With Tom Hanks back as Dr. Robert Langdon and Felicity Jones now confirmed as his co-star, Ron Howard is boosting the cast of his latest Dan Brown adaptation, Inferno, by three. Omar Sy, Irrfan Khan and Sidse Babett Knudsen have all made deals to appear in the thriller.
Inferno finds Hanks’ symbologist in Italy, grappling with amnesia and a chilling puzzle revolving around Dante’s Inferno. He’ll face a new and cunning adversary and an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. And he’ll need the help of doctor Sienna Brooks (Jones), who aids him in recovering his memories even as they head out on his latest quest.
Knudsen, best known here as the star of Danish crime drama Borgen (and is on cinema screens this week in The Duke Of Burgundy), will be Dr. Elizabeth Sinskey, the head of the World Health Organization, who hires Langdon to tackle a tough viral – in the traditional sense of the word – challenge. Sy, last seen in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, is aboard to play Christoph Bruder, the head of the team send to track down Langdon after Sinskey loses contact with him, while Khan is on as the mysterious man known as 'The Provost', who doesn’t exactly have our hero’s best interests at heart.
“For this film, I wanted Tom Hanks to be surrounded by an international cast of actors whose energy will underscore Robert Langdon’s life-or-death peril, the high-stakes action he takes, and the global threat that he’s trying to prevent,” Howard says in a statement. “Felicity, Irrfan, Omar, and Sidse have all broken through with recognition here in America as well as their home countries – they are phenomenal talents and we can’t wait to get started.” With a script by David Koepp, Howard and co. will be making that start in April, with more casting news set to arrive.
Both Khan and Sy will be seen in this summer’s Jurassic World, which arrives on June 12. As mentioned above, Knudsen is in The Duke Of Burgundy, which is out on Friday.