Apparently two critically panned but wildly commercially successful swings at Dan Brown adaptations featuring Tom Hanks as intrepid symbologist Robert Langdon aren’t enough for the aforementioned Hanks, director Ron Howard, and Columbia Pictures. Inferno, the fourth Dan Brown novel featuring the Langdon character, has been set for a December 18, 2015 release. The Hollywood Reporter, however, is reporting that Inferno will be the third Langdon movie to hit screens, following The DaVinci Code in 2006 and Angels & Demons in 2009. That would skip The Lost Symbol, the third book, although a Ron Howard-less adaptation is being developed by writer/actor Danny Strong (The Butler, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay) and director Mark Romanek (Never Let Me Go). Tom Hanks is attached to both projects.

One wonders if the series really can go strong through four films. Although Angels & Demons was still a success to the tune of $486 million in the worldwide box office, it pales to the $758 million of The DaVinci Code. Some of that can be accounted for name recognition, though this too would suggest that unless the quality of the movies jumps drastically audiences might not turn out for mroe of Langdon. Neither The DaVinci Code nor Angels & Demons holds a Metacritic score above 48.

No further cast has been announced for either film. We’ll keep you updated as we approach the release date for Inferno. Less than two and a half years away now, let the countdown begin…