Over the last decade, The Walking Dead has proved that it’s a franchise with staying power, and it’s still trying new things. For instance, the series will soon make its first foray onto the big screen with a planned trilogy of movies about former sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).
Scott M. Gimple, the Chief Content Officer for the Walking Dead universe, talked about these movies when speaking to Entertainment Weekly, teasing “wild new directions.”
The first of these Rick Grimes movies is yet to be named. We don’t even have any details as to what the storyline will be. The only official information we’ve received is a short 30-second video released during Comic-Con 2019 announcing AMC’s plans to develop movies.
Of course, Andrew Lincoln will be reprising his iconic role as Rick, and we’re assuming Pollyanna McIntosh will return to portray Jadis, as she was last seen flying away in a mysterious helicopter with Rick in his “final episode.” EW asked Gimple about other characters who could make a potential return, like Heath and Maggie. “I can’t even give you a definitive thing because we really are playing around with it a little bit now,” he said. “We have a terrific area and direction we’re moving in, but we’re playing around with various aspects of it.”
Gimple is confident that The Walking Dead will translate well to movies but understands that there’s a lot to be done to get them ready for theatrical release. “The scale is bigger and the budget is bigger, and it’s The Walking Dead, but heightened,” he said. “Movies are a different beast than television.”
Gimple also said that these movies will put Rick through challenges he hasn’t experienced before, which is impressive, cause he’s been though a lot. How could it get any worse?
"We are going to continue to tell Rick’s story, and we are going to discover so much of the world through that story. Rick will be challenged in different ways that, in some ways, everything that he’s been through has sort of prepared him for."
It’s also worth noting that no director signed on for the first movie, yet. These movies are still in pre-production. The scripts are being refined and everything is subject to change.
As for a storyline, I’m expecting the franchise to take us into cities. We’re going to see places that have enormous well-established communities. The majority of The Walking Dead has been set in rural America, only occasionally exploring (mostly) abandoned urban environments. Rick’s story began in Atlanta way back in season 1, and it would be great to see his story end in a city.
The Walking Dead universe is fast expanding and will soon span three major mediums: television, movies and games. It would be four if you count the graphic novels on which everything is based, although they have a different continuity. So far we’ve had nearly a decade of the main show, as well as Fear the Walking Dead, which has been airing since 2015. With these shows and a new spinoff coming soon, and up to three Rick Grimes movies, the future looks bright for the franchise.
We’re anticipating more details on these movies soon. The Walking Dead season 10 will continue on Sunday, February 23, 2020 on AMC.
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