‘Angels’ like heading to … uh, church?

Now that “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and “Star Trek” have gotten the 2009 summer-movie season off to a bang-up start, racking up a combined $208.2 million since May 1, we’ll have a chance to see how well Ron Howard, Tom Hanks and the Catholic Church can add to the total.

“Angels & Demons,” which opens Friday, is the second entry in Howard’s adaptation of Dan Brown’s novels , the first being 2006’s “The DaVinci Code.” What’s interesting is that “Angels & Demons” is actually a prequel to “The DaVinci Code,” being published in 2000, a full three years before the sequel.

Sony/Columbia’s decision to open the film this Friday seems to be smart. Yes, it follows “Wolverine” and “Trek,” the latter of which, at least, will still be packing in the fans. But it’s opening against pretty much nothing else. And since it will play to a whole different set of fans, it might just make the $71 million that at least one Web site is predicting.

That would be good for Howard, Hanks and Brown – especially Brown, who essentially wrote the same book twice. But, hey, who’s counting?

Below: The trailer for Ron Howard’s “Angels & Demons”