Later this month, the mayor of Albuquerque will attend the unveiling of statues of the two most famous fictional drug dealers in the city's history. Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has donated life-size bronze statues of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman to the New Mexico city, which has seen tourist numbers increase since the show, which was followed by movie El Camino and prequel Better Call Saul, first aired in 2008, Collider reports. "Over the course of 15 years, two TV shows and one movie, Albuquerque has been wonderful to us," Gilligan said. "I wanted to return the favor and give something back."
"It makes me happy to picture them gracing The Duke City for decades to come, attracting busloads of tourists," said Gilligan, who thanked Sony Pictures Television and sculptor Trevor Grove for making the donation possible. Gilligan will be at the July 29 unveiling ceremony outside the Albuquerque Convention Center, as will Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, who play the meth-cooking and dealing White and Pinkman. The statues' permanent home will be inside the convention center, IGN reports.
Not everybody is thrilled about the statues going up in Albuquerque, which has a very real meth problem, the Guardian reports. "They’re erecting statues in honor of characters who were meth dealers, addicts, and murderers in a city known for rampant meth addiction and drug problems," complained one Twitter user. Tourism officials, however, have credited the show with putting Albuquerque and its stunning landscape on the map. Almost a decade after the finale aired, Breaking Bad tours are still a popular attraction in the city. (More Breaking Bad stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
