Bryan Cranston joins the cast of Gangster Squad

Was Malcolm in the Middle holding Bryan Cranston back or something? I haven't seen a minute of Breaking Bad, but by most accounts he's spectacular in it. On the film front, he seems to be everywhere. Already this year he's shown up in Matthew McConaughey's The Lincoln Lawyer, and he'll be featured opposite Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in Larry Crowne tomorrow. He's got a part in Steven Soderbergh's film, Contagion, later this year, and let's not forget Drive with Ryan Gosling. Next year he'll be the bad guy in the Total Recall remake. What the heck? Now he's added yet another big time gig, having just been cast in Ruben Fleischer's crime flick, Gangster Squad.

Gangster Squad is based on a bunch of LA Times articles about a special team of cops established in the 1940s to helm stem the influence of the east coast mob on the west coast. Mickey Cohen, a member of the infamous "Jewish Mafia", will be played by Sean Penn. Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin are two of the cops determined to bring him down. Anthony Mackie is Rocky Washington, another member of the unit. Michael Pena has a role as well, with Cranston playing Max Kennard, a Texan who joins the LAPD.

Ruben Fleischer(Zombieland, 30 Minutes or Less) will direct, with production set to begin late this summer or early fall. [Variety]