NEW YORK (AFP) - Popular television drama Breaking Bad is coming back as a movie, the show's star Bryan Cranston said, but it was not clear if his iconic character Walter White would return as well.

The series, which ran from 2008 until 2013, told the story of White, a high-school science teacher who responds to a terminal cancer diagnosis by turning into a powerful drug lord.

It is one of the best-reviewed shows in TV history and earned 16 Emmys, including four best actor prizes for Cranston, and two Golden Globes.

"There appears to be a movie version of Breaking Bad but I honestly have not even read the script," Cranston, 62, said on The Dan Patrick Show, a national radio programme.

"So there's question whether or not we would even see Walter White in this movie."

He added that he would "absolutely" be interested in bringing White back should show creator Vince Gilligan ask him to do so.

"It was the greatest professional period of my life. And I can't wait to see those people even if I just come by to visit."

Cranston, an Oscar nominee for best actor in 2016 for his work on the Hollywood-set biopic Trumbo, said he believed the film would offer fans some more closure for "at least a couple" of the characters.

Several Hollywood media outlets said the tentative title of the project was Greenbrier.

The New Mexico Film Office confirmed that a movie of the same name, produced by Sony, would start shooting this month, and wrap in February.

The TV series was also filmed in the south-western state.