‘Breaking Bad’ Creator Wants Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul For ‘Saul’ Spinoff
Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan said he wants to bring stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul back for the spinoff based on Bob Odenkirk’s sleazy strip mall lawyer Saul Goodman.
The spinoff, tentatively titled Better Call Saul, is set before the events of Breaking Bad, but Gilligan told The Hollywood Reporter he would love to find a way to work Walter White (Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Paul) into the show. Gilligan also confessed that he had some trepidation about the Saul prequel series.
“There’s obviously a danger inherent in doing a spinoff, but I just love the character of Saul Goodman so much, and part of me doesn’t want to say no to this world,” Gilligan said. “We’ve had to find the ongoing itch that Saul needs to scratch, so to speak, or else we wouldn’t have much of a show.”
Gilligan also said Cranston and Paul, as well as a few other Breaking Bad characters, have expressed an interest in appearing in the spinoff.
“Personally, I’d have a hard time resisting putting all these guys in for a cameo or two every now and then,” he said.
Better Call Saul was initially conceived as a half-hour sitcom, but Gilligan said he and producer Peter Gould, who created the character during season two, were uncomfortable with the format.
“We’re both one-hour drama guys. So we figured, ‘Why not shoot Saul in the same way,'” Gilligan said.
“Let’s shoot it in Albuquerque, let’s get as much of the crew back together as possible, and let’s do it the way we did it before so that it will be of a piece with that pre-existing fictional universe that we had so much fun creating,” he added.
Earlier this month, Bob Odenkirk said Gilligan initially told him the Saul spinoff would be dark rather than funny, but that he was up for the challenge. There was also the possibility of it being set in Chicago, where Saul is from, rather than Breaking Bad‘s Albuquerque setting.
“Vince Gilligan and the writers will make the ultimate decision, but Vince has told me, the last time he talked to me he said that it will slightly dark than it is funny,” Odenkirk said. “That’s an interesting balance to strike. And I’m excited.”
Gilligan told THR that the Saul spinoff will be the opposite of Breaking Bad, and that he and Gould — who will be the showrunner — anticipated it being set in an office with a lighter tone than its predecessor.
The Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul is tentatively scheduled to air sometime between next August and October. Vince Gilligan said he plans to be in the writers’ room full-time for at least the first season, and is already scheduled to direct the pilot.
