Better Call Saul to end with Giancarlo Esposito... staying on AMC to star in The Driver

Giancarlo Esposito will say finally goodbye to Gus Fring when Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul ends later this year. But he won't be parting ways with AMC.

The network announced on Tuesday that the frequently Emmy-nominated actor will headline the new drama The Driver, which has been given a green light for a six-episode first season.

Set to premiere on AMC and AMC+ in 2023, The Driver is an adaptation of the British crime drama of the same name that aired in 2014. Danny Brocklehurst (Safe), one of the co-creators of the original series, and Sunu Gonera (Snowfall) have reinvented the show for American audiences as a one-hour drama about an "everyman" taxi driver (Esposito) whose life is forever changed when he crosses paths with a New Orleans-based Zimbabwean gangster who is known to exploit undocumented immigrants at various southern ports in the U.S.

In a statement, Theo Travers, the Billions writer-producer who will serve as the showrunner of The Driver, described the show as "a high-voltage, dark identity quest for an everyman trying to find renewed purpose in his life. We're rooting for Vince as he goes down this wild and nihilistic route to discover who he once was, and in many ways still is, because it gets him out of a stuck place." (That's Vince as in the name of Esposito's character, not Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, who also has been known to take characters down wild and nihilistic routes.)

Esposito already has his hands full in galaxies far, far outside of Albuquerque. He can be seen on Disney+ Star Wars drama The Mandalorian (for which he has received two of his five Emmy nominations) and Amazon Prime Video superhero comedy-drama The Boys. He's also a cast member of the upcoming Netflix heist drama Jigsaw. His recent credits include Godfather of Harlem, Dear White People, and Unpregnant.

AMC has been filling up its 2023 slate in recent weeks. On Monday, it announced Isle of the Dead, a spin-off of The Walking Dead, and last month, it gave a thumbs-up to comedic sci-fi series Demascus as well as Invitation to a Bonfire, which is based on the Adrienne Celt novel that was inspired by the Nabokov marriage.

Better Call Saul returns to AMC for the first part of its sixth and final season on April 18.

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