“The Lost Symbol” has the best chance of being a great movie out of its already-adapted group of novels for several reasons. The most obvious is that it’s got far more action than Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code combined. The result of that action is a drastic reduction in exposition – the second most obvious positive trait the book has going for it. Now, Sony wants the author himself to play script doctor for The Lost Symbol film. It’s not a bad idea, but it’s a wild card. Brown is a great writer in the way that Louis L’Amour is a great writer. He’ll never go down in history as being deeper than a casket full of water, but he entertains far better than most. Whether his florid writing can translate to the tight-as-a-drum medium of screenplays is anybody’s guess, but his inclusion in the script process means the film either just lost or intensified its potential to be a threequel that far outshines its two predecessors. [THR]

The actress has just signed on for the third installment of the Meet the Parents franchise, and she’ll have a few things to teach her co-stars.

Oh, Bill. When I think I can’t love you any more, you go and say exactly what most of us have been thinking. People can crank up the hype machine, but without a script, there ain’t no movie yet. And there ain’t no Bill Murray. Yet.

There’s more to explore in the world of love-sick Bridget Jones according to the studio. The question is whether or not audiences will care about another diary entry seven years after the last.

Dr. Cole Abaius does an in-depth study of some of the worst threequels in order to divine some fantastic filmmaking lessons. What elements of filmmaking should be avoided at all cost and which are only mildly toxic? Find out inside. But bring a barf bag.