With The Hunger Games having such a strong opening last weekend and the big auction for Fifty Shades of Grey, Sony Pictures is looking for the next big trilogy and is currently the frontrunner to partner with Constantin films on the live action adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments.

The first part of the series, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, is set in modern day New York City and centers around Clary, a seemingly ordinary teenager, who discovers she is the descendant of a line of mystical warriors known as Shadowhunters. These Shadowhunters are a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from evil. Clary joins forces with a group of Shadowhunters who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, which is filled with various deadly creatures including demons, warlocks, vampires, and werewolves.

Sony Pictures already has multiple franchises under its belt with the The Da Vinci Code and James Bond. They are also expected to go forward with the second installment in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo franchise. Even with these heavy hitters, the company is looking to fortify its business with a huge trilogy. The studio was one of the most aggressive bidders for screen rights to the E.L. James trilogy Fifty Shades Of Grey.

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Just when you thought Stephen King was becoming slightly less relevant as of late, Universal announced today that it has acquired the rights to Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. They have an agreement for a film trilogy and an NBC series based on King’s critically acclaimed series.

Ron Howard (Apollo 13) has signed on to direct the first film, as well as the first season of the TV show. Also announced as head writer was Akiva Goldsman, best known for writing The Da Vinci Code.

The films and television series will have a wide range of material to pull from as King has written seven novels, short stories and comic books. The Dark Tower has sold more than 30 million copies and has been sold in over 40 countries. After the completion of the original series of seven books, a prequel series of comic books based on one of the characters was also published.

In the story,  Roland Deschain is the last living member of an order known as gunslingers and the last of the line of “Arthur Eld”, his world’s King Arthur. Politically organized along the lines of a feudal society, it shares technological and social characteristics with the American Old West, but is also a world of fantasy and magic. No word on how the story will progress and whether the films and television series will have intertwining linear story lines throughout.

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This clearly falls into the “no surprise” category as Columbia Pictures has confirmed that Dan Brown’s novel, The Lost Symbol, will get the big screen treatment. The third film in the Robert Langdon series, this time we find Langdon traversing the mysteries of the Freemasons in Washington D.C.

Scribe Steven Knight is set to adapt the screenplay from the novel which sold over 1 million copies in the first day. Knight’s other credits include drafts for Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Shutter Island as well as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

While both Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are set to return no word on whether Tom Hanks has committed to the project. That said, I find it highly unlikely that he would not reprise the title role of Robert Langdon.

While the second installment of the series, Angels and Demons, performed less then The Da Vinci Code, $486 Million compared to $768, the resounding popularity of  The Lost Symbol is sure to help.  Moreover, The Da Vinci Code was wrapped in controversy which had people eager to check out what all the fuss was about by seeing the film. Angels and Demons had little to no controversy surrounding it. Regardless, a $400 + million take is by no means a failure.

I, for one, was not blown away by either film. However, they were serviceable thrillers with solid production value. While all these stories involve enigmas at some level, there’s no mystery as to why they’re popular and I’ll certainly check out The Lost Symbol when it hit theaters.