Angels & Demons is a 2009 American mystery-thriller film directed by Ron Howard and based on Dan Brown's novel by the same name. It is the sequel to the 2006 film The Da Vinci Code, although the book was published first in series chronology. Filming of Angels & Demons took place in Rome, Italy, and the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. Tom Hanks reprises the lead role of Robert Langdon, while producer Brian Grazer, composer Hans Zimmer and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman also return. Under the watchful eyes of Father Silvano Bentivoglio and Dr. Vittoria Vetra, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) initiates the Large Hadron Collider and creates three vials of antimatter particles larger than any that have ever been detected before. Immediately afterward, Father Silvano is killed and one of the vials of antimatter goes missing. Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church mourns the sudden death of the Pope in Rome and prepares for the papal conclave to elect the next Pope while Camerlengo Patrick McKenna assumes temporary control of the Vatican.