Insert your own "Speed? But I thought he made meth?” gags here. Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman – better known as actor Aaron Paul – has signed on to lead DreamWorks’ adaptation of racing game franchise Need For Speed.

DreamWorks dropped some cash to buy the rights from Electronic Arts back in April, with Real Steel writer John Gatins tooling up a script alongside brother George.

Then, in June, Act Of Valour director Scott Waugh signed on to raise the checkered flag on the film adaptation, which according to the studio’s press release will be “rooted in the tradition of the great car culture films of the 70s while being extremely faithful to the spirit of the video game franchise. In Need For Speed, the cars are hot, the racing is intense and the story keeps players at the edge of their seat.”

As for the story, no one is quite saying, though it won’t be based on any single edition of the game, even though the franchise has become more plot-driven in the last instalment. We’re hoping that scoring an actor as solid as Paul means everyone involved is looking to make this a little more thoughtful than your average car pic (even if, as Fast & Furious: Rio Heist proved, brain-in-neutral, adrenaline-in-top-gear can also be fun).

Paul, who has brought real depth and emotion to the role of Pinkman on Breaking Bad, will next be seen on the big screen in Smashed alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

In related Breaking Bad news, we were the ones who knocked today, and managed to track down Bryan Cranston for a special, Bad-touching podcast. Expect that on November 1 – and why not take a listen to some of the other podcasts we’ve got lurking in the back catalogue?