While details are sketchy at best, Tom Hanks appears ready to play Robert Langdon again. Hanks, who portrayed the professor of religious iconology and symbology in ’06’s The Da Vinci Code and it’s follow-up, ’09’s Angels & Demons, is expected to return to a third entry in the series, The Lost Symbol.  “[He is] all but ready to return to the character of Robert Langdon,” said a source.

According to CinemaBlend, Columbia Pictures is looking to fast-track the project for a 2012 release. There’s no official word from Hanks’ camp nor has director Ron Howard announced his return to helm a third film based on  Dan Brown’s popular series of novels.

The thing is, even though Angels & Demons was barely a blip here in America, it made $350 million internationally. There’s still tons of money to be made here and Columbia is willing to keep spending to make more movies. The Lost Symbol is coming.

Angels & Demons grossed a total of $486 million worldwide. $133.37 million of that total came from the U.S. The film had a budget of an estimated $150 million.