritual, and history again caused controversy with the Vatican. Notes Zurer, “There were changes in locations because of the relationship the movie had with approvals and churches in Rome” — something that also happened during production on Da Vinci. “The movie has revelations about the Illuminati and how they existed in the Middle Ages, and the correlation between science and religion.” The controversy over Da Vinci sure didn’t hurt that movie’s box office returns ($757 million worldwide).