Carlos Muñoz Portal, 37, has been found dead in Mexico. Portal, a location manager for film and television productions in Mexico, was shot to death in a violent region of Mexico. Portal was scouting locations for the Netflix series Narcos and his death is raising questions and concerns about pulling productions from the country out of safety concerns.
As reported by Variety, Carlos Muñoz Portal was found murdered on Monday in a violent area of central Mexico. Portal and his car were riddled with bullets and were found in a remote area near San Bartolo Actopan in the state of Mexico near the borders of Hidalgo state. The area is said to have one of the highest murder rates in Mexico, with 182 cases of homicide reported back in July. That's a ratio of 12.2 for every 100,000 inhabitants.
Authorities are still investigating the murder but they are having trouble piecing together the circumstances due to a lack of witnesses. Carlos Muñoz Portal was an experienced scout and worked for Mexico City-based production company Redrum. He was apparently scouting locations for the fourth season of Netflix's Narcos, which was moving production from Colombia to Mexico. Portal has years of experience in the industry, with credits that include Apacalypto, Spectre, Sicario, and Fast & Furious.
Narcos is a popular series on Netflix that originally followed the rise and fall of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. Season 3 focuses on the rise of the infamous Cali Cartel, while Season 4 is said to be exploring the origins of Mexico's infamous Juarez cartel. The series stars Pedro Pascal as a DEA agent who is originally tasked with bringing down Escobar.
Netflix has heard about Carlos Muñoz Portal's death and has issued a statement. In the statement, they send condolences to Portal's family and state the investigation is still underway by authorities.
It's unknown at this time if Narcos will be pulling its production in Mexico and returning to Colombia. That decision would endanger hundreds of jobs in Mexico that the production would have generated. One would think that other productions looking to film in Mexico are also reconsidering after Portal's murder. The safety of the cast and crew are important concerns and time will tell if there will be any lasting ramifications in the Mexico film industry.
Season 4 of Narcos is expected to arrive sometime in 2018, though it's unknown how that will be affected now. For more updates make sure to stick with CinemaBlend and we'll give you new information as soon as it's available. For all shows hitting Netflix, check out our Netflix TV guide. Keep up to date with everything dropping in the fall with our comprehensive fall season guide.
