AMCOver the weekend, Breaking Bad fans received the news they’d been waiting six long years to hear: that the highly anticipated movie following Jesse Pinkman’s escape from captivity would be released in less than two months.
Prior to that announcement, speculation that a film was in the works was rife – although details such as when filming would be taking place, who would be starring in it, and when it would be released remained scarce.
Now, Jesse himself – well, Aaron Paul – has revealed how the cast and crew for the upcoming El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie kept things under wraps, explaining how the film was finished months before anyone even knew it was being recorded.
In an interview with The New York Times, Paul said that while he believed he had said goodbye to Breaking Bad for good when the TV series ended in 2013, he was ‘so happy’ to revisit it. ‘It’s a chapter of Breaking Bad that I didn’t realise that I wanted,’ he added.
So how did those behind the best TV show ever manage to keep such a major secret, well, secret? Primarily, Paul said he and everyone else involved were forbidden from revealing anything whatsoever about what happens in the film.
But that still doesn’t explain how literally no-one knew El Camino was filming. I mean, surely people would notice Aaron Paul wandering round in New Mexico, dressed head-to-toe in Jesse Pinkman’s gear and looking terrified at the prospect of being chased by Nazis?
AMCWhile that might well be the case, Paul had a way to keep shtum about the whole affair; that being his clever way of talking around the issue whenever anyone asked him what he was up to.
The actor explained:
I just said I was doing this small little indie out in New Mexico and that was it. No one second-guessed it.
I definitely had people asking, ‘Are you doing Better Call Saul?’ And I’d go, ‘Hey, man, I wish I was. But they’re on hiatus right now’.
In fact, Paul said that by the time the media even got wind of the upcoming film, it was done and dusted: ‘The movie had already happened and was in the can. It was done’.
Bob Odenkirk, who plays Walt’s shady attorney Saul Goodman – the focus of Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul – backed this up earlier this month when he confirmed the film had already finished filming, without anyone knowing about it.
As per by The Hollywood Reporter, Odenkirk said he was ‘excited’ about the film, adding: ‘I find it hard to believe you don’t know it was shot. They did it. You know what I mean? How is that a secret? But it is. They’ve done an amazing job of keeping it a secret’.
I’m with you there, Bob. Just how did they do it? Aside from Paul’s intel that he’d just tell people he was working on a smaller film, I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that no-one clicked. An impressive feat by anyone’s standards, it has to be said.
AMCParticularly because ever since the show’s finale aired in 2013, fans have been desperate to know what happened next. Fortunately, the movie is expected to finally answer those questions, with its Netflix synopsis reading: ‘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.’
Apart from that though, the details remain scarce, due to Paul once more saying he has to remain silent on what we can expect from El Camino and which – if any – original cast members will be returning.
‘All I can say is I think people will be really happy with what they see,’ he explained – which is certainly good enough for me.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie will be available to watch on Netflix from October 11.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).