“Yeah, bitch!” was the appropriate interjection to celebrate the news of a Breaking Bad TV movie, specifically one that follows the continuing exploits of everyone’s favorite ne’er-do-well-turned elite meth cook, Jesse Pinkman.
Indeed, the feature, titled El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie premiered on Netflix back in October 2019, manifesting as a welcome epilogue to the run of the legendary 2008-2013 AMC television series, providing a share of fan service (some might say a bit too much,) with what most fans concur is a perfectly satisfying trajectory for the embattled arc of Jesse.
Now that El Camino has had time to digest on Netflix, Breaking Bad fans who don’t subscribe to the streaming service will finally get to watch the movie on the TV franchise’s original platform, cable channel AMC. In the meantime, you can also check out our spoiler-free review of the movie.
Breaking Bad Movie Release Date
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is set to make its AMC premiere on Sunday, February 16 at 8:00 p.m. ET/7c.
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The air date, which will be preceded by a month of Breaking Bad full-season Sunday marathons (starting January 19,) on the cable channel, represents a four-month gap from its arrival on Netflix back on October 11, 2019.
The AMC premiere also dovetails perfectly with the arrival of Better Call Saul Season 5 on Sunday, February 23, just one week later.
Breaking Bad Movie Trailer
For the sake of posterity (and those awaiting the AMC premiere), here are some of the trailers and featurettes released for El Camino during the build-up to its initial Netflix release.
Not only does the clip below feature some fascinating interviews with Aaron Paul, Vince Gilligan, and more, but there is also quite a lot of new footage to be found here. Of course the money quote belongs to Badger actor Matt Jones who says, ”It was like going back to your high school reunion…if your high school sold meth.”
The TV spot just below revealed a role reprisal from the perpetually-ubiquitous Larry Hankin as shady junkyard proprietor (also the destroyer of the RV and provider of laptop-wiping magnets,) “Old Joe,” who’s watching a news broadcast that accurately reports the backstory of the currently on-the-run Jesse.
The full trailer for El Camino revealed a version of Jesse Pinkman who’s obviously been altered by the tragedies and torturous experiences. In fact, one might say that his inner badass has been unlocked.
Here is another early teaser trailer, which premiered during the Emmy Awards broadcast. If you pay attention to the news broadcast that he’s listening to, you might just discern some key information about the much-speculated fate of Walt.
While not quite a trailer, the clip below served as the perfect refresher some six years removed from the Breaking Bad finale, complemented musically with “Enchanted” by R&B siblings Chloe X Halle (the latter of whom was recently cast as Ariel in Disney’s live-action movie adaptation of The Little Mermaid).
In the first trailer for El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, an interrogated poor Skinny Pete has no idea where Jesse is going.
Breaking Bad Movie Cast
Jesse Plemons reprised his role as the sadistic “dead-eyed Opie,” Todd, which, despite the character’s memorable death on the series (via Jesse’s vengeful hands), turned out to be a substantial part of the plot by way of flashbacks. However, in a testament to the suspension of disbelief we’re well used to on Better Call Saul, the series-era flashbacks show Plemons’s Todd looking… well, let’s just say “different” than he did during the series.
Jonathan Banks reprised his role as Mike Ehrmantraut – obviously in a flashback, since the character is also quite dead. Of course, Banks won’t be rusty when revisiting Mike, seeing as he currently plays the character as part of the main cast in AMC prequel spinoff series Better Call Saul. The character – depicted on Breaking Bad as Gus’s main enforcer – was a father figure to Jesse.
Matt Jones reprised his role as drug-slinging slacker Badger. The character, who recurred throughout the series going back to Season 1, was Jesse’s flighty friend, and was one of the first street assets used to sell Blue Sky meth. His arrest for said slinging led to the show’s introduction of the mythology’s eventual spinoff character, lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk). Of course, Badger was also tied to the hip with Jesse’s other pal, Skinny Pete (Charles Baker), leading to both men helping Walt in an ultimately hilarious ruse against his former business partners for revenge and financial assurance for his family in the series finale.
Further Reading: Breaking Bad Movie: Vince Gilligan Has Earned Our Trust
Charles Baker returned as “Skinny Pete,” as Netflix confirmed with its first teaser clip, showing the character being interviewed by authorities regarding the fugitive Jesse’s whereabouts. “All I can say, I think people will be really happy with what they see,” he told NYT.
Larry Hankin reprises his role as junkyard owner Old Joe, who helped Walt and Jesse multiple times, first in Season 3 by destroying the iconic RV, and in Season 5 by using a powerful electromagnet to wipe evidence off Gus’s laptop.
Aaron Paul, of course, reprised his role as Jesse Pinkman; something that he subsequently denied to help the hush-hush project maintain secrecy. Beyond that, Paul and company are hoping to keep other casting announcements a surprise.
Lastly, there is another (heretofore secret) role reprisal from a major Breaking Bad character. You know who it is, but it would be unseemly to post such a blatant spoiler, even several months after the movie’s initial release.
Breaking Bad Movie Plot Details
Netflix’s official logline reads: “In the wake of his dramatic escape from captivity, Jesse must come to terms with his past in order to forge some kind of future.”
Barring the initial news of the project (which was subsequently met with disingenuous denials from the cast and crew), director Vince Gilligan was successful in surreptitiously shooting El Camino without any substantive leaks. The feature came about after franchise mastermind took time away from the mythology’s imminently-returning spinoff series, Better Call Saul, to write and executive-produce, joined by repertory collaborators Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein. Gilligan also directed the film, which was successfully shot in secret for Sony Pictures Television.
A Deadline report pointed to a project listed back in fall 2018 with the New Mexico Film Office, called Greenbriar, a title that just screamed secret code name. Moreover, a logline published in The Albuquerque Journal described a project that “follows the escape of a kidnapped man and his quest for freedom.” This, of course, lines up with how we last saw Jesse in the Breaking Bad series finale, “Felina.” Freshly liberated from a meth-cooking enslavement in a conciliatory gesture by his cancer-stricken (later-mortally-wounded) former partner, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), we saw Jesse – beaten and traumatized by an immense array of personal tragedies – drive off into the night, laughing maniacally, leaving viewers to speculate about his fate (and mindset).
Joseph Baxter is a contributor for Den of Geek and Syfy Wire. You can find his work here. Follow him on Twitter @josbaxter.
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