Director Ron Howard has accused the Vatican of trying to hamper¹ the filming of his new movie, Angels & Demons², starring Tom Hanks.

导演Ron Howard控告罗马教廷企图阻挠他的由Tom Hanks主演的新电影Angels & Demons。

Hanks, Dan Brown and Ron Howard were in Rome to promote the film

The movie sequel（结局，续集） to author Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code features symbolist Robert Langdon helping³ to rescue four kidnapped cardinals（主教，鲜红色）.

But Howard said the Vatican exerted its influence "through back channels" to prevent filming near certain churches.

A Vatican spokesman said the director's claims were purely⁴ a publicity⁵ stunt⁶（宣传绝招）.

Howard told a news conference: "When you come to film in Rome, the official statement to you is that the Vatican has no influence.

Filming barred

"Everything progressed very smoothly⁷, but unofficially a couple of days before we were to start filming in several of our locations, it was explained to us that through back channels and so forth⁸ that the Vatican had exerted some influence."

Last summer, Rome's diocese（主教教区） confirmed it had barred producers from filming inside two churches because the movie did not conform to the church's views.

The director also claimed the Vatican got an event related to the film's premiere（初次公演） in Rome cancelled.

"There was supposed to be a reception or screening here in Rome that had been approved and I suppose that the Vatican had some influence over that," he said.

Speaking to the Associated Press the Vatican spokesman, the Reverend Federico Lombardi, refused to comment on Howard's allegations（断言，主张） about church interference（冲突，干扰）, saying his charges were purely designed to drum up publicity for the film.

Science vs religion

Catholic critics were unhappy with The Da Vinci Code which suggests that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children, creating a royal bloodline that Church officials kept secret for centuries.

But Howard challenged them to see the new movie before condemning⁹ it.

"My only frustration¹⁰ as a film-maker is that we actually reached out a couple of times, to sort of offer opportunities for bishops¹² and others just to see the film. And those opportunities have all been declined," he said.

"So far all the criticism, all of the complaints about the film have been coming from people who haven't seen it."

Over the weekend, a 102-year-old Italian bishop¹¹ was quoted in the Italian media calling the film "highly denigrating¹³（玷污， 辱名）, defamatory（诽谤的） and offensive to Church values".

However, the storyline of Angels & Demons does not raise questions about Jesus Christ - it is billed as a "science vs religion" thriller¹⁴ that deals with an attempt to hijack¹⁵ a papal election（教皇选举）.

Howard's adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, which was panned（严厉批评） by critics, earned more than $750m (£505m) at the box office worldwide.

Angels & Demons will be released in the UK on 15 May.