Having starred in The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Tom Hanks will complete the trilogy of Robert Langdon movies when he stars as the inquisitive Harvard University symbolist in Inferno, set for release on December 18th 2015. The Hollywood Reporter had the date.

Tom HanksHe'll always be little Forest to us

Despite a poor critical response for both of the previous Dan Brown-novel movies – The Da Vinci Code managed 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, while Angels & Demons only marginally improved on that with 37% - they have fared well at the box office, grabbing over $1.2b from conspiracy-hungry movie-goers, the type of which probably believe half of what’s happening in the film, or can’t understand it and think Langdon as a modern day Indiana Jones.

But it’s not looking particularly good for Inferno; the prospects of it translating into a critically acclaimed film appear bleak when you look at the novel’s reviews. Most regarded it as a pretty awful attempt at a piece of literature, while the Daily Mail offered up the most positive review. Says it all really.

Tom Hanks and Elaine StritchWhat a charmer, Elaine Stritch can't get enough

For Hanks, though, this is a cash cow not to be passed up. The lucrative nature of Dan Brown novels and the subsequent films mean big bucks will be on offer to make one last go of Langdon’s unquenchable thirst for a broken code.

Next time you see our dearest Forest Gump, he’ll be moustached-up and playing Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks, the story of Mary Poppins’ journey from page to screen and how the book’s author P.L. Travers vowed never to lend her story to the cinema again.