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Bryan Cranston will return to Broadway in 'Network' adaptation

By Ray Downs
Actor Bryan Cranston attends the screening of 'Isle Of Dogs' at the Berlinale Palace in Berlin on February 15. Cranston will return to Broadway this November in the lead role in 'Network,' based on the 1976 film. File Photo by Paul Treadway/ UPI
1 of 3 | Actor Bryan Cranston attends the screening of 'Isle Of Dogs' at the Berlinale Palace in Berlin on February 15. Cranston will return to Broadway this November in the lead role in 'Network,' based on the 1976 film. File Photo by Paul Treadway/ UPI | License Photo

Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Bryan Cranston will return to Broadway this fall with the lead role in Network, the stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning 1976 film.

Cranston will play the lead role of Howard Beale, a burned-out network news anchor who takes his frustrations on-air and delivers one of the most memorable lines in film history: "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore."

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The play will run for 18 weeks at the Cort Theater, beginning on Nov. 10. This will be Network's second run after premiering in London last year.

Cranston has already won acclaim for his role as Beale. Earlier this year, he took home an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play for his London performance.

The Broadway version of Network will be directed by Ivo Van Hove, who directed the London run. And the stage adaptation was written by Lee Hall -- best known for penning Billy Elliot -- based on Paddy Chayefky's Oscar-winning screenplay.

"We are excited as hell to bring Ivo van Hove's brilliantly innovative and electrifying production of Network to Broadway this fall," the producers said in a statement. "The incomparable Bryan Cranston brings Howard Beale to brilliant life and we are so thrilled for American audiences to have the opportunity to experience his masterful performance and this spectacular new play."

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Cranston last appeared on Broadway in 2014 in his Tony award-winning role as President Lyndon B. Johnson in All the Way.

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