The angelic Ayelet Zurer goes to Rome

Ayelet Zurer is not very well known — yet. But that will change on Friday, 15 May, when the film Angels & Demons has its worldwide premiere. The Israeli actress plays the role of Vittoria Vetra in the follow-up to The Da Vinci Code. After the murder of her father by a secret brotherhood, the Illuminati, Vetra joins Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) on a journey around Rome to uncover the mystery behind the killing and stop a terrorist plan to destroy the Vatican.

The Vatican isn't very happy with the idea of being saved by Hollywood, however. Producer Ron Howard requested permission from church officials to film parts of Angels & Demons in Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria, but his request was denied. Last week, Avvenire, an Italian Catholic newspaper, reported that the church "cannot approve" of the film. The Turin paper La Stampa said that the Vatican may call for a boycott of Angels & Demons, although the same article quoted Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, who warned against a "boomerang effect" that could make the film more popular.

Many Catholic Church officials urged a boycott of The Da Vinci Code when it was released in 2006, but this had little effect on the popularity of the thriller, which was based on another best-selling novel by Dan Brown. The film went on to earn $760 million worldwide.