El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Sequel and epilogue to Breaking Bad, following Jesse Pinkman.
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El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is a 2019 American neo-Western crime thriller that picks up after the events of the television series *Breaking Bad*. It follows Jesse Pinkman, who, alongside his former teacher Walter White, built a crystal meth operation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Series creator Vince Gilligan wrote, directed, and co-produced the film, marking his feature-length directorial debut. Aaron Paul returns as Jesse Pinkman, joined by other *Breaking Bad* cast members including Jesse Plemons, Krysten Ritter, Charles Baker, Matt Jones, Robert Forster, Jonathan Banks, and Bryan Cranston. Forster died on the day of the film’s release, making this one of his final on-screen appearances. Gilligan first considered the story while writing the series finale. He approached Paul with the idea in 2017, near the show’s tenth anniversary, and finished the script a few months later. Principal photography began secretly in New Mexico in November 2018 and lasted nearly 50 days. The project remained unconfirmed until Netflix released a trailer on August 24, 2019. The film was released digitally on Netflix and in limited theaters on October 11, 2019, with an AMC television premiere on February 16, 2020. It received positive reviews and several award nominations, winning Best Movie Made for Television at the Critics' Choice Television Awards and Best Motion Picture Made for Television at the Satellite Awards. It also earned four Primetime Creative Arts Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Television Movie. In a flashback to before leaving Walter White’s meth business, Jesse asks Mike Ehrmantraut where he would go to start over. Mike says Alaska, if he were younger. Jesse wants to make amends, but Mike warns that starting over would make that impossible. In the present, Jesse flees the Brotherhood compound in Todd Alquist’s El Camino. He goes to the home of Skinny Pete and Badger, who hide the car and give him a place to sleep. The next morning, Jesse calls Old Joe to dispose of the El Camino, but Joe leaves after finding its LoJack. Pete devises a plan to make it look like Jesse fled after trading the El Camino for Pete’s Ford Thunderbird. Pete and Badger give Jesse the money Walter gave them, and Badger drives south in the Thunderbird to suggest Jesse is heading to Mexico. Pete stays with the El Camino and waits for police.
- Release year
- 2019
- Director
- Vince Gilligan
- Lead actor
- Aaron Paul
- Genre
- Neo-Western, crime thriller
- Platform
- Netflix digital release, limited theatrical run, AMC television premiere
- Awards
- Best Movie Made for Television at Critics' Choice Television Awards, Best Motion Picture Made for Television at Satellite Awards
Lore & Background
Vince Gilligan began considering the story of El Camino while writing Breaking Bad's series finale. He approached Aaron Paul with the idea in 2017, near the tenth anniversary of the show's premiere, and completed the script several months later. Principal photography began in secret in New Mexico in November 2018, lasting nearly 50 days. The film received a digital release on Netflix and a limited theatrical run on October 11, 2019, with an AMC television premiere on February 16, 2020.
Reader's Guide
El Camino draws positive reviews from critics and garnered several award nominations, winning Best Movie Made for Television at the Critics' Choice Television Awards and Best Motion Picture Made for Television at the Satellite Awards. It additionally gained four nominations at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for Outstanding Television Movie and other technical categories. The film's plot focuses on Jesse Pinkman's escape to Alaska, with producer Melissa Bernstein stating that thematically, the film centers on Jesse's transformation from a boy to a man. Flashbacks with Mike Ehrmantraut, Walter White, and Jane Margolis serve as reminders of who Jesse used to be and all that he lost, while also showing how he has been forced by tragic circumstance to grow up. The film is significant as a continuation of the Breaking Bad franchise and as one of Robert Forster's final on-screen appearances, as he died on the day of the film's release.
More in Characters & Personas
Elsewhere in Breaking Bad
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