ACTRESS Naomi Watts has been tipped to star in the prequel to The Da Vinci Code.

The Shoreham-born beauty is expected to be the leading lady in Angels and Demons, the big screen adaptation of Dan Brown’s prequel to his hugely successful - and controversial - book.

It is thought that King Kong star Miss Watts, 39, will appear as Vittoria, daughter of murdered Italian physicist Leonardo Vetra, and star alongside Tom Hanks, reprising his role as symbologist Robert Langdon.

However, filming on the feature has been seriously delayed by the writers’ strike currently in place in Hollywood, and its release has been pushed back from 2008 to 2009.

Angels and Demons was written three years before the best-selling Da Vinci Code, and introduces the character of Robert Langdon as he tries to unravel a conspiracy plot by the mysterious Illuminati.