Talk about your cushy gig - scribe Akiva Goldsman has been offered US$4 million to write the screen version of "Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons".

The deal is apparently the largest amount of money offered upfront to a screenwriter solely for a script. Other writing deals with the likes of M. Night Shyamalan, Joe Eszterhas, Shane Black and David Koepp have been equal or higher, though those usually incorporate other credits (producer, book rights, story credit, etc.) and/or paid the majority of the salary as a bonus.

This marks yet another involvement from the original "The Da Vinci Code" crew with Director Ron Howard and Producer Brian Grazer returning whilst Tom Hanks is very likely to reprise his role of professor Robert Langdon.

"Angels" follows Langdon investigating the death of an Italian physicist with the help of his daughter. Their investigation leads them to Rome where they follow a trail left by Galileo himself in order to stop a killer who's assassinating the most popular candidates to become the next Pope every hour. On top of that, someone is planning to detonate a bomb under St. Peter's Bascillica during the papal conclave election.

The big question here is will they expand on the book? "Angels" is generally regarded as the more Hollywood-friendly of the two books and thus the easier one to adapt. It's a more interesting albeit more straightforward story as well, but will Goldsman actually explore it creatively or simply do a straight adaptation like he did with the financially successful but often criticised "Da Vinci Code" movie adaptation.

A December 12th 2008 release date is already on the cards for the film which will act as a sequel to the events in "Da Vinci Code", even though as a book it came before "Da Vinci".