Tradecraft: Robert Langdon Vs. Spies

Variety reports that Dan Brown's latest Robert Langdon thriller, The Lost Symbol (sequel to Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code) is, unsurprisingly, moving forward as a movie at Columbia.  "But wait," you're no doubt thinking, "isn't Robert Langdon a symbologist, not a spy?"  Yes indeed, Robert Langdon is a "symbologist."  (A profession I'm pretty sure Brown made up.)  But in his latest adventure, he tangles with spies as the CIA deploys a black ops team to follow Langdon all around Washington D.C. shooting up the place in their search for a legendary Freemason treasure.  To somewhat (but not really) justify the presence of active CIA field agents on American soil, they are under the command of the Director of the Agency's Office of Security.  Yes, the book is a spy novel, and presumably the movie will follow suit.  British screenwriter Steven Knight is the man tasked with adapting the story.  According to the trade, "Tom Hanks, who played Langdon in The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, has not yet committed to reprise the role, though he is expected to."  Once again, Brian Grazer will produce, though there is no mention yet of director Ron Howard's involvement.  As reported last July, Howard has attached himself to direct another bestselling page-turner when he takes on Robert Ludlum's The Parsifal Mosaic for Universal.  Even though it's easily the weakest of the three Langdon books, Variety reports that The Lost Symbol has sold more than 1 million copies its publication last September.