The project was originally developed as a feature film adaptation meant to star Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, to be directed by Ron Howard and produced by Brian Grazer and John Calley for Columbia Pictures.

Between 2010 and 2013, Sony Pictures hired three different screenwriters to work on the film adaptation: Steven Knight, Dan Brown himself, and Danny Strong.

In July 2013, Sony Pictures abandoned the film version of The Lost Symbol in favor of adapting Inferno instead, which was released in October 2016.

In June 2019, the project was revived as a television series under the working title 'Langdon', conceived as a prequel to the Robert Langdon film series, with Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie as co-creators and showrunners.

The show's final title, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, was only revealed on May 17, 2021, alongside the release of its first trailer.

Ashley Zukerman was cast as a young Robert Langdon in March 2020, followed by Valorie Curry and Eddie Izzard as Katherine and Peter Solomon in June 2020.

Principal photography for the first season took place in Toronto, Ontario, running from June 14 to October 20, 2021.

The series was cancelled by Peacock after just one season, on January 24, 2022, following mixed reviews (50% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 53/100).