BREAKING BAD Season Five Premiere Date & Split Details Revealed

The Emmy Award winning crime drama stars Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Giancarlo Esposito and Jonathan Banks. Created and executive produced by Vince Gilligan, it plays exclusively on AMC.

Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine with his former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), with the aim of securing his family's financial future.

The fifth and final season of the most critically acclaimed drama series on TV will air it's first episode July 15th on AMC. Eight episodes will air during summer 2012, with the final eight airing in the summer of 2013. Bryan Cranston had mentioned the final season's break halfway through earlier this year saying, "We're splitting it. We're going to shoot the first eight, then take a four-month production break, then the rest will air next year."

As the 13th and finale episode of season four came to a close, it looked almost like a series finale as Walter White (Bryan Cranston) hung up the phone with his wife after declaring, "I won." The episode, entitled 'Face Off' was loaded with memorable moments but perhaps the biggest two were the shocking and horrific death of drug kingpin Gustavo Fringe (Giancarlo Esposito) and the reveal that Walter White had poisoned Jessie Pinkman's (Aaron Paul) girlfriend's young child in order to trick his partner into assisting him against his enemies.