Hanks and Howard to reunite for 'Inferno' film

Tom Hanks and Ron Howard are set to reunite to produce a film based on Dan Brown's Inferno.

Deadline reports that Hanks, who played lead character Robert Langdon in adaptations of The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, will return to play the symboligist in "Inferno", while Howard, who directed the first two installments, will sit in the director's chair.

The news means that plans to produce an adaptation of Brown's novel The Lost Symbol, which also featured Robert Langdon, will be put on hold indefinitely. It had been reported that Howard had not wanted to direct a film of "The Lost Symbol".

Inferno is set in Europe, centring around Florence and the poet Dante. It was published by Bantam Press on 14th May 2013, with the Corgi paperback becoming the fastest selling fiction paperback of 2014.

Sony, which has film rights to Brown's novels, released "The Da Vinci Code" in 2006. It grossed $758m worldwide, while 2009's "Angels and Demons" made $486m.