Vince Gilligan in no hurry to make a third show in the Breaking Bad universe
Gilligan: "There are stories left to tell, but it’s not proving something to the world, it’s about proving something to yourself."
Vince Gilligan has spent the last 14 years of his career in and around a fictional, meth-y version of Albuquerque, New Mexico: First, with Breaking Bad, the series that transformed him from a well-respected X-Files alumnus into one of TV’s go-to hitmakers, and then with Better Call Saul and BB follow-up film El Camino, which proved that he was much more than just the first guy who realized that the dad from Malcolm In The Middle could really act.
(And, yes, here is where we should note that Gilligan technically took a year off from the Bad-iverse back in 2015, co-creating a show called Battle Creek for CBS. You caught us, Battle Creek stans. Enjoy your hollow crowns.)
All that being said: Gilligan has made it clear that it’s time to maybe take a break from this whole “gorgeous Southwestern vistas marred by the meth trade” business, noting to Deadline at the premiere of the final portion of Better Call Saul last night that we shouldn’t expect him to dive into a third TV series set in this particular criminal universe.
To be clear, Gilligan hasn’t actually told people what he’s working on yet—including his wife, he revealed on the red carpet last night. But “It’s something really different.” (It is also probably not a remake of Trapper John, M.D., despite Gilligan cracking a joke about the research he did while figuring out how to spin-off Breaking Bad for Saul.)
Gilligan’s producing partner Peter Gould agreed, despite the obvious allure of a Kim Wexler standalone show that had better be technically viable because they damn well better not kill off Kim Wexler: “I love these characters, I love this world,” Gould said. “Maybe someday, but personally I’m going to take a little break from that world and try something else, just to prove that I can.”
Of course, first they’ve got to finish off Saul, which returns for the final half of its final season on April 18. Gilligan hinted that a couple of long-anticipated cameos might be in the works: When asked about whether Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul might finally pop into the prequel’s narrative, he replied, “It would be a damn shame if the show ended without them appearing, would it not?”