Three pieces of big news regarding AMC’s “The Walking Dead”:
1) While Rick Grimes will no longer be a component of “The Walking Dead” TV series,” Andrew Lincoln will reprise the role for a series of big-budget TV movies. If you saw last night’s episode you know Rick did not die. Instead he was helicoptered away from Virginia by Jadis/Ann’s associates.
2) Last night’s episode of the “Walking Dead” ended with a six-year time jump and a scene featuring a 9-year-old Judith Grimes wearing Rick’s hat. The jump was particularly unexpected because the series made an 18-month time-jump just five episodes earlier. The description of next week’s episode suggests next week’s episode will also be set about a decade into the zombie apocalypse, so maybe we’ll meet Carol and Ezekial’s kids too. I know I’ll be tuning in!
3) In a promo that aired during last night's "Talking Dead," I think you can hear a walker speaking the words "Where are they?" "The walkers are evolving," surmises an onlooker. Are there talking dead in the comics too?
While “Walking Dead” has been airing its lowest-rated episodes ever in recent weeks, it’s still one of TV’s most popular series and a new press release suggests “additional films, specials, series, digital content and more” are in the works:
AMC ANNOUNCES FIRST PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT FROM CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER SCOTT M. GIMPLE FOR THE WALKING DEAD UNIVERSENETWORK PLANS a SERIES OF AMC STUDIOS ORIGINAL FILMS TO CONTINUE THE STORY OF RICK GRIMES
FIRST FILM EXPECTED to begin production AS EARLY AS 2019
New York, NY – November 4, 2018 – AMC has announced the first projects in development from Chief Content Officer Scott M. Gimple for The Walking Dead Universe. A series of AMC Studios Original Films, starring Andrew Lincoln and written by Gimple, are planned to continue the story of Rick Grimes, with the first expected to begin production as early as 2019.
In Lincoln’s final appearance on the hit series The Walking Dead, the character of Rick Grimes is mortally wounded and last seen being flown away by helicopter to an unknown destination. The first film will explore the story of where Rick is taken and what he faces in a new corner of the zombie apocalypse.
As part of Gimple’s multi-year plan for The Walking Dead Universe, there are other projects currently in development, including additional films, specials, series, digital content and more. Some of the stories will relate to The Walking Dead as fans know it while others will be standalone stories that break into new creative territory.
“We have a lot on the horizon – starting with a new epic featuring one of the greatest leading actors in television history and one of the best people I’ve ever met,” said Gimple. “These films are going to be big evolutions of what we’ve been doing on the show, with the scope and scale of features. We’re starting with the first part of the continuing story of Rick Grimes, and there is much more on the way, featuring yet-unseen worlds of The Walking Dead and faces from the show’s past, as well as new characters we hope to become favorites, told by TWD veterans and emerging voices. We want to break new ground with different, distinct stories, all part of the same world that’s captured our imagination for nearly a decade of the Dead.”
“We believe this is a world and narrative with many possibilities and opportunities for character development and we’re excited to expand the series into a franchise that can live across multiple formats,” said David Madden, president of original programming for AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “For many years, fans have talked about things in the apocalypse they want to see and now we have an opportunity to explore those stories, beginning with the character who started it all, Rick Grimes.”
Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics, The Walking Dead tells the story of the months and years after a zombie apocalypse and follows a group of survivors who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The series is executive produced by chief content officer Scott M. Gimple, showrunner Angela Kang, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero, Tom Luse and Denise Huth.
