Better Call Saul has been absent from our televisions for so long, I’m starting to forget what it’s like to be in awe of Rhea Seehorn’s Kim Wexler. (Yeah, right, as if that could ever actually happen.) Thankfully, the sixth and final season has finished filming, and will debut for viewers at some point sooner rather than later. But we don’t even need for it to arrive to already know what star Giancarlo Esposito’s next big TV role will be. After perhaps bidding a permanent farewell to the chilling crime boss Gus Fring — barring any new spinoff ideas — Esposito will be sticking with AMC for a brand new crime drama.
AMC formally announced that it has given a greenlight to the new drama project The Driver, which will see Giancarlo Esposito starring as the titular character, who goes by the name Vince. (Not a connection to Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, assumedly, but fun to mention all the same.) In the show, Esposito’s tax driver finds his life upended after he takes a job as chauffeur for a Zimbabwean gangster in New Orleans. The criminal in question is known for “exploiting undocumented immigrants at the U.S. southern ports,” according to the synopsis.
Sounds like Giancarlo Esposito is up to the challenge of not playing the most dangerous person in the room, too. Here’s what he had to say about it:
I am over the moon excited, enthused, and inspired to be in collaboration with the stellar network and creative team of AMC! Thanks for believing in me. It’s great to be back home!
Not that Esposito has spent all of his time in recent years solely portraying the deadliest gentleman on TV as Gus Fring. The actor has been quite prolific in terms of projects with genre appeal, from the Star Wars universe (where he plays The Mandalorian’s Moff Gideon) to the DC superhero-verse (where he voices Lex Luthor for Harley Quinn) to Disney toons (as DuckTales’ Phantom Blot) to the sordid world of The Boys (as Vought’s big boss Stan Edgar). Not to mention his work in Godfather of Harlem, the Far Cry 6 video game, and two upcoming features (The Long Home and Beauty). It’s a wonder he ever has time to take new roles, but thankfully for everyone else on the planet, he does.
With six episodes coming in its first season, The Driver is being developed by Sunu Gonera and Danny Brocklehurst, with the latter having created the original UK series on which this one is based. Theo Travers, a writer/producer known for his work on Billions, Power and House of Lies, will serve as the showrunner for Giancarlo Esposito’s new show, and even cited the actor’s past work in Do the Right Thing as the starting point of his fandom.
The Driver obviously doesn’t yet have a premiere window in place, but take comfort in knowing it will arrive on AMC in 2023, or we’ll be calling that driver’s service posthaste. This new project will join the just-announced Walking Dead spinoff Isle of the Dead, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan and Lauren Cohan’s Maggie at the center of the New York City storyline. While waiting for all this cable TV goodness, head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what’ll be debuting in the meantime.
