Netflix pulled the ultimate "yeah, bitch" move over the weekend with that surprise Breaking Bad movie news. We got a title -- El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie -- a release date of October 11, a poster you can check out below, and even a teaser with Skinny Pete.
It got Breaking Bad fans pumped for the movie, which will follow Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman right after his escape from captivity in the Breaking Bad finale. As the logline states, "Jesse must come to terms with his past in order to forge some kind of future."
Aaron Paul told the New York Times he didn't expect to continue Jesse's story after his character drove away -- crying with hysterical glee -- in Todd's El Camino:
It’s a chapter of Breaking Bad that I didn’t realize that I wanted. And now that I have it, I’m so happy that it’s there.
Aaron Paul said he got involved with this movie about two years ago after getting a call from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.
At the very end of the conversation, he mentioned that he had an idea of where to take it from here, and he wanted to hear my thoughts on it. I quickly told Vince that I would follow him into a fire.
Same. Vince Gilligan can be trusted to steer you right, as Breaking Bad and now Better Call Saul have shown. Gilligan wrote and directed the Breaking Bad movie, and the script hit Aaron Paul right in his vocal cords.
I couldn’t speak for a good 30, 60 seconds. I was just lost in my thoughts. As the guy who played the guy, I was so happy that Vince wanted to take me on this journey.
Sounds like a happy ending is ahead for Jesse? One should be ahead for fans, as Aaron Paul continued to the NY Times. He wouldn't confirm if the Breaking Bad movie would reunite him with anyone else from the original series, but he would say this:
All I can say, I think people will be really happy with what they see.
That's good to hear. It's his job to promote the movie, but I don't imagine he or Vince Gilligan would be so quick to make this movie at all if they didn't believe there was a worthy story to tell.
The Breaking Bad series finale was [chef's kiss] PERFECT. It instantly became the new poster child for How To End A TV Show. Every TV producer that wants to stick the landing looks to Breaking Bad as the guide -- including the Game of Thrones showrunners, who aimed for a Breaking Bad ending but definitely hit a mark closer to Dexter.
So it's understandable if Breaking Bad fans are wary, wondering if Jesse's story should've been left on that hopeful but ambiguous note. Do we really need to know where he drove off to? Several years ago, Aaron Paul said (via the Independent) he liked to think Jesse was "living as a carpenter somewhere -- somewhere in Alaska." Will that turn out to be the case? Maybe he'll end up in Nebraska with Cinnabon Gene.
I'm trusting Vince Gilligan on this. Some people doubted whether Saul Goodman could carry his own series, and Better Call Saul is occasionally even superior to the flagship series. We are in good hands.
By the way, here's that stunning poster:
If this was from any other franchise, I'd be cautiously optimistic. But since it's Vince Gilligan and Breaking Bad, I'm just optimistic. This is going to rock. El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie streams Friday, October 11 on Netflix. Keep up with Netflix's other premieres with our handy 2019 guide.
