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The world’s favorite expert in symbology (made famous by the bestselling novels that inspired the popular trilogy of The Da Vinci Code movies) is coming back to the screen, but not in the sense that you may have anticipated. Now, Robert Langdon is the focus of a new, upcoming series called The Lost Symbol, inspired by the Dan Brown book of the same name, which will be available to stream exclusively on Peacock. However, among the many things we do already know about this intriguing adventure series, which we will present to you in the following article, when to expect the show on the streaming platform is not one of them.
The Lost Symbol’s Peacock Premiere Date Has Not Been Confirmed
News that the character of Robert Langdon (previously brought to life in such movies as the aforementioned The Da Vinci Code in 2006, 2009’s Angels & Demons, and, most recently, Inferno from 2016) would have his next adventure on the small screen dates back to 2020. NBC ordered a pilot for the new series that year under the tentative title Langdon.
It was later revealed in March 2021 that the TV show had been renamed Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol when it was announced that it would instead be a Peacock exclusive, along with a trailer offering a sneak peak at the conspiratorial thrills involved. While the preview’s promise that the series is “coming soon," the series was not listed on NBC's 2021 Fall TV schedule, so we may not see this one until midseason.
Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol Is A Prequel To The Da Vinci Code Movies
We also know from the trailer and the synopsis of the original source material that Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol follows Robert Langdon in Washington, D.C. investigating the disappearance of his former mentor, which involves utilizing his skills in deciphering cryptic symbols and codes. While The Lost Symbol is actually the third of five books by Dan Brown featuring Langdon as the protagonist, the press release from March 2021 also specifies that the show will depict “the early adventures of” the character.
So, it appears that we have another prequel similar to NBC’s Taken TV show (which explained how Liam Neeson’s character Brian Mills developed his “particular set of skills”) to look forward to in Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. However, it would not be very difficult to “Langdon” your way toward that conclusion by seeing who is portraying the hero in the trailer.
Ashley Zukerman Leads The Lost Symbol Cast As Robert Langdon
Robert Langdon, a renowned Harvard symbology professor, has previously been portrayed by two-time Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks in the aforementioned cinematic trilogy. Playing a younger version of the character on Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol is Ashley Zukerman, who is best known for his recurring role on HBO’s Succession and from Netflix’s Fear Street movies cast as Sheriff Nick Goode.
Joining Ashley Zukerman on the Lost Symbol cast is comedian Eddie Izzard as Langdon’s missing mentor Peter Solomon, Valorie Curry from the Veronica Mars cast as Solomon’s sister Katherine, and Keenan Joliff from 2018’s Monsters and Men as Solomon’s son, Zachary. Accomplished voice actress Sumalee Montano plays OS director Sato, Arrow cast actor Rick Gonzalez plays Office Nunez, and Beau Knapp (known for movies like Super 8 and The Nice Guys) appears as Mal'akh. Sammi Rotibi of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice fame plays Agent Admu and Raoul Baneja from the Clarice cast has an undisclosed role.
Dan Trachtenberg Directs The Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol Pilot
I suppose we will learn who Raoul Baneja - who was also great in the 2020 horror film Possessor - plays on Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol when we finally get to see the pilot, which was helmed by Dan Trachentenberg. That is a name that may cause fans of horror movies to perk up their ears.
Dan Trachtenberg made his feature film debut as the director of the acclaimed Cloverfield sequel, 10 Cloverfield Lane, in 2016 - the same year he directed one of the best Black Mirror episodes, “Playtest,” for Season 3 of the Netflix exclusive sci-fi anthology. He also helmed the pilot episode of Amazon Prime’s The Boys, but is reportedly planning to return to the big screen with a fifth installment of the Predator movies franchise.
Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, And Author Dan Brown Executive Produce The Lost Symbol
Dan Trachtenberg is also an executive producer on Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. He shares this credit with Solo: A Star Wars story director Ron Howard (the Academy Award-winning filmmaker who first brought Robert Langdon to the big screen), Howard’s longtime producing partner Brian Grazer, and the author who started it all, Dan Brown.
Also serving as executive producers for Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol are Samie Kim Falvey (a producer for the Paramount+ original series Why Women Kill) Anna Culp, who has previously been involved in all three of Ron Howard’s Robert Langdon movies. Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie, co-developers of MTV’s Scream: The Series, are pulling double duty as additional executive producers and head writers of the new series.
Ron Howard Previously Considered Making A Lost Symbol Movie With Tom Hanks
To any fans of 2006’s The Da Vinci Code and its two sequels, seeing Robert Langdon portrayed by someone other than Tom Hanks on Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol may take some getting used to. Believe it not, however, there was a time when another feature film adaptation of said novel with the Forrest Gump star was on Ron Howard’s mind. Hear what the the director himself had to say about his lost Lost Symbol movie while speaking to CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell about Inferno in 2016:
That was interesting because we actually worked on [Lost Symbol] for a while to see if there was something, and at the end of the day, Washington, D.C. and the question of the Masons was very reminiscent of the theoretical dilemmas of both The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. We had to say that we don't quite think there is something [there] to truly hang on. But, Dan Brown, who is very secretive, is working on another one. We have no idea if it's going to come down the pike -- if we're going to want to jump on it or not. We'll see. The good news is contractually, we don't have to. [Laughs] This is all our voluntary actions.
Ron Howard’s decision to adapt Dan Brown’s fourth Robert Langdon novel as his third Robert Langdon movie instead of The Lost Symbol probably was instrumental toward making this series adaptation a prequel instead of a direct follow-up. Who knows? Maybe the fifth installment in the book series, Origin, could either inspire Season 2 or even Tom Hanks’ next outing as the symbologist. It may all depend on how Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol does on Peacock.
