Angels & Demons

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ron Howard directs. Salvatore Totino behind the camera. Hans Zimmer scores. Mike Hill cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Italy, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian, Latin, French, German, Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1$150M budget — tentpole studio territory.
• 2Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.
• 3Released 17 years ago.
• 4Dialogue crosses 6 languages: English, Italian, Latin, French, German, Mandarin.
• 5International production across 2 countries: Italy, United States of America.
• 6Part of the "Robert Langdon Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 7487+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
• 8Directed by Ron Howard, shot by Salvatore Totino. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 9Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 10Editor Mike Hill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 11Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor and Ayelet Zurer carry the top of the cast.
• 12Marketing tagline: "The holiest event of our time. Perfect for their return.".
• 13IMDB entry: tt0808151 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 14Classified under 13 themes, including "based on novel or book", "rome, italy", "vatican (holy see)", "symbolism".

The technical file

Cinematography

Salvatore Totino

Original score

Hans Zimmer

Editing

Mike Hill

Production design

Allan Cameron

Makeup / hair

John Blake

VFX supervisor

Mark Breakspear

Sound

Tom Fleischman

Stunt coordinator

Brad Martin

Runtime

139 min · 2h 19m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$150,000,000

Box office

$485,930,816

Return

324% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Angels & Demons (2009) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

36% 🥫 Rotten

Metacritic

48/100

IMDB rating

6.7/10 · 324,063 votes

MPAA

PG-13

Part of

Robert Langdon Collection

The Robert Langdon films are a series of American action-adventure mystery-thriller movies based on the novels written by Dan Brown. They center around the fictional character of Robert Langdon. Though based on the book series, the films have a different chronological order.

• 
  The Da Vinci Code

  2006
• 
  Angels & Demons

  2009 · this one
• 
  Inferno

  2016

Also by

Ron Howard

• 
  A Beautiful Mind

  2001 · ★ 7.9
• 
  Thirteen Lives

  2022 · ★ 7.8
• 
  Jim Henson Idea Man

  2024 · ★ 7.8
• 
  Rush

  2013 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Cinderella Man

  2005 · ★ 7.6
• 
  The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years

  2016 · ★ 7.5

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Angels & Demons (2009) Original Trailer [FHD]

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Watch the new Angels and Demons trailer! In Theaters 5/15/09

  Teaser · Official
• 

  ▶
  Angels and Demons - In Theaters 5.15.09

  Teaser · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-09-02
  ★ 7/10

  Faith is a gift I have yet to receive. Angels and Demons is directed by Ron Howard and adapted to screenplay by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman from the Dan Brown novel of the same name. It stars Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Armin Mueller- Stahl. Music is scored by Hans Zimmer and cinematography by Salvatore Totino. Symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) is summoned to Rome and asked by the Vatican to help when four cardinals are kidnapped. Upon examining a tape recording that announces that the cardinals will be killed one at a time hourly, Langdon places the crime at the door of the ancient Illuminati. It's a race against time to not only try and save the lives of the cardinals, but also to avert the detonation of an anti-matter bomb which will destroy Vatican City. In spite of The Da Vinci Code making gargantuan amounts of cash, there were many who actively hated the movie. Yet this follow up from Howard and his makers still enticed just under $500 million's worth of worldwide paying punters into see it. Ultimately it's a very different movie to Da Vinci, where that film was sombre and talky, and had a great religious hook that caused tremors in Christianity, Angels and Demons is a pacey race against time serial killer thriller. Albeit one that is still religion based and additionally topped up with some sci-fi gubbins. The ticking time bomb format works well as a cliff hanger and the narrative allows Langdon and his latest lady investigator, CERN scientist Vittoria Vettra (Zurer), scope for no-nonsense detective work. There's a good solid mystery story at the heart, one which doesn't veer to being over complicated, and the production value is of a very high standard. Casting is first class, with McGregor and Skarsgard complimenting the reliable, and thankfully new haircut sporting, Hanks. It's a little draggy in the mid-section, as history comes crashing into the mix and the makers feel the need to be cerebral, and the finale is bizarre if wholly appropriate, but herein lies the problem… If you can judge it on its own terms, not as a Dan Brown novel recreation and a link to bad memories of Da Vinci Code (not me, I liked it well enough actually)? Then it's a film of simple pleasures. If not then it kind of goes without saying that you probably already dislike the movie! 7.5/10

