The name Dan Brown became notorious among the Vatican circle after the swelling success of his book The Da Vinci Code. Due to its potrayal of Jesus as a human being who married Mary Magdalene and had children, the work was regarded by the Vatican an outrageous “offence against God”. Now, when the makers are ready to shoot its prequel Angels & Demons, the Vatican has disapproved of its filming on its grounds or in the premises of churches in Rome. Angels & Demons, published before The Da Vinci Code, has several important scenes located in these sacred places. However, the makers have been prohibited from using church premises as filmsets.The story of Angels & Demons is centered on a scheme plotted by a group called the Illuminati, and its plan to replace the existing Pope with their selected person, and blow up the Vatican. Directed by Ron Howard, who also made The Da Vinci Code, the film stars Tom Hanks as the hero. The actor had appeared in the film version of The Da Vinci Code as the Harvard professor Robert Langdon. Two churches in Rome- Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria- along with the Vatican feature as key locations in Angels & Demons. In the two churches, bodies of murdered cardinals are found. There are mysterious marks on the bodies, and the Vatican has said that they cannot allow shooting of such scenes within the churches. Archbishop Velasio De Paolis (head of the Vatican’s Prefecture for Economic Affairs) said, “It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into films in the name of business.” He has also mentioned a “boomerang effect”, which will draw attention for the film thus increasing its popularity.
To deal with the sets, the production team will be recreating the interiors of the Roman churches in their very own Hollywood. Exteriors of the churches and the surrounding streets, however, are original, as church officials couldn’t prevent the filmmakers from shooting these parts. The Da Vinci Code had been boycotted, but that could not stop the film from earning large-scale popularity both in USA and outside. It was a box office hit with a worldeide turnover of $760 million. Angels & Demons is set to be released worlwide on May 15, 2009.