Bryan Cranston Can't Be in Every Single Movie Being Produced, Forced to Drop Out of The Gangster Squad
Posted 07.21.11 by Ryan
While Bryan Cranston (AMC's Breaking Bad) is still on his quest for total domination of Hollywood with a number of roles lined up in upcoming movies, the actor has been forced to drop out of one project: period police drama Gangster Squad.
Cranston was cast as LAPD officer Max Kennard in June, one of the favorite characters of screenwriter, and former Los Angeles police officer, Will Beall, who tweeted the following about Cranston's casting to a follower (nice work, @Cherylhe) earlier this month:
Yeah, Cranston's rad and Max Kennard might be my favorite member of the squad. So I'm stoked.
Alas, Cranston's participation was not to be. Director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, 30 Minutes or Less) recently told Black Boom Magazine (via The Playlist) about the "bummer" situation that led Cranston to dropping out of the movie due to scheduling issues with another movie.
This is a bummer, I don’t think he’s going to be able to be in the movie. He got offered Argo, and we were hoping he would be able to do Argo and then do our film, but it doesn’t look that way. Everybody wants a piece of Bryan now. He’s the belle of the ball.
What a surprise, Cranston is too busy with a movie to shoot another movie. Argo is based on a 2007 Wired article "How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran" and will see Cranston playing CIA agent Jack O'Donnell. Ben Affleck, who ironically was offered the director's chair for Gangster Squad but turned it down, is directing and starring in the movie.
For those despondent that a movie is being produced without Cranston's participation, don't worry. The actor has several additional projects lined up, with an inadvertent Cranston movie marathon starting in September with the viral thriller Contagion (opening Sept. 9) and the action thriller Drive (Sept. 16). In 2012, Cranston can be seen in the George Lucas–produced, World War II biopic Red Tails (which is likely to be released in early 2012), the sci-fi epic John Carter (March 9), the musical Rock of Ages (June 1), and in the Total Recall remake (August 3) as the villainous Cohaagen.
For those wanting to enjoy Cranston in the comfort of their own home, Breaking Bad just started its fourth season and the actor appears as the voice of Jim Gordon in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie, Batman: Year One, arriving on DVD October 18.