Hollywood, CA — Breaking Bad fans around the world are celebrating the stunning, glorious and amazing news announced today: Walter White is not dead, and there will indeed be a sixth season of the wildly-popular, award-winning AMCdrama.

Vince Gilligan Announces Breaking Bad Season 6; Begins Shooting July 2015 – Walt Did Not Die!

UPDATE: 7/5/15 – NBC News has confirmed that filming for Breaking Bad Season Six will begin in August

http://nbc.com.co/vince-gilligan-announces-breaking-bad-season-6-begins-shooting-august-2015/

This shocking and exciting news comes not from an internet message board or the rumor mill but from series creator Vince Gilligan. In an exclusive CNN interview late Thursday evening, Gilligan dropped the bombshell.

“Walter White is not dead, and neither is Breaking Bad,” said the 47-year-old writer, director, and executive producer of the groundbreaking show.

“We’ve kept it under wraps for months, now the cat’s out of the bag. Season 6 is coming, and it’s going to be epic and true to the fans that have followed the show so incessantly.”

Gilligan explained his decision to continue with the popular series.

“I just couldn’t walk away from it. This isn’t a cash-grab or a sophomoric attempt to bastardize what was such a beautiful ending to season 5. I’ve invested so much of myself in these characters that I’d always had an inkling I’d return to it, even outside [the] Better Call Saul [spinoff]. The kicker was I’d need a spark, something that made it make sense for these stories to continue.”

The series star Bryan Cranston seemed to drop a major hint in an interview with CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield back in May. Asked by Banfield if his character, Walter White, died or not, Cranston said, “Hey, you never saw bags zip up or anything. Or say … you know.”

In response to questions about whether the character could show up in a movie or anywhere else ever again, Cranston said: “Never say never.”

Gilligan explained how the decision came about to do a season six.

“Bryan [Cranston] called me up last year and said he had this incredibly lucid dream in which Walt wakes up in a hospital bed surrounded by the DEA, ends up breaking out of prison and finds out he’s got fans,” Gilligan said. “This isn’t a redemption story, it’s got a bleak, dark premise. I can’t give away any more of the details, but let’s just say Walt has quite a bit of unfinished business to attend to, and it sure as hell has nothing to do with teaching high school science.”

According to Gilligan, the entire cast has principally agreed to return for at least one more season. This includes Bob Odenkirk, star of ‘Better Call Saul’, the prequel comedy series which just finished season one over at AMC.

“I’m not surprised in the least that Vince is going back to Breaking Bad,” said Odenkirk. “I’ve been working with him on set for a long time, and the last few times I’ve seen him, he’s had sort of a glint in his eye, a bounce to his step. He’s laughing at a bunch of jokes I couldn’t pull off two years ago. I mean, comedy and drama can be radically different, and no one does drama like Vince. I’m completely on board.”

Paul Horner, a Breaking Bad writer since season one, upon hearing the announcement by Gilligan confirmed the news with MSNBC.

“Yes, it’s true. You don’t know how much of a relief this is to finally get this off my back. I’ve been keeping this a secret for two long months now, I was ready to explode,” he said. “Here’s a little spoiler for all you fans out there so stop reading right now if you don’t want any information, otherwise, lets go. Season six begins with Walt waking up in the hospital, handcuffed to his bed. Like Bryan [Cranston] said last May, nobody ever saw a body bag, so essentially, the last episode of Season 5 was left open-ended. Skyler, Walt Jr., Marie… none of them have any idea he’s survived, but the DEA is right on top of it. We’ll go through the motions of people finding out he’s alive – many people wanted Walt dead, so there’s a lot of disconcerted, angry people out there. We have Walt going to trial, his incarceration and how he’s keeping Heisenberg and the blue meth on the streets during his imprisonment. Season 6 will have Walt’s eventual breakout, despite the fact that he’s being held prisoner in a fashion not seen since Hannibal Lecter. The nationwide manhunt for Jesse Pinkman is both epic and gripping, and I can tell you for certain his relationship with Walt will continue, in a much more strained, arch-nemesis-type fashion. None of this is anything you won’t find out about in the trailer, but it’s high time to get truly, truly excited for the greatest show of all time! I believe in this, it’s a valid and worthwhile continuation of something that deserves discernment and care. Breaking Bad Season 6! It’s not over yet!”

The original series won multiple awards, including ten Primetime Emmys. Out of 267 nominations, Breaking Bad has garnered 101 trophies. Shooting for Breaking Bad: Season 6 is scheduled to begin July, 2015.