Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has started work on a brand new original series, kindly filling the void that’s about to kick in as Better Call Saul draws to an end.
Deadline reports that Gilligan - the mastermind behind both Breaking Bad and its Saul Goodman-centred spin-off – is working on a new drama project, which, once again, will be a ‘wholly original idea’.
It’s been described as a ‘blended, grounded genre drama’, which will be ‘thought-provoking but not a morality tale’.
According to Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva, the new Sony TV Pictures project is a ‘departure’ from the crime-related themes of the Breaking Bad franchise, with plans for the show to run ‘over a couple of seasons with an overreaching story arc’.
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“Word is that the new show harkens back to Gilligan’s tenure on The X-Files. But don’t expect a sci-fi drama — when he was a writer-producer on The X-Files, Gilligan was known for focusing more on the human condition in his episodes, which is something he is said to also be doing in his new series, exploring similar themes of bending reality while holding a mirror to humanity,” Andreeva wrote, noting how it has already been compared to The Twilight Zone.
While the project is in its early stages, Gilligan has written material to accompany the pitch to help give prospective buyers a sense of what it will be like, with the belief that it will be set in our world but with a ‘tweak’.
Andreeva said there is already ‘a lot of anticipation in the marketplace for the pitch’, which is expected to come out within the next couple of weeks – with at least eight or nine networks and platforms lined up to hear it.
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Meanwhile, Gilligan and has ruled out another Breaking Bad instalment – for now, at least.
Speaking at the Television Critics Association 2022 summer press tour, Gilligan said he simply didn’t want to overdo the franchise, explaining: “Vegas metaphors are probably a mistake, but you just can’t keep putting all your money on red 21 over and over again.
“We probably pushed it doing a spinoff of Breaking Bad. I could not be more happy with the results, and then I did El Camino [a Breaking Bad sequel film], and I’m very proud of that, but… you better know when to leave the party.”
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Gilligan added: “So I don’t have any plans right now to do anything more in this universe.”
He also said he was asked the same question at the end of Breaking Bad, when he had the same answer.
"I gotta prove to myself that I’m not a one-trick pony,” Gilligan said.
“I love working with these people - I want to keep the band together no matter what, but with a different universe.”
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Topics: Film and TV
Jess Hardiman