Officials at the Vatican are allegedly planning to authorise a boycott of upcoming movie Angels & Demons (2009).

The picture, which stars Tom Hanks, is the prequel to 2006's The Da Vinci Code, based on the bestselling novel by Dan Brown, and is due for release this summer.

Church officials previously called for a boycott of Hanks' first outing in the thriller series - and now it looks as if the second movie in the franchise will also cause controversy because of its religious overtones, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The Vatican's officials newspaper, Avvenire, ran a story on Friday, stating that Catholic Church "cannot approve" of the movie, with another Italian publication La Stampa, warning that officials will call for a boycott ahead of the film's release in May.

Source: Press Release