  Read full review ↓
• Alunauwie2025-09-30
  ★ 10/10

  Angels & Demons delivers a gripping follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, blending science, religion, and mystery with improved pacing and visual execution. Though fictional and controversial, the film presents its themes with cinematic flair, strong performances, and a more engaging narrative. A thrilling watch, as long as viewers remain critical of its historical liberties. Read the full review here: (Indonesian version : alunauwie.com) and (English version : uwiepuspita.com)

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2025-11-09
  ★ 6/10

  With a Papal election looming, the Vatican is nervously suspicious that the ancient cult of the “Illuminati” are up to their old, destabilising, tricks again and so they have invited “Langdon” (Tom Tanks) - the religious equivalent of “Sherlock Holmes” to come and investigate some malevolent shenanigans that might even have resulted in the poisoning of the late Pope himself! Aided by sceptical scientist “Vittoria” (Ayelet Zurer) and local police inspector “Olivetti” (Pierfrancesco Olivetti) they soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that is seeing some of the cardinal electorate brutally murdered and is putting the wind up the Camerlengo (Ewan McGregor) who is charged with organising the conclave and his Swiss Guard police chief “Richter” (Stellan Skarsgård) who appears as much of an hindrance as an help to the sleuthing American. Now if this is to be taken as a theologically based crime thriller, then it does work well enough. Sadly, though, much of the political and ethical aspects of the original book have been thrown under the cinematic pope mobile and the thrusts of conflict between the scientific and the faithful are largely sidelined in favour of a more traditional killer thriller replete with secret passages. The shockingly wooden McGregor is nowhere near his best here; Hanks delivers really only adequately and I found the denouement frankly quite preposterous - even by divine standards. The production is slick and it looks professional enough, but there’s precious little chemistry between Hanks and anyone, really; there’s an awful lot of dialogue and I just felt a bit underwhelmed by the whole thing. Sometimes the original words on the page provides more fodder for our imagination than any adapted screenplay, and I reckon this is certainly an example of that. Watchable but entirely forgettable.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Columbia Pictures

  US

• 

  Imagine Entertainment

  US

• SK

  Skylark Productions

• PA

  Panorama Films

  IT

• BR

  Brian Grazer Productions

  US

Key crew

• ProducerRon Howard
• ProducerJohn Calley
• NovelDan Brown
• Line ProducerUte Leonhardt
• EditorMike Hill
• ProducerBrian Grazer
• EditorDaniel P. Hanley
• Executive ProducerDan Brown
• Executive ProducerTodd Hallowell
• Costume SupervisorAugusto Grassi
• Art DirectionMarc Homes
• Makeup Department HeadJohn Blake
• Art DirectionLuke Freeborn
• Set DecorationLarry Bellantoni
• CastingJanet Hirshenson
• Production DesignAllan Cameron
• Art DirectionAlex Cameron
• Art DirectionGiles Masters
• Art DirectionKeith P. Cunningham
• CastingMichelle Lewitt
• Art DirectionDawn Swiderski
• Costume SupervisorHelen Monaghan
• Set DecorationRobert Gould
• CastingDebbie McWilliams

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• based on novel or book
• rome, italy
• vatican (holy see)
• symbolism
• illuminati
• quantum mechanics
• prequel
• anti matter
• conspiracy
• investigator
• catholicism
• cern
• conspiracy thriller

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2009-05-15PG-13
• Physical2009-11-24PG-13· DVD / Blu-ray
• Physical2016-10-11PG-13· 4K Ultra HD

Also known as

International titles

• Angels and DemonsUS
• Anjos e DemôniosBR
• Mələklər və ŞeytanlarAZ
• Mələklər və İblislərAZ