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Director Ron Howard on Tuesday defended his film adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown 's "Angels & Demons" from criticism that it smears the Roman Catholic Church, heightening an ongoing battle over fictional depictions of the Vatican. Howard, who also directed the 2006 movie adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code," posted a blog at The Huffington Post website saying that neither he nor his new movie "Angels & Demons," which debuts in May and stars Tom Hanks, are anti-Catholic. "And let me be a little controversial: I believe Catholics, including most in the hierarchy of the Church...

I knew 'Opie" was a naive little kid, but I thought Andy was the wise one! Say it ain't so, Andy?? From the Yahoo! Newsroom, October 23, 2008Celebs go to great lengths for Obama excerpt: Luckily for Obama, some celebrities are taking extreme measures to show their support for him. It's no surprise to see celebrities lining up for the Democratic ticket, but these stars are going above and beyond the normal call of duty. First up, we have director Ron Howard resurrecting not one, but two, classic roles that he admits he'd rather leave behind: Opie Taylor from...

Ron Howard, the director of the film version of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, reports that Vatican officials made it difficult to complete work on a 'prequel,' Angels and Demons, discouraging cooperation by churches and public officials in Rome. A Vatican spokesman does not deny the charge. "Usually we read the script," says Father Marco Fibbi, "but in this case it wasn't necessary. Just the name Dan Brown was enough."

A movie adaptation of Dan Brown’s book, Angels and Demons, is now in production; it is the prequel to the film, “The Da Vinci Code.” There are reports today that the Vatican has banned those associated with “Angels and Demons” from shooting in Catholic churches in Rome or in the Vatican itself. This is important because there are scenes in the movie that are supposed to take place in the Vatican and in two churches in Rome. “Angels and Demons” stars Tom Hanks in his role as Robert Langdon, the symbologist. This time he is trying to unravel a plot...