Mark Romanek has made his film career by helming small, introspective films, starting back in 2002 with One Hour Photo, featuring Robin Williams in what I think is his best single performance. Last year he gave us the excellent, but mostly ignored Never Let Me Go, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's sci-fi romance. He was on the list to possibly direct Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine, which never came to pass, but there may be something much bigger on the horizon.
Deadline reports that Romanek is the top choice to direct The Lost Symbol, the third in Dan Brown's series of amazingly popular novels featuring renowned symbologist Robert Langdon. Ron Howard directed the first two films but decided not to return. Romanek is a step up, in my opinion, and even though I know less about this story than the other two I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with a white knuckle adventure.
The Da Vinci Code proved to be a monster hit, earning nearly $800M despite mixed reviews. I hated it, personally, feeling that the film didn't capture the scope of the book in the slightest. The follow-up, Angels & Demons, was less of a hit, scoring close to $500M and pissing fans off even more. So I have no idea what the expectation is for The Lost Symbol. Tom Hanks hasn't committed yet but he's expected to return for a third time as Langdon. Dan Brown has taken over scripting duties from Steven Knight(Eastern Promises), penning the tale involving some sort of Freemason conspiracy in the heart of the Nation's Capital.
