Yesterday it was reported that a movie set in the world of Breaking Bad with the involvement of series creator Vince Gilligan would begin filming this month. Upon the initial report not much was known aside from a simple logline coming from an Albuquerque Journal article stating the film “tracks the escape of a kidnapped man and his quest for freedom.” and that it would be filming under the name Greenbriar. This sounded like it would follow Jesse Pinkman in the immediate aftermath of the shows finale. Then today Slash Film dropped an exclusive confirming that the film would indeed follow Pinkman and would see series star Aaron Paul return to the role that earned him three Emmy awards.

As a long time fan of Breaking Bad I couldn’t be more excited. I loved the series and will praise it every chance I get. Now if you had asked me immediately after the finale in 2013 I would have rejected the idea of a film that acts as a direct sequel to the show. At the time I was very much happy with the ending and didn’t need anything to further the story because it felt complete. I do still feel the same way but in the time between the finale and now I have developed a head canon for what happens to Jesse, especially after rewatching the series this past February. This has definitely made me curious to actually see what Vince Gilligan would have in store for Jesse after escaping from the neo-nazis and now we’re getting it.

It’s unclear right now if this is to be a made for television movie or if it will receive a proper theatrical release, but either way I’m on board. Another aspect that has me so keen on this idea is the fact that we’ve already seen the world of Breaking Bad expanded beyond the original series. Better Call Saul has proven that this world can be expanded and works even without the electric performance of Bryan Cranston as Walter White. The show in its first three seasons (yes it has a fourth but I have yet to watch it) managed to be on par with the original series in terms of writing, clever solutions to problems and character work. Better Call Saul has greatly proven that Vince Gilligan still has what it takes to make this a compelling world to be a part of. So any worry of this potentially ruining the perfect ending Breaking Bad had aren’t there for me.

Unfortunately despite Slash Film’s exclusive we still don’t have many details about the movie. There’s no director officially attached, we only know that Vince Gilligan will write and produce the film. On a personal note I would love for Rian Johnson to direct. Johnson directed the 14^th episode in the fifth season titled Ozymandias, which is not only my favourite episode of the series but my favourite episode of any show ever. Now this dream of mine to have Johnson direct isn’t going to pan out since the director already has a film that will be going into production soon. So yeah maybe voicing my desire to see him return to the franchise was a waste of time but I do really enjoy to gush about Johnson anytime I can so it was worth it for me.

Additionally we don’t know any sort of release date but given that it starts filming this month and production is to wrap in February next year it could feasibly be released around this time next year. The show rarely featured any special effects that would require a lengthy postproduction process. I imagine this new film will follow suit.

What do you think about the idea of a Breaking Bad movie acting as a direct sequel to the series? Would you rather just leave what happened to Jesse up to your imagination or would you like to know what definitively happened? Let me know by either commenting here or by reaching out to me on twitter @nerdycasual. Thanks for reading and be sure to share this around.