The universe of Vince Gilligan’s “Breaking Bad” continues the story of Jesse Pinkman, one of its main characters, in the Netflix film “El Camino,” releasing on Oct. 11, 2019.
It takes place immediately following the finale of the series, “Felina,” where Pinkman escapes captivity in the titular car, with his fate being left open to interpretation.
Gilligan has always been filling in the blanks of what happens next and wrote the screenplay in secret.
“I didn’t really tell anybody about it, because I wasn’t sure I would ever do anything with it,” he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “But I started thinking to myself, ‘What happened to Jesse?’ You see him driving away. And to my mind, he went off to a happy ending. But as the years progressed, I thought, ‘What did that ending — let’s just call it an ending, neither happy, nor sad — what did it look like?’”
He revealed the script and concept of the movie to the cast and crew in 2018 to commemorate the show’s 10th anniversary.
Aaron Paul reprises his role as Pinkman and series veterans Matt Jones and Charles Baker are confirmed to return as Badger and Skinny Pete, respectively.
Gilligan confirmed more than 10 characters from the show will appear in the film and it will feature a massive cameo from an actor who had to use “a private jet to shuttle in and out of Albuquerque without notice,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The film was shot in complete secrecy around Nov. 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 60 days.
Paul was approached in 2017 to join the project and shook off any trepidation to returning to the famous character.
“I’m like everybody else on the planet — I think Vince and the rest of the writers really nailed the landing with the ending of Breaking Bad, and why mess with that?” Paul said. “But it’s Vince we’re talking about. I would follow Vince into a fire. That’s how much I trust the man. I would do anything that he asked me to.”
Gilligan warns that people who haven’t watched the show will not enjoy it, as it serves as a “coda” to the series. It will be full of easter eggs and tiny details longtime fans of the series will be able to pick up.
The film was written, produced and directed by Gilligan and in addition to Netflix, it will also hit select theaters in 68 cities for three days starting on Oct. 11, and will premiere on AMC sometime in 2020.
Henry Wolski
Associate Editor