Irrfan Khan to star with Tom Hanks in Inferno

Los Angeles: Indian actor Irrfan Khan is set to work with Tom Hanks and Felicity Jones in Ron Howard’s upcoming adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel ‘Inferno.’

Irrfan, best known for his roles in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ’Life of Pi’ and ‘The Lunchbox’, will play the role of Harry Sims aka The Provost, the head of a mysterious organisation.

Hanks, who previously played the role of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon in ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Angels & Demons’, is returning for another adventure that will take his character to Florence and Istanbul.

Howard is directing and producing the film with Brian Grazer. The Columbia Pictures’ film is slated for release on October 14, 2016 and will begin principal photography at the end of April.

Jones, who will star as Sienna Brooks in the movie, is an Oscar nominee this year for her role in ‘The Theory of Everything.’

French actor Omar Sy will play Christoph Bruder while Danish TV star Sidse Babett Knudsen is cast as Dr. Elizabeth Sinskey, the head of the WHO. The makers said they are planning to cast more international faces in the movie.

“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.”

“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,” Howard said in a statement.

In the movie, Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Sienna Brooks, a doctor he hopes will help him recover his memories and prevent a madman from releasing a global plague connected to Dante’s ‘Inferno.’

“We’re thrilled to be making a third Robert Langdon film with Ron, Tom and Brian,” said Doug Belgrad, president, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.