ANAHEIM, California -- A "Breaking Bad" film set after the events of the hit television show and centered on meth addict-turned-cook Jesse Pinkman will be released on Netflix in October, the streaming giant said Saturday.
"El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie" will pick up the story after Pinkman escaped the clutches of a neo-Nazi gang with the help of kingpin Walter White in the AMC show's 2013 conclusion.
"In the wake of his dramatic escape from captivity, Jesse must come to terms with his past in order to forge some kind of future," Netflix said in a statement.
The "gripping thriller" is written and directed by Vince Gilligan, creator of the original series, which is widely acclaimed as one of the best TV dramas ever made.
"Breaking Bad" ran for five seasons from 2008 to 2013, and told the story of a high-school chemistry teacher diagnosed with cancer who starts cooking crystal meth -- often with former pupil Pinkman -- to provide for his family.
A teaser trailer for the film released Saturday shows another returning character, "Skinny Pete," telling police he has no idea where his friend Pinkman has gone.
"No way I'm helping you people put Jesse Pinkman back inside a cage," he says.
News of the long-rumored film broke earlier Saturday after Netflix users spotted a "placeholder" page on the streaming giant's platform giving the title and synopsis.
Though the page was subsequently deleted, The New York Times confirmed the report by publishing an interview with Paul.
"It's a chapter of 'Breaking Bad' that I didn't realize that I wanted," Paul said. "And now that I have it, I'm so happy that it's there."
Paul told the Times that Gilligan had phoned him two years ago with the proposal for a movie.
"I quickly told Vince that I would follow him into a fire," Paul responded.
The movie will be released on October 11, Netflix said.
The series' stars Bryan Cranston and Paul both tweeted cryptic messages hinting at a possible film earlier this year.
Local media in Albuquerque, where the original series was set and shot, reported last year that filming for the movie was under way.
Bob Odenkirk, the star of "Breaking Bad" spin-off "Better Call Saul," also said in a recent interview that he "can't wait to see" the movie.
The original series is widely credited with helping to usher in the current so-called "golden age" of television.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
After eight seasons and 73 episodes, HBO's long-running smash "Game of Thrones" came to its conclusion on Sunday night, with one more shocking demise and an unlikely character named as king.
With its last episode, which ran roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes, the medieval fantasy series, based on the novels of George R.R. Martin, wrapped up the storyline for more than a dozen characters and intertwining plots.
The show's fierce competition for the fictional Iron Throne -- the seat for the show's ruler, made out of hundreds of swords -- ended first with a death, and an unexpected choice to rule the show's fictional kingdom of Westeros.
It brings to a conclusion a show that became the cornerstone of HBO's primetime offerings, but its final season was also its most divisive, with both fans and critics finding specific plot developments -- particularly its handling of one of the primary characters -- troubling.
The final season has broken records for HBO, which says it has so far averaged 43 million viewers per episode in the United States alone -- an increase of 10 million over Season 7 in 2017.
Most notable in fans' criticism was the malevolent turn by Emilia Clarke's Daenerys Targaryen, the "Dragon Queen," who used her dragon to lay waste to the show's fictional capital after her enemies had surrendered.
The move angered fans, as the episode, titled "The Bells," currently garners the weakest ratings amongst all episodes in the show's eight-season run on Rottentomatoes.com, which aggregates critics' reviews.
Clarke's character had engaged in brutal actions in previous seasons, similar to other leaders depicted in the story, but the decision to kill tens of thousands of innocent people was viewed by many as too drastic based on the character's previous actions.
From its ragged beginnings -- the show's original pilot was never aired, instead undergoing substantial re-shoots and re-casting of several characters -- it became a cultural phenomenon. Its budgets grew, with a per-episode cost in its last season running as high as $15 million per episode, according to Variety. It also won numerous primetime television Emmy Awards, including three awards for Best Drama.
It became known for unexpected, nerve-wracking moments, including the first season's death of Eddard Stark, the nobleman played by Sean Bean, featured heavily in the show's marketing campaign, and Season 3's "Red Wedding," a massacre of critical characters in the show's fictional wars that author Martin drew from medieval Scottish history.
HBO already is in the planning stages for a prequel series to take place thousands of years prior to the show's fictional timeline, while its creators, Dan Weiss and David Benioff, are slated to make the next series of "Star Wars" films.
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LOS ANGELES -- Three former U.S. secretaries of state - Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright - will make guest appearances in October on political television drama "Madam Secretary," broadcaster CBS said on Tuesday.
The three have already filmed their episode, which involves fictional Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord, played by Tea Leoni, turning to her more experienced peers for advice when the series returns for a fifth season on October 7.
“It was a privilege to experience their perspectives and discourse both in and behind the scenes,” Barbara Hall, creator and executive producer of "Madam Secretary," said in a statement.
"Madam Secretary" portrays McCord's efforts to balance delicate diplomatic issues as well as personal stories and her family life.
The show launched in 2014, a year after Clinton stepped down from her post at the State Department after four years. In 2015, the Democrat declared she would run for president in 2016 but was defeated by Republican Donald Trump.
Clinton has appeared briefly on entertainment shows as herself, including a cameo on comedy "Broad City" in 2016 and with "Saturday Night Live" doppelganger Kate McKinnon in 2015.
Madeleine Albright, the first female secretary of state, served under Democratic President Bill Clinton. Colin Powell, secretary of state under Republican President George W. Bush, was the first black man to hold the post.
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LOS ANGELES - A zombie dragon, an illicit romance and satisfying revenge helped drive the season finale of "Game of Thrones" to a viewership high, HBO said Monday, as the seventh season drew record ratings.
A total of 12.1 million viewers watched Sunday's seventh season finale, titled "The Dragon and the Wolf," up 36 percent from the 8.9 million viewers who watched the season six finale. Viewership from replays and streams on HBO's on-demand apps boosted the overall Sunday ratings to 16.5 million viewers.
The seventh and penultimate season of Emmy-winning "Game of Thrones" drew an overall 30.8 million viewers, up nearly 8 million viewers from last season and cementing it as the most-watched show on Time Warner Inc's premium cable network HBO.
The record ratings came after hackers stole data and content from HBO and leaked it online, including scripts and unaired episodes of "Game of Thrones."
The seventh season saw the show's lead characters head towards a great battle over the Iron Throne reigning over the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, while a zombie army of White Walkers, led by the undead Night King, march south and threaten mankind's destruction.
Characters Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen finally came together to join forces against the White Walkers, the remaining Stark children reunite at their home in Winterfell and enact a satisfying revenge against master manipulator Petyr Baelish.
The Lannister siblings also reunite in King's Landing in a tense meeting that puts their family ties to the test.
Medieval fantasy "Game of Thrones," based on George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" books, has won numerous Emmy awards including best drama series last year. It is not eligible for this year's Emmy awards due to its summer premiere after production was pushed back to capture more winter landscapes for the storyline, but it will be back on the roster for next year's Emmy awards.
Ahead of the show's final eighth season next year, a series of spin-offs is being developed.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
