‘The Lost Symbol,’ the third installment in the financially successful ‘Da Vinci Code’ book series by Dan Brown, has been greenlit by Columbia Pictures to become the next movie in the equally popular film series. British director Steven Knight is reportedly on board to helm the movie, according to Variety, as the studio was eager to work with him again after it acquired his screenplay ‘Pawn Sacrifice’ last year.

The book follows the series’ protagonist, Robert Langdon, as he is called to Washington, D.C., to begin decoding the symbols of the Freemasons. While Tom Hanks portrayed the Harvard professor of religious iconology and symbololgy in the previous two movies, 2006’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and last year’s ‘Angels and Demons,’ he has not yet committed to reprising the role. However, Columbia expects that he will. In addition to Hanks, if he agrees to come back to the series, and Knight, who also directed ‘Dirty Pretty Things’ and wrote the upcoming ‘Shutter Island’ and ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,’ Brian Grazer and John Calley are set to produce the movie.

The movie series is one of the most successful of all time, as ‘The Da Vinci Code’ grossed $758 million worldwide, and ‘Angels and Demons’ earned $486 million worldwide. Columbia feels ‘Lost Symbol’ will do as well at the box office, since the novel sold more than one million copies on its first day alone when it was released by Doubleday in September.

Written by: Karen Benardello