Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston In Talks To Play TOTAL RECALL Villain

By Ben Szwediuk /

You may be forgiven for believing the endlessly discussed Total Recall remake is something of a frenetic shambles. And, although the director (Len Wiseman) and the lead actor (Colin Farrell), have been established for some time, names are picked up and dropped for this €œre-imagining€- one neither needed nor wanted- like hot potatoes by hungry scouts at a camp fire. The latest name to be linked with one of the film€™s villains is Bryan Cranston, primarily known for his long-time depiction of Malcom in the Middle€™s dad Hal in the long running American sitcom, but more recently kicking ass in Breaking Bad. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cranston is already in talks to play Vilos Cohaagen, who was played by Ronny Cox in the 1990 adaptation of the Philip K Dick novel, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale". However, it isn€™t exactly clear the nature of the villain Cranston may depict as the original narrative has been tweaked to include some- supposedly- allegorical conflict that exists between the Martian colonies of Euromerica and New Shanghai. It is likely then that the relationshiop between the Cohaagen character and that of Douglas Quaid (Farrell) maybe somewhat more complex than in the Schwarzenegger classic. This remake is being overseen by Columbia and produced by Neal Mortiz (I Am Legend) through his Original Film (!) company and the already completed screenplay is by Kurt Wimmer, currently coming off a critical bashing for Angelina Jolie action film Salt.