Better Call Saul Producer: Season 6 Production Likely Delayed Until 2021

The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul likely won't begin production until 2021 due to the [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul likely won't begin production until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, series co-creator and showrunner Peter Gould says in an update on the Emmy-nominated Breaking Bad prequel. The 13-episode sixth season was due to begin filming in September, according to Lalo Salamanca actor Tony Dalton, whose character was involved in a cliffhanger ending the fifth season finale. In the new season still expected to arrive next year, Salamanca will seek revenge against drug lord Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) and informant Nacho Varga (Michael Mando), and audiences will learn what becomes of the relationship between criminal lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn).

"We were hoping to go into production by the end of the year," Gould told Deadline. "It doesn't seem likely that it's going to happen with the situation that we are in." Noting Sony Pictures Television is doing "everything humanly possible" to safely begin filming, Gould added, "I think we are probably going to delay a little bit, unfortunately."

In a separate interview with the Washington Post, producer Mark Johnson said coronavirus could limit where Saul shoots by potentially doing away with specific indoor locations.

"Like a lot of other people, we're going to have to be very creative in where and how we shoot. A lot of places just won't let you in," Johnson said, adding of the legal drama, "We don't want everything to be a chamber piece."

"But if many shows look different, I think that's okay because the world looks different," he said. "And if that doesn't work, then at least our show has a lot of deserts and open roads."

Franchise creator Vince Gilligan previously indicated the Bad Universe would come to a close with the final season of Saul, which sometimes takes place after the death of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in the series finale of Breaking Bad. White's accomplice and apprentice, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), received his ending in the straight-to-Netflix movie El Camino.

"I don't have any plans right now to do anything more with the Breaking Bad universe except for helping Peter Gould and the writers finish up Better Call Saul. Having said that, I have surprised myself in the past, clearly," Gilligan told Entertainment Weekly late last year. "But I'm starting to think — I used this expression a lot in 2013 — I don't want to overstay my welcome. I hope I haven't at this point."

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