This Concept For a Breaking Bad Sequel Is Spectacularly, Gloriously Insane

Maybe you really, really miss Breaking Bad. Maybe you can’t wait for Better Call Saul. Maybe you’re an avid follower of Val Kilmer’s Twitter feed. Or maybe you just spend your days swimming around a pool filled with money like Scrooge McDuck. Whatever your reason, you could hardly be blamed for donating a few dollars to this Kickstarter that is requesting $500,000 to make a “sequel” to Breaking Bad called Anastasia.

Leaving aside the fact that TV series don’t have “sequels,” per se (usually you’d call it a spinoff or, you know, just keep making the show itself), it sounds pretty fantastic. Val Kilmer (because of course) and Slash (ditto) would play U.S. Marshalls sent in to track down whoever stole Walter White’s body in the opening scene of Anastasia‘s pilot (oh yeah, that happens). From there, it’s really anyone’s guess, but creator Lawrence Shepherd says that he’s already finished scripts for all ten episodes of the first season.

Some of you might be saying to yourselves, “This sounds mighty far-fetched to me.” Fair, but then again, so was a high school chemistry teacher becoming the biggest drug kingpin in the Southwest. Kilmer hasn’t signed on yet, but the man does love himself a good desert and in an interview with VICE, Shepherd seemed confident about his chances of landing the Top Gun star: “From what people tell me about Val Kilmer, you don’t have to pay him a million dollars. If there’s some money there, he’ll typically do it.”

Shepherd is a little more concerned about getting Slash — who would “stay in the ‘Slash’ character” and “will always be undercover” — due to the musician’s other obligations, but he’s sweetening the pot by naming Slash the show’s musical director. Other big names who will be invited to appear in Anastasia (as recovering addicts) will include Russell Brand, Jamie Lee Curtis, Steven Tyler, Dick Van Dyke, Drew Barrymore, Robert Downey Jr., Robin Williams, Neil Young and Eminem — all of whom would be permitted to improvise their own dialogue, which would “elevate Anastasia to an even higher level of quality and randomness.”

It’s also not entirely clear what the origins of the series’ title (Anastasia) is, but Shepherd has set his sights on at least one female co-star for Kilmer and Slash: Jana Mashonee, who would play Slash’s girlfriend.

Though production has yet to begin, Shepherd has already been compelled to change a few of his casting choices. He told VICE he was turned down by Laura San Giacomo (Just Shoot Me), and abandoned his first choice for Kilmer’s role — Nathan Lane — because of prospective travel expenses. These hiccups could explain why Anastasia has received just $440 of its half-million dollar funding goal. The project’s August 1 deadline is rapidly approaching, but Shepherd says he plans to re-start it if the series is not funded on the first go-round.