According to Deadline, Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston is in early discussions with Legendary to co-star in their upcoming epic, The Great Wall. No word on who the actor may be in line to portray, but today’s announcement comes hot on the heels of Saturday’s news that Matt Damon is in talks with Chinese director Zhang Yimou – inked to direct – for a role. Damon’s slate is already starting to get crowded, but the pair are reportedly trying to arrange a time in his busy schedule so he can snag the other lead.
Based on a script by Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro, the film will be produced by Thomas Tull, Charles Roven, Jon Jashni, Richard Suckle and Peter Loehr. In development for quite some time now, the project originally had Ed Zwick attached to direct. Man Of Steel Henry Cavill, True Blood‘s Alexander Skarsgaard, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter star Benjamin Walker were all at one time in the running for the lead as well.
As that iteration failed to get the greenlight, Legendary are now starting from scratch to get the film rolling again. Whether or not it will still follow the original storyline is unknown, but the premise that was released back in 2012 still sounds very intriguing:
“… an adventure film about British warriors traveling through 15th Century China and happen upon the hurried construction of the massive wall. As night falls, the warriors realize that the haste in building the wall isn’t just to keep out the Mongols. There is something inhuman and more dangerous.”
At that time, the flick was reportedly based on an original short story by Max Brooks (World War Z) titled Great Wall: A Story From The Zombie War.
If this is still the case, expect The Great Wall to be a bloody, adventurous undead romp – headed up by Heisenberg himself.
