Posted in: AMC, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: better call saul, breaking bad, cable, Sony Pictures Television, streaming, television, vince gilligan

Breaking Bad Creator Vince Gilligan, Sony Pictures TV Extend Deal

Between AMC's Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and Netflix's sequel film El Camino, franchise creator Vince Gilligan and Sony Pictures Television have had wonderfully creative 15 years together- and now it sounds like it's going to last a little longer. Deadline Hollywood is reporting exclusively that Gilligan has signed an "eight-figure" overall deal with the production company. "Recently I was talking to my excellent agents (at ICM Partners,) and they reminded me my current deal was at its end. I pondered my options for maybe twenty seconds, then decided to re-up," Gilligan said in a statement. "It was a no-brainer: Sony is very generous to me, they've been a great place to work and I like everybody there, from Tony Vinciquerra, Jeff Frost, and Jason Clodfelter on down. Also, having put in fifteen years already, I'm only a decade shy of receiving a gold Walkman." The deal will keep Gilligan on Better Call Saul through its sixth and final season, and also covers a project he has in development through his company High Bridge Productions.

Back in March of this year, AMC Networks revealed a line-up of original digital series content set for production through its in-house branded integration agency The Content Room (via AMCN Digital Originals) which caught the eye of fans of Better Call Saul. In Better Call Saul Employee Training, it's a new season of the Emmy-winning series that features all-new characters from the show's universe. In the animated Slippin' Jimmy, the spotlight shines on the adventures of young Jimmy and Chuck McGill and friends back home in Cicero, IL. Created in the retro style of Fat Albert, each episode contains nods to everything from spaghetti Westerns to Buster Keaton to After Hours.

During an interview at the end of February, Odenkirk confirmed that he was heading out to start filming. He also confirmed that he's seen the first two scripts, but that he only knows how things are going "script-by-script" and that the show's creators haven't told him how it's all going to end. The actor also says that he's heard the rumor of Bryan Cranston coming in to direct an episode but he didn't know if that was going to happen. As for the season itself, Odenkirk says that the "wheels come off" and it "explodes in a million directions" but couldn't confirm if that meant an ultra-violent final season or if that was more thematic. As for Jimmy's final fate, Odenkirk said he's interested to see if he could become the anti-Walter White (Cranston)- is it possible for Jimmy to be in " a better place in end in than he started in." The actor also credited Breaking Bad for preparing the audience to appreciate details- a skill that will be important as its spinoff series nears its end: "everything will pay off and matter."

Until recently, most of the talk about what's to come has focused on Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman (Odenkirk) and Kim Wexler (Seehorn)- and understandably so. But what about our favorite flash-forward character, "Gene Takovic" (Jimmy's new persona)? After having his cover blown at the beginning of the fifth season by a cabbie who would then make the mistake of making Jimmy feel like a performing monkey after tracking him to the Cinnabon he manages. Probably not a good move since this time, Jimmy's going to take matters into his own hands and "fix it myself."

"I'd like to think he learned something about how to manage yourself and your inspirations, your drives, in the course of all these adventures, including 'Breaking Bad,'" Odenkirk explained during an interview with The Wrap. "We'll see what Gene, how he behaves as a more experienced person having lost everything — at least one time. I wonder what Gene will do to protect himself, or to strike back at the world." Revealing that Jimmy will be in a "real delicate place" when the series returns, Odenkirk says that Jimmy isn't quite sure he's prepared to set up shop in a much darker and deadlier underworld. 'He's really got himself in serious, life-threatening danger. And he's kind of shaken by his incident in the desert. He's actually a little reticent, and more unsure of himself than he's ever been," the actor reveals. "Jimmy just sort of thought he can play with these scary guys. He's discovering that there are very serious and consequential consequences on what they do."

But since the series is a prequel to Breaking Bad, viewers know that the series' ending is also the beginning of a very different journey for Jimmy/Saul. But what is it that finally seals the deal that leaves Saul Goodman the alpha persona? Revealing that he's "one very bad move away," Odenkirk says that whatever does finally flip the switch inside of Jimmy's mind, it won't take much to do it. "He's pretty much close to there, I'd say. But something big still has to happen to trip him over into, I think, full Saul mode. I imagine it has a lot to do with Kim Wexler."

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