I think Hanks is good for the role. Langdon is a "non-action hero" hero, which Hanks should be able to pull off well.

Edit: My bad, looks like he hasn't actually been signed yet. Sorry for the misleading title, I somehow overlooked that part of the article.

Hanks Cracks 'Da Vinci' Cast

By Gregg Kilday

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Tom Hanks is expected to step into the scholarly shoes of Robert Langdon, the professor who unravels the mystery of the Holy Grail in the film version of Dan Brown's phenomenally successful novel "The Da Vinci Code."

Hanks has emerged as director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer's top choice for the lead role in the film, which Columbia Pictures hopes to begin shooting next year. And talks have begun for the actor to join the project.

"Tom is an exciting actor to watch thinking," Howard was quoted as saying in the latest issue of Newsweek. "We probably don't need his status from a box office standpoint, but he gives Langdon instant legitimacy."

Hanks, who currently can be seen onscreen in animated form in Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Polar Express," previously worked with Howard in 1995's "Apollo 13" and 1984's "Splash."

Howard is currently completing work on "The Cinderella Man," a boxing drama starring Russell Crowe, which Universal Pictures will release in the summer.

Akiva Goldsman, who wrote the screenplay for Howard's "A Beautiful Mind," is working on the screen adaptation of Brown's Doubleday novel, which has spent 86 weeks on the New York Times' hardcover fiction best-seller list.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Not exactly who I envisioned, but I think he can pull it off.

I wouldn't have thought to put Hanks in there myself, but he's the right age...I was sure they'd cast some hunky 25-year-old.

Perhaps this might be Hanks chance to finally woo Oscar?

He's already wooed Oscar twice, why again?


EDIT: Sorry, once again I have fallen victim to Groucho's sense of humor.

I wonder what role GARY SINISE will play...

The legless Ghost of DaVinci.

I'd have given it to Costner if he didn't look so old lately.

For some reason I kept seeing Sam Neill when I read the book, but he's not a "marquee name" so didn't have a chance I guess.

I was hoping they would go for either The Rock or Vin Diesel

I always pictures George Clooney or Russell Crowe. Langdon was always described as being a well built athletic guy (swimmer's body), something that i don't really see with Hanks.

If they cast Tom, I think that's one aspect of the character that they're going to bypass. And if I remember correctly, that really helped him more in Angels & Demons than it did in Da Vinci, so it shouldn't be a problem unless they decide to make that into a movie as well.

Even in Angels and Demons he's not performing super-human action moves. He needs to be reasonably fit, but he's more of an intellectual than an Indiana Jones "renaissance man."

I know, what I meant to say was the skills he developed as a swimmer came in handy more in A&D especially when

Ron Howard + Brian Grazer = Nothing new to see here, people.

Yep. Have you seen that "Arrested Development" tv show? Cookie-cutter crap. They even have Jason "Teen Wolf Too" Bateman in the lead!

Yeah, if you don't mind your movie bombing.

...or Will Smith with those cute one-liners.

I always pictured kevin Kline or Ralph Fines for the part, I don't see Hanks in that part at all, and even though I think he is a decent actor, (a bit overated if you ask me), I cringed when I heard his name and the Da Vinci code in the same sentence

We are talking movies here. Grazer, in my opinion, is one of the worst producers out there. "From the producer of 8 Mile", because that's the reason why people went and saw that movie. I just don't like Grazer and Howard is so-so, A Beautiful Mind was a paint-by-numbers Oscar winner, but I did like Apollo 13.

I would have picked Johnny Depp. But then, I think I would say that for almost any role. He is the best.

That's true, but even so, the books give off the idea that he's somewhat of a middle aged heart-throb, something i don't really see with Hanks.

Eh...it's not like we are ever given a choice in the matter.

Was it ever confirmed that Hanks finally signed for this movie? The article below makes it seem like he has (IMDB shows him as Langdon), and also announces Jean Reno as detective Bezu Fache.

Link

Jean Reno