Over the weekend, it was announced that Matt Damon is in talks to star in Zhang Yimou's THE GREAT WALL. Damon's still trying to fit it in his schedule between THE MARTIAN and that BOURNE movie him and Greengrass are doing, but now it looks like there's a badass co-star waiting to work with him if he signs on...
The film is about a group of 15-century British soldiers whose fates get intertwined with the construction of the Ming Dynasty portions of the Great Wall of China. Cranston and Damon would ostensibly be donning accents as two of the soldiers.
THE GREAT WALL almost got going last year with Henry Cavill, Benjamin Walker and possibly Zhang Ziyi (with Edward Zwick at the helm), but it's been given a Tony Gilroy polish and is now coming together under the legendary Yimou. Apparently, this is a crucial part of Legendary's continuing attempt at getting a foothold in the Chinese film industry, and Thomas Tull is set on pushing this past the finish line, despite the tumultuous pre-production.
This should go without saying, but if you haven't already, I urge you to check out HERO, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, and/or HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS immediately.
Damon and Cranston have yet to work together (though Cranston was fun in Mrs. Damon's ARGO), and I like the idea of watching them spar for the first time in a Gilroy-written, Yimou-directed, Chinese-set historical epic.
Who knows, maybe Cranston will make Damon his new Jesse (sorry, Aaron Paul!).
