Studio Teams Up with Google for a Global Experience Powered by Google's Technology

CULVER CITY, Calif., Oct. 3, 2016 — (PRNewswire) —  Beginning today, moviegoers highly anticipating the release of Inferno starring Tom Hanks can play the part of Robert Langdon himself.  In a three-week race against time, fans can decipher clues and solve a series of complex and challenging riddles created in collaboration with Dan Brown in Sony Pictures' "Inferno Journey Through Hell" interactive experience.  Built with technology from Google, audiences who solve the puzzles will have the chance to win a grand prize trip to Italy* befitting of Langdon himself.  Inferno, the highly anticipated suspense thriller from Columbia Pictures and Imagine Entertainment, will be released in theaters nationwide on October 28.

Each week, users go to Inferno-movie.com to find three new puzzles themed to the circles of hell as depicted in Dante's Inferno.  Finding clues hidden throughout Google products (Google Maps, Gmail, Google Search, Google Play, Google Docs, Google Cultural Institute and YouTube), and the world's most popular social platforms, players will complete up to three puzzles each week and will have the opportunity to win weekly prizes, culminating in one grand prize – an Italian getaway with stops in Rome, Milan, Florence and Venice.  As each new set of puzzles are unveiled week-to-week, the experience will become increasingly difficult to solve as the "Inferno Journey Through Hell" progresses to its ultimate mind-bending final challenge.

"Dan Brown is a master of creating suspenseful and intellectual mysteries that are known for interweaving classic references to art and history while also using hidden codes and symbols. For the first time, Dan has collaborated with the studio and our partners at Google to develop an online puzzle-based challenge that is filled with his signature brand of entertainment. The 'Inferno Journey Through Hell' will lead fans through many fun twists and turns while also giving them the chance to win some pretty spectacular prizes," said Elias Plishner, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Digital Marketing for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

"I'm excited to bring together the technology of Google and the code-breaking elements of the Robert Langdon series. The experience allows audiences to bring Robert Langdon's world to life by deciphering puzzles and utilizing online tools at their fingertips," said Dan Brown, author of the Robert Langdon series.

Ron Howard added, "One of the reasons why the Robert Langdon books and movies are so much fun is that the audience has the chance to solve the puzzles as he does.  That's why I'm so excited about this promotion – it brings Inferno to life.  With the puzzles that the studio and Dan have created, powered by Google, you have the opportunity to experience what it's like to be Robert Langdon."

"We are always glad to see our products being used in clever, compelling and engaging ways," said Alex Angeledes, Industry Director for Media & Entertainment at Google. "Sony Pictures has given fans unique ways of discovering the depth and complexity of this film in ways that appeal to modern moviegoers."

*NO PURCHASE/CHALLENGE COMPLETION NECESSARY. Starts 8:00:01 am PT 10/3/16. Ends 12:00 pm PT 10/24/16 online & 10/25/16 for mail entry postmark.  Consists of 3 weekly & 1 GP drawing. Open to legal residents of 50 US & DC & Canada (except Quebec Prov.) 18+. See Official Rules at www.InfernoSweepsRules.com for complete details incl. entry periods and how to enter by mail. Void where prohibited.

ABOUT INFERNO
Academy Award® winner Ron Howard returns to direct the latest bestseller in Dan Brown's (The Da Vinci Code) billion-dollar Robert Langdon series, Inferno, which finds the famous symbologist (again played by Tom Hanks) on a trail of clues tied to the great Dante himself.  When Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), a doctor he hopes will help him recover his memories.  Together, they race across Europe and against the clock to stop a madman from unleashing a global virus that would wipe out half of the world's population. The screenplay is by David Koepp, based upon the novel by Dan Brown, and the film is produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.

ABOUT DAN BROWN
Dan Brown is the author of numerous #1 bestselling novels, including The Da Vinci Code, which has become one of the best selling novels of all time as well as the subject of intellectual debate among readers and scholars. Brown's novels are published in 56 languages around the world with over 200 million copies in print.

In 2005, Brown was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME Magazine, whose editors credited him with "keeping the publishing industry afloat; renewed interest in Leonardo da Vinci and early Christian history; spiking tourism to Paris and Rome; a growing membership in secret societies; the ire of Cardinals in Rome; eight books denying the claims of the novel and seven guides to read along with it; a flood of historical thrillers; and a major motion picture franchise."

The son of a mathematics teacher and a church organist, Brown was raised on a prep school campus where he developed a fascination with the paradoxical interplay between science and religion. These themes eventually formed the backdrop for his books. He is a graduate of Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where he later returned to teach English before focusing his attention full time to writing.

Brown is currently at work on a new book entitled ORIGIN, to be published in September, 2017.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment:
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com.

 

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SOURCE Sony Pictures Entertainment

Contact:

Sony Pictures Entertainment Jean Guerin, SVP, Media Relations, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 310.244.2923 Web: http://www.spe.sony.com