You know that very-real Breaking Bad movie AMC has not-so-quietly been filming in Albuquerque, New Mexico—the one already confirmed by series star Bryan Cranston, the one that has visibly recreated several Breaking Bad locales? Co-lead Aaron Paul swears he knows nothing about it.
“Rumors are funny — I once heard a rumor that I was being cast as Han Solo,” Paul said of a potential Breaking Bad film, during Variety’s weekend Coffee Talk event at the Sun Valley Film Festival. “I haven’t heard anything about the Breaking Bad movie, but if there is one and it comes together, I’d love to be a part of it. . . If it were to happen, yes, I would love to do it.”
Paul astutely continued: “In case you haven’t caught up on the TV series, Walter dies, so. . . it has to star Jesse.” The series famously ended with Jesse Pinkman escaping his Neo-Nazi kidnappers and beginning a quest for freedom. Perhaps coincidentally, as Deadline noted last month,, a film called Greenbriar—which follows “the escape of a kidnapped man and his quest for freedom,” per the Albuquerque Journal—allegedly began production in Albuquerque last fall. Hmm.
Far less coy was Bryan Cranston last November, who confirmed the Breaking Bad feature project in an interview on The Dan Patrick Show. Cranston did not, however, confirm whether his character, Walter White, might resurface in the film. “I don’t know if there’s an appearance . . . flashbacks, flash-forwards . . . but I’m excited about it, because it’s Breaking Bad, and it was the greatest professional period of my life,” he said. “And I can’t wait to see all those people again, even if I just come by to visit.”
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan is said to have written the film’s script, and to have directed and executive produced it as well. Netflix will reportedly have first-run rights on the project, though the film will also air on the franchise’s home network of AMC. Paul’s involvement remains hearsay for now, though he certainly couldn’t do worse as a new Han Solo.
