Bryan Cranston Rumored for ‘Breaking Bad’ Movie Sequel

Sony Pictures TV is reportedly moving ahead with its plans for a Breaking Bad movie sequel, and Bryan Cranston may reprise his titular role as Walter White.

Sources close to the production told The Hollywood Reporter that both Cranston and Aaron Paul will be back in the desert to revisit their iconic characters. The movie is expected to run about two hours, and while it will probably be made for TV, it will have the budget and the scope of a blockbuster movie.

The Breaking Bad movie will serve as a sequel to the beloved AMC drama. How Walter White will play a role in the new story is something of a mystery. As fans of the original series will remember, the unlikely drug kingpin suffered a mortal gunshot wound in the series finale, and lay bleeding on the floor as police swarmed his competitor’s compound, apparently dead.

The sequel is expected to focus more on Jesse, Walter’s former student, friend and assistant. In the big finale, Walter freed Jesse from the rival gang’s basement, where he was being held prisoner producing meth for them. Jesse drove off into the night crying with joy as the show came to a close, presumably leaving his life of crime behind.

Of course, Walter could come back in flashbacks, dream sequences or hallucinations. The series’ heavy use of drugs leaves plenty of room for those kinds of intercessions.

Producers would likely find any chance they could to get Walter into the movie. The show was centered around his descent into evil, as he went from a mild-mannered chemistry teacher to the most infamous meth dealer in the country.

At the same time, Cranston was quick to reveal that he wanted in on the upcoming movie. During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, he said that he would love to reprise his role, though at the time he claimed that he had no idea if it would actually happen.

“There appears to be a movie version of Breaking Bad, but I honestly have not even read the script… I have not gotten the script, I have not read the script,” Cranston said. “So there’s question of whether or not we will even see Walter White in this movie.”

When Patrick asked if Cranston would accept the role if it was offered, he left no doubt.

“I would, I would. Absolutely. If Vince Gilligan asked me to do it, sure, absolutely,” he said. “He’s a genius, and it’s a great story. And there’s a lot of people who felt that they wanted to see some kind of completion to some of these storylines that were left open.”

Meanwhile, AMC’s new head of programming, Dan Madden, told THR that it just made good sense for networks like theirs to take advantage of existing properties.

“It’s hard to get attention for anything, so when you have a title that bears meaning because it’s connected to a franchise or meaningful IP, why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of it?” he said.

The Breaking Bad movie is in the very early stages. Check back for updates on casting, production and release dates.