It takes an event like the Super Bowl to reunite some of Hollywood’s most distinctive characters.
Tuco Salamanca the menacing drug lord, is set to join Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in a Super Bowl commercial from PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay snack division that aims to call attention to its PopCorners popped-corn snack. Yes, Walt and Tuco met their respective ends in the popular TV series, “Breaking Bad,” but the requirements of a Super Bowl ad can sometimes negate even the release of death.
The characters, played by Raymond Cruz, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul. will be in good company. Vince Gilligan, the creator, head writer and executive producer of “Breaking Bad,” will direct the commercial and the teaser videos that lead up to it.
PopCorners, which has teased its “Breaking Bad” association for several weeks, released a video Thursday that shows White and Jesse on screen together once more as they drive into the desert. The scene is actually a re-imagination of one from “4 Days Out,” the ninth episode of the series’ second season. And the scene uses the original RV interior set piece that was featured in the original program.
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Reviving the casts of popular films and TV shows has proven to be an attention-getting technique in recent Super Bowls. General Motors in 2022 brought back actor Mike Meyers and the cast from his “Austin Powers” movies — including Rob Lowe, Seth Green and Mindy Sterling — for a Super Bowl ad that put a spotlight on electric vehicles. The giant automaker also enlisted key cast members from HBO’s “The Sopranos” and creator David Chase for a commercial that burnished an electric Chevrolet Silverado.
