Producers opted to film south-of-the-border scenes for Terminator: Dark Fate in Spain due to fears of violence in Mexico.

During a promotional tour in Mexico, director Tim Miller told journalists that security risks and costs were too high to actually film there, Excelsior reported. Miller said one of the contributing factors for the decision was the 2017 murder of Carlos Munoz Portal. Munoz was a member of the production staff for the Narcos Netflix series who was scouting locations when unknown gunmen shot him. The television series focused on the work and eventual murder of DEA Agent “Kiki” Camarena.

Filming for the movie took place in 2018 in various locations, including two neighborhoods in Madrid where set designers recreated Mexican towns, Miller said.

The filmmaker’s concerns come at a time when Mexico continues to experience high levels of violence. This week, gunmen with Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion murdered 13 police officers in the coastal state of Michoacán. One day later, Mexican military forces killed 14 cartel gunmen and lost one soldier in the neighboring state of Guerrero.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.