I've never seen a moment of Breaking Bad, but everybody swears by Aaron Paul, and since he's taken home a pair of Emmy Awards for it he must be damn good. Other than his appearances on HBO's Big Love, my only real exposure to him was in this week's alcoholism drama, Smashed, and in it he was sortof engulfed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead's dominating performance. Studios are high on him, though, and now he's landed a high-profile potential franchise to call his own.
EW reports that Paul will headline their upcoming adaptation of Need for Speed, the best-selling street racing video game from Electronic Arts. Directed by Scott Waugh(Act of Valor), details are slim on the project right now but it's not expected to be based on any individual game in the series, and will instead be a throwback to the fast-paced car flicks of the 1970s.
Dreamworks is banking a lot on this, so for them to put their faith in Paul is a pretty big deal. Filming begins early next year for release on February 7th 2014.
