'Breaking Bad' Spanish Remake: Everything We Know About 'Metástasis'

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has released more details regarding their Spanish-language remake of Breaking Bad. The show will be called Metástasis (a reference to metastasizing cancer), and will follow Vince Gilligan’s study of cancer-stricken Walter White as he changes from a chemistry teacher to a methamphetamine kingpin, or as Gilligan famously put it, "From Mr. Chips to Scarface." However, while the main plot will be the same, there will be some minor changes.

The most significant change is that the RV in which Jesse and Walt began their cooking will be replaced by a different kind of mobile meth lab. "Motor homes are not popular in Colombia," Angelica Guerra, SPT's senior vice president of production for Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market, told the Hollywood Reporter. "So audiences will see Walter and Jose cooking up their first several batches of methamphetamine in an old, barely drivable school bus."

The initial casting revealed name changes for the characters. Walter White will be Walter Blanco. Skyler will be Cielo, which is Spanish for "sky." Hank is Henry, and Jesse is Jose. You can see the new cast below.

Image via Heisenberg Chronicles.

Sony’s rationale for the remake? "Breaking Bad is a fantastic series that wasn't widely seen in Latin America, partly because cable doesn't yet have full penetration in the region," according to Guerra. "[But] there is a universality to the story and its characters that we recognized could work very well."

It might be worth watching a few episodes on Univision's UniMas network, if only to see how credible Walter Blanco's school bus is. What do you think? Does it make sense to create a Spanish remake?