After tense negotiations that almost sent “Breaking Bad” to another network, AMC finally renewed the show last year for a fifth and final season of 16 episodes. At the time, it was rumored that the fifth season of “Breaking Bad” would be split in two. But an official statement regarding the split has yet to be released.
However, “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston confirmed the split in no uncertain terms during a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“We’re splitting it,” Cranston told the magazine. “We’re going to shoot the first eight, then take a four-month production break, then the rest will air next year.”
A spokesman for Sony Pictures TV responding to Cranston’s quote said that the four month production break was only “one scenario” under consideration. And while fans will presumably be upset about having to wait almost a calender year for the conclusion of the series, it may be in AMC’s best interests to hold the final episodes of “Breaking Bad” back. For starters, it will give the network two more summers with one of its most critically acclaimed shows and it will presumably be eligible to rack up more Emmy Awards as well.
The fifth season premiere of “Breaking Bad” is currently filming in New Mexico; and according to Cranston, it takes place shortly after the harrowing events of the fourth season finale.
“We pick up right where we left off,” noted Cranston. “We’re cleaning up the pieces from last season’s huge ordeal where Gus Fring was forced to meet his maker. It’s not as easy as Walter thought. And as we’ve discovered over the years, you don’t really know who Walter White is. I’m still discovering who he is and I’m trying to allow myself to be open to him going darker and darker. There’s physical danger to himself and his family, plus there’s the emotional danger due to his anger and hubris. It’s about the evil that men do and where that takes him.”
“Breaking Bad” will return to AMC this summer.
