Ron Howard’s schedule is about to lighten up a bit. The director was slated to go into production on Angels & Demons, the sequel to The Da Vinci Code. The picture was trying to get a script in before the November 1st WGA deadline for reaching new contracts between writers and producers, which would allow the picture to move forward without being deeply affected by the strike. While a script was delivered, inside sources told Variety that the script is riddled with “insurmountable problems,” making Angels and Demons the first official casualty of the writer’s strike.

Of course, the script isn’t the only problem the production is facing, which was supposed to begin filming early next year with a release scheduled for next Christmas. Right now Tom Hanks has been cast to continue his role as Robert Langdon and… that’s it. That’s right – the film that should have started shooting in February only had one cast member in place, so the shooting delay isn’t entirely due to the WGA strike.

No new shooting date has been announced which makes sense. Since we still don’t know when the strike might end, there’s no idea of when the production might have an acceptable script. The release date for Angels & Demons has been pushed back however, to May 2009.

I actually think the delay on Angels is a good call. Howard was going to be a tad-bit overworked, completing post-production on Frost/Nixon, the adaptation of the acclaimed play, at the same time Angels & Demons was shooting. At least this way Howard can focus on one picture at a time instead of doing a rush job on two pictures.