Emmy, Tony, and SAG award-winning actor Bryan Cranston is close to joining Matt Damon in the upcoming historical drama The Great Wall for Legendary Pictures, as reported by Deadline. Zang Yimou, who helmed the 2011 war drama The Flowers of War starring Christian Bale, is attached to direct.
At this point Legendary is still negotiating with both actors to join the film. The most recent draft of the script was written by The Bourne Legacy’s Tony Gilroy, with a previous draft by Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro (who together wrote Prince of Persia).
While Cranston will always be identified with his iconic, Emmy-winning role as Walter White on the TV series Breaking Bad, he has shown his range over the years, most recently with his well-received turn on Broadway as President LBJ in All the Way, for which he was awarded the Tony for Best Actor. Cranston has several other film roles on the horizon, including Trumbo, in which he will play successful writer Dalton Trumbo, who was brought down by the Hollywood Blacklist. That movie is eyeing a 2015 release. Cranston is also set to star in the Errol Morris-directed black comedy Holland, Michigan, alongside Edgar Ramirez (Zero Dark Thirty).
Damon is in pre-production on director Ridley Scott’s space drama The Martian. He also is rumored to be reprising his role as Jason Bourne in the just-announced sequel, which is slated to be released in 2016.
Provided the actors are able to work out their schedules, Legendary is hoping to begin production on The Great Wall in early 2015.
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