Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans no doubt remember who Jonathan Levinson was, right? The oft-ignored, bullied kid who was constantly being saved by Buffy to the ruination of his self-esteem, ultimately turning him into a villain? Y'know....Jonathan. Maybe only Buffy dorks like me remember him, but the guy who played him, Danny Strong, has gone on to be one heck of a writer, especially in the field of politics. He wrote HBO's hilarious(and infuriating) 2008 film, Recount, about when the Supreme Court illegally handed over the Presidency to George Bush in 2000. He followed that up with Game Change, based on the book covering the 2008 election between John McCain and Barack Obama. That film will premier on HBO next weekend, and looks fantastic.
One thing he hasn't done is step up into the world of theatrical films, but he's about to do so in the biggest way possible, with Deadline reporting Strong will take on the script for The Lost Symbol, based on the third code cracking, history debunking book from The Da Vinci Code's Dan Brown. The film has been in a stall for awhile, with 'Code' and Angels and Demons director Ron Howard backing out. Brown and Steven Knight(Eastern Promises) took on the script, which somebody must not have liked, otherwise Strong wouldn't be involved. Last we heard, Mark Romanek(Never Let Me Go) was the top choice to direct, and that appears to still be the intent, although nothing has been confirmed.
This is a huge move for Strong, as Sony sees this as one of their top franchises, making it a high priority film. Combined, the previous two films have earned over $1B at the box office, although Angels & Demons fell off quite a bit. Of them all, I've only read The Da Vinci Code, and while it's mostly a bunch of mumbo jumbo it has some genuine thrills. Unfortunately, the film was little more than a slightly serious version of National Treasure. Not a good thing. The sequel was even worse, somehow managing to be both boring and ridiculous at the same time. Tom Hanks is expected to return as adventure seeking symbologist, Robert Langdon, but no other casting has been confirmed yet.
