# Inferno (2016 film)
**Inferno** is a 2016 American action thriller directed by [Ron Howard](https://www.edgepedia.org/ron-howard) and the third film adaptation of [Dan Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-brown)'s Robert Langdon novels, following *The Da Vinci Code* (2006) and *Angels & Demons* (2009). [Tom Hanks](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-hanks) stars as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, who wakes in an Italian hospital with amnesia and, aided by Dr. Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), races across Europe to stop a virus that would wipe out half of the world's population.[1](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/inferno) The screenplay by David Koepp adapts Brown's 2013 novel *Inferno*, the fourth book in the series even though the film is the third in the sequence, because a planned adaptation of the third novel, *The Lost Symbol*, was abandoned in 2013 after initial development.[2](https://time.com/4323037/inferno-trailer-tom-hanks-felicity-jones/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Ron Howard; screenplay by David Koepp, based on Dan Brown's 2013 novel[3](https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2015/02_15/021715_inferno.html) |
| Lead cast | Tom Hanks (Robert Langdon), Felicity Jones (Dr. Sienna Brooks), Irrfan Khan (The Provost), Omar Sy (Christoph Bruder), Sidse Babett Knudsen (Dr. Elizabeth Sinskey), Ben Foster (Bertrand Zobrist)[3](https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2015/02_15/021715_inferno.html) • [4](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/inferno-a-movie-even-tom-hanks-couldnt-save) |
| Release | October 28, 2016 (United States); earliest release October 12, 2016 in EMEA and APAC territories[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3062096/) |
| Running time / rating | 121 minutes; MPAA PG-13[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3062096/) |
| Budget / box office | $75,000,000 budget; $220,021,259 worldwide, of which $34,343,574 (15.6%) came from North America[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3062096/) |
| Critical reception | Rotten Tomatoes 23% (238 reviews); Metacritic 42/100 (47 reviews); CinemaScore B+[6](https://acmemask.com/upfiles/editor/files/72554889660.pdf) |
| Filming | April 29 to July 21, 2015; Venice and Florence (Italy), Budapest (Hungary, main shooting location), and Istanbul (Turkey)[7](https://danbrown.com/news/production-has-begun-on-the-film-inferno/) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3062096/locations/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and source material
The film opens with Langdon waking in a Florentine hospital with a head wound and no memory of how he arrived from [Cambridge, Massachusetts](https://www.edgepedia.org/cambridge-massachusetts). Hunted by multiple factions, he escapes with Sienna Brooks, the doctor treating him, and follows clues tied to [Dante Alighieri](https://www.edgepedia.org/dante-alighieri)'s fourteenth-century poem *Inferno*, the first part of the *Divine Comedy*. The threat comes not from a religious conspiracy, as in the earlier films, but from Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster), a geneticist who argues that overpopulation will destroy humanity and that a engineered plague is the only remedy; Langdon must decipher the trail Zobrist left behind to locate the virus before it is released.[4](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/inferno-a-movie-even-tom-hanks-couldnt-save) • [9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/inferno-2016)
The chase moves through Florence (the Boboli Gardens and the [Palazzo Vecchio](https://www.edgepedia.org/palazzo-vecchio)), Venice (St. Mark's Basilica), and Istanbul (the [Hagia Sophia](https://www.edgepedia.org/hagia-sophia) and the [Basilica Cistern](https://www.edgepedia.org/basilica-cistern)), with the World Health Organization, led by Dr. Elizabeth Sinskey (Sidse Babett Knudsen), and a fixer known as the Provost (Irrfan Khan) among the parties pursuing the pair.[4](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/inferno-a-movie-even-tom-hanks-couldnt-save) Reviewers noted how far the film departs from the franchise's religious-conspiracy formula: the antagonist is a scientist rather than a church faction, and the treasure-hunt element is thinner, with Langdon solving only two clues on screen by one count.[10](https://www.timeout.com/movies/inferno-3)
## Production
[Sony Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures) announced the project in July 2013, slotting a December 18, 2015 release date, with Howard directing, Hanks starring, and Koepp writing the script for [Imagine Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/imagine-entertainment).[11](https://danbrown.com/news/sony-announces-inferno-the-movie/) The date later shifted; by February 2015 the film was slated for October 14, 2016, and the supporting cast was announced: [Felicity Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/felicity-jones), fresh from her Oscar nomination for *The Theory of Everything*, as Dr. Sienna Brooks; Irrfan Khan as Harry Sims, also known as The Provost; Omar Sy as Christoph Bruder; and Sidse Babett Knudsen as the head of the World Health Organization.[3](https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2015/02_15/021715_inferno.html)
**Filming.** [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began in Venice on April 29, 2015[7](https://danbrown.com/news/production-has-begun-on-the-film-inferno/) and ran through July 21, 2015, moving from Italy to Budapest, Hungary, which served as the main shooting location, with Origo and Korda Studios used for stages and backlot work; Istanbul locations included the Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern, and Florence locations included the [Ponte Vecchio](https://www.edgepedia.org/ponte-vecchio), the [Vasari Corridor](https://www.edgepedia.org/vasari-corridor), and the Baptistery of Saint John.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3062096/locations/) • [12](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/8167895/locations/) Hans Zimmer composed the score, Salvatore Totino served as cinematographer, and Daniel P. Hanley edited.[13](https://moviesranking.com/film/tt3062096-inferno-2016)
## Release and box office
The film reached theaters internationally from October 12, 2016 and opened in the United States on October 28, 2016, having been moved off a date that would have coincided with *Star Wars: The Force Awakens*.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3062096/) • [2](https://time.com/4323037/inferno-trailer-tom-hanks-felicity-jones/) Its domestic opening weekend earned $14,860,425, placing it behind the second weekend of [Tyler Perry](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyler-perry)'s *Boo! A Madea Halloween*.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3062096/) • [14](https://www.thewrap.com/4-reasons-why-inferno-flamed-out-at-the-box-office/)
