"The story of Rick will go on in films" - AMC announces three Walking Dead movies starring Andrew Lincoln

The curtain has fallen on Andrew Lincoln’s time as Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead season 9 – but the show must go on. AMC is moving forward with Rick’s story in a series of three movies as The Walking Dead franchise shows no signs of slowing down. This isn’t just going to be a bumper-sized episode, either, but a real, fully-fledged series of movies dealing with what happens post-The Walking Dead season 9, episode 5.

Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott M. Gimple, former showrunner on The Walking Dead and now chief content officer for the property, explains: “There is more story to tell and we’ll be telling it.”

Quite how that will go down remains to be seen. Details are few and far between, though “the story of Rick will go on” as AMC is “working on three [movies] but there’s flexibility in that,” according to Gimple. These are proper movies too, slated to be around two hours with a full feature-length budget. In fact, it’s going to be a “large, big scope movie that will feel like a major motion picture.”

But The Walking Dead movies are just the start. “There is a multiple-year plan that could include additional series, digital content and specials,” outlines AMC programming president David Madden. Right now, the ideas are numerous and vague: “We're going to dig into the past and see old characters. We're going to introduce new characters and new situations,” says Gimple.

For now, however, all eyes are on Andrew Lincoln – who stepped away from the show to spend time with his family – and how he’s going to continue as Rick Grimes for a series of The Walking Dead movies. We may still have some time to wait, but Lincoln is on board, that much we’re certain of as Gimple confirms, “There were story ideas brewing that, as the years went on, seemed very compatible with continuing to tell the Rick story in another format that would allow him time with his family”

Happy with that or is this the point where you’re done and dusted with The Walking Dead? Sound off down below!

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.