Robert Langdon Drama Gets Pilot Pickup at NBC

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NBC has given a formal pilot pickup to a drama centered on Robert Langdon, the character made famous through the books of Dan Brown.

The broadcaster had previously given the project a production commitment back in June. Titled “Langdon,” it is based on Brown’s book “The Lost Symbol” and follows the early adventures of famed Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, who must solve a series of deadly puzzles to save his kidnapped mentor and thwart a chilling global conspiracy.

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Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie will write and executive produce the pilot. Brown will also executive produce along with Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Anna Culp, and Samie Falvey of Imagine Television also executive producing. CBS Television Studios and Universal Television will produce.

Should the project get picked up to series, it would mark the first time Langdon has been played onscreen by someone other than Tom Hanks. Hanks played Langdon in the film adaptations of the Brown novels “The Da Vinci Code,” “Angels & Demons,” and “Inferno.” Howard directed all three films, which were all produced by Imagine Entertainment. Imagine’s other current TV projects include “Genius” at Nat Geo and the recently launched “68 Whiskey” at Paramount Network.

Dworkin and Beattie most recently co-created the ABC drama “The Crossing.” They were also among those who developed the “Scream” TV series for MTV. The pair’s other credits include shows such as “American Horror Story,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Scorpion,” and “Criminal Minds.”

They are repped by ICM.

“Langdon” is NBC’s sixth drama pilot pickup for the 2020-2021 season thus far. Most recently, the network ordered the drama “Ordinary Joe” from the writing team of Russel Friend and Garrett Lerner. NBC has also given out two straight-to-series orders on the comedy side for Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s untitled LA Mayor series starring Ted Danson and “Young Rock” from Nahnatchka Khan about the life of a young Dwayne Johnson.

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