The Br Ba boys are being immortalised in bronze
The city of Albuquerque has announced it will be unveiling two new Breaking Bad statues in honour of two of their most famous fictional characters, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.
According to a press release as cited by multiple outlets, the statues were originally commissioned by creator Vince Gilligan in 2019 and set to be made by sculptor Trevor Grove, but the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul writer is now donating the statues to the city.
“Over the course of fifteen years, two TV shows and one movie, Albuquerque has been wonderful to us. I wanted to return the favour and give something back,” said Gilligan.
“These larger-than-life bronzes of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman exist thanks to the generosity of Sony Pictures Television and the artistry of sculptor Trevor Grove, and I love them. It makes me happy to picture them gracing The Duke City for decades to come, attracting busloads of tourists.”
The hit AMC and Netflix-licensed series might have ended all the way back in 2013 (yes, it has really been almost a decade), but it has since gone down as one of the greatest TV shows of all time and, as such, continues to drive huge tourism to Albuquerque and the state of New Mexico in general.
Not only can you visit the many locations seen in the drug-dealing drama, including eating as the real Los Pollos Hermanos (a local burger and burrito joint in real-life), but droves take the Breaking Bad RV tour every year.
The statues will be displayed inside of the Albuquerque Convention Center after the official reveal on July 29. The unveiling ceremony is set to include stars like Mayor Keller, Gilligan, executive producer and Better Call Saul co-creator Peter Gould, as well as the Emmy Award-winning actors themselves, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.
“We also appreciate that the statues will be indoors, and therefore protected from pigeons depositing their critiques on our heads,” jokes the characters’ real-life alter egos.
This has to be the first time crystal meth manufacturers and a drug cartel business “big enough that it could be listed on the Nasdaq” have been actively honoured by a city but we’re not complaining – we only ask that Jesse’s plinth has “b*tch” on it.
Related links:
- Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul to guest star in Better Call Saul’s final season
- Mickey Rourke says exactly what we’ve all been thinking about Tom Cruise’s entire career
- QUIZ: How many of these characters from ‘Breaking Bad’ can you name?
