According to the Hollywood Reporter, Hanks, 50, and filmmaker Ron Howard are in the final discussions to bring Angels & Demons, the prequel to Da Vinci Code, to theatres.
Akiva Goldsman is adapting the novel by Dan Brown. In the film, Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor, begins investigating an ancient group called the illuminati, who are trying to bring down the Vatican.
Angels and Demons is expected to be in theatres on December 19, 2008.