The grosses fell far below the franchise's earlier entries. *The Da Vinci Code* had taken $758,239,851 worldwide and *Angels & Demons* $485,930,816, and the two films together had earned more than $1.2 billion by the time *Inferno* was announced.[6](https://acmemask.com/upfiles/editor/files/72554889660.pdf) • [3](https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2015/02_15/021715_inferno.html) *Inferno* finished with $220,021,259 worldwide against a $75,000,000 budget, with 84.4% of its gross coming from international markets; its strongest territories included Germany ($14,453,514), Japan ($14,456,437), Italy ($13,938,143), and the United Kingdom ($10,153,271).[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3062096/) Commentators attributed the decline to weaker reviews carrying more weight by 2016, a seven-year gap since the previous film, and Dan Brown's diminished commercial profile.[14](https://www.thewrap.com/4-reasons-why-inferno-flamed-out-at-the-box-office/)
## Reception
Critics rated the film poorly. It holds 23% on Rotten Tomatoes from 238 reviews and a Metascore of 42 on Metacritic, though paying audiences gave it a B+ CinemaScore.[6](https://acmemask.com/upfiles/editor/files/72554889660.pdf) The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus called it "senselessly frantic and altogether shallow," sending the trilogy "spiraling to a convoluted new low."[13](https://moviesranking.com/film/tt3062096-inferno-2016) Some reviewers ranked it above its predecessors: Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "a satisfying but thoroughly idiotic film" that is nonetheless "a well-made bit of silliness," and The Hollywood Reporter judged it arguably the best of the franchise so far.[15](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/inferno/critic-reviews/) Others were harsher; Jia Tolentino wrote in The New Yorker that even Hanks could not make Langdon lifelike, and criticized Howard for dropping the novel's bleak ending.[4](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/inferno-a-movie-even-tom-hanks-couldnt-save) Recurring criticisms included convoluted plotting, exposition-heavy dialogue, and breathless pacing punctuated by Zimmer's insistent score.[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/inferno-2016)
Censors gave the film mature-audience ratings in several territories: PG-13 in the United States, 12A in Ireland (classified July 15, 2016, with moderate/strong violence noted), and M in Australia for mature themes, violence, and coarse language.[16](https://www.ifco.ie/en/ifco/pages/E10F9326004ABC51) • [17](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/inferno-18)
## Place in the series
*Inferno* closed out the Howard-Hanks trilogy. The film series runs *The Da Vinci Code* (2006), *Angels & Demons* (2009), and *Inferno* (2016), a different order from the novels, since *Angels & Demons* was the first Langdon book but the second film.[6](https://acmemask.com/upfiles/editor/files/72554889660.pdf) No further Langdon film followed; the franchise instead moved to television with *The Lost Symbol* series in 2021.[18](https://bazawiedzy.uwm.edu.pl/seam/resource/rest/download/UWM7d41cca6cf1b48edacb6a127cc1955ab?cid=3623040&entityId=UWM240e92434b344d2e9fe59a1e7fd30ecb&entityType=article) The three films together grossed over a billion dollars worldwide despite generally poor critical reception.[19](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2079405-tom-hanks-inferno-movie-streaming-hulu-january/xwp_curated_content)
## References
1. [INFERNO, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/inferno)
2. [Tom Hanks Faces a Very Difficult Choice in the Inferno Teaser Trailer, Time](https://time.com/4323037/inferno-trailer-tom-hanks-felicity-jones/)
3. [Robert Langdon To Return In "Inferno", Sony Pictures press release, February 2, 2015](https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2015/02_15/021715_inferno.html)
4. ["Inferno," a Movie Even Tom Hanks Couldn't Save, The New Yorker, November 2, 2016](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/inferno-a-movie-even-tom-hanks-couldnt-save)
5. [Inferno (2016), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3062096/)
6. [Robert Langdon film series summary table](https://acmemask.com/upfiles/editor/files/72554889660.pdf)
7. [Production has begun on the film, Inferno, Dan Brown Official Website, April 29, 2015](https://danbrown.com/news/production-has-begun-on-the-film-inferno/)
8. [Inferno (2016) Filming & production, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3062096/locations/)
9. [Inferno movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com, October 27, 2016](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/inferno-2016)
10. [Inferno 2016, directed by Ron Howard, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/inferno-3)
11. [Sony Announces Inferno - The Movie, Dan Brown Official Website, July 18, 2013](https://danbrown.com/news/sony-announces-inferno-the-movie/)
12. [Inferno Filming Dates & Locations, Kinoafisha](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/8167895/locations/)
13. [Inferno (2016), The Film Index](https://moviesranking.com/film/tt3062096-inferno-2016)
14. [4 Reasons Why 'Inferno' Flamed Out at the Box Office, TheWrap, October 30, 2016](https://www.thewrap.com/4-reasons-why-inferno-flamed-out-at-the-box-office/)
15. [Inferno critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/inferno/critic-reviews/)
16. [INFERNO, Irish Film Classification Office](https://www.ifco.ie/en/ifco/pages/E10F9326004ABC51)
17. [INFERNO, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/inferno-18)
18. [Robert Langdon adaptations timeline, Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski](https://bazawiedzy.uwm.edu.pl/seam/resource/rest/download/UWM7d41cca6cf1b48edacb6a127cc1955ab?cid=3623040&entityId=UWM240e92434b344d2e9fe59a1e7fd30ecb&entityType=article)
19. [Tom Hanks Thriller Based on Dan Brown Novel Coming to Hulu Soon, ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2079405-tom-hanks-inferno-movie-streaming-hulu-january/xwp_curated_content)
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