‘Angels & Demons’ On Ice For Now
Posted by Michelle Graham (michelle@filmschoolrejects.com) on November 18, 2007
According to Variety, the prequel to the hugely successful and highly controversial DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons, has been put on production hold due to, you’ve guessed it, the WGA strike. While the writers were hoping to have the script done by the strike’s deadline of November 1st, there were apparently some issues which led to the script being done, but not quite as polished as the Sony execs would have liked. Add to this the fact that only one person has been cast in the blockbuster-to-be, Tom Hanks, and you have some serious issues to resolve. The studio had hoped to start shooting by February, and had a December 2008 release date planned but these seem to be the stuff of pipedreams (heck, less than a year from start to finish of production was always a pipedream in my opinion, but what do I know about film making?).
According to Variety, a Sony spokesperson said:
At this time, there is no new start date for ‘Angels & Demons,’ but we are setting a release date of May 15, 2009, and are hopeful to deliver the movie worldwide to theaters on that date. We do not expect any other film on our 2008 slate to be affected.
If you were a real cynic, you could say that Sony was trying to paint the WGA as the villains of the piece as an excuse for not being able to have the movie ready for their original release date, but I think that’d be going too far, don’t you? Either way, this move by Sony does have one ray of sunshine attached. As Variety correctly points out, pushing the project back leaves Hanks a small window of opportunity in which to take on a new project before the Screen Actors Guild strike contract negotiations roll around. Or he could just go on holiday.
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