Tom Hanks’ thriller Angels & Demons spikes in popularity after the pope’s death, and here’s what the Vatican said about the Da Vinci Code sequel. Dan Brown’s original story of a vast historical cover-up made for compelling – and controversial – reading back in 2003. With Oscar-winner Hanks in the role of dogged symbologist Robert Langdon, 2006’s Da Vinci Code adaptation was a $760 million smash, spawning a 2009 sequel that saw Hanks returning to take on the Illuminati.
Angels & Demons grossed a respectable $485 million upon release, and is currently enjoying a resurgence in viewership, as streaming subscribers seek out content in any way connected to the papacy, following the death of Pope Francis. The 2009 Ron Howard-directed sequel is currently available on Hulu.
What This Means For Angels & Demons
The Pope’s Death Has Spurred Several Movies On To Bigger Streaming Numbers
The immediate aftermath of the pope’s death saw an understandable surge in interest in Vatican-related streaming content. The 2024 Oscar-nominee Conclave received the biggest boost, seeing a 283% increase in viewership the day after Pope Francis’s pᴀssing. Anthony Hopkins’ The Two Popes saw a similar increase in streaming popularity.
Curiosity about the mysterious process behind choosing a new pope likely drove the renewed interest in Conclave, which provides a rare peek behind the Vatican curtain (in heavily fictionalized form, of course). Being based on a book by the author of The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons may not seem as likely a candidate to benefit from a flood of conclave-curious streaming subscribers. The film does kick off with the death of a pope, however, and the post-death process gives the villain the opening needed to hatch his convoluted plan involving antimatter, kidnapping and symbology.
What The Vatican Said About Angels & Demons
Howard’s Film Got Mixed Reviews From The Church
A conspiracy theory about Jesus and Mary Magdalene features prominently in The Da Vinci Code, so it’s no shock that the film was condemned by the Vatican upon its release. But the church’s disapproval only spurred more interest in the 2006 movie, so when its sequel was released three years later, the Vatican changed tactics, staying silent so as not to give the film even more publicity.
Only after the movie’s Rome premiere, the Vatican City newspaper L’Osservatore Romano published a pair of editorials, critiquing the film itself, while discussing the wider implications of author Brown’s popularity (via Reuters). As a work of film, Angels & Demons was called both “ephemeral” and “gripping,” with “splendid” camera work and “dynamic and alluring” direction by Howard.
Howard claimed the church deliberately hampered Angels & Demons’ Rome filming, forcing some scenes of the Vatican to be recreated in Los Angeles.
The other of the two post-premiere editorials looked at the film as part of a larger discussion about Catholic Church messaging, saying that “It would probably be an exaggeration to consider the books of Dan Brown an alarm bell,” but adding, “maybe they should be a stimulus to re-think and refresh the way the Church uses the media to explain its positions on today’s burning issues.”
Angels & Demons inspired plenty of reaction upon its release in 2009, and now fifteen years later, it’s enjoying a second life on streaming, due in part to real-life events. Da Vinci Code author Brown’s works may not prove as enduring as the Bible, but they continue to enthrall for now, thanks in large part to their connections with the church, the papacy and the mystery surrounding both.
