Rick Grimes' chapter in "The Walking Dead" television series is over. After nine and a half seasons, viewers of the zombie show on AMC watched as the character seemingly died from an explosion, only to be hauled away in a helicopter by another group during the mid-season finale last November.
But as one chapter closes, a new one opens for actor Andrew Lincoln, who has given life to the television hero. Lincoln will no longer be in "The Walking Dead" series when the show returns for the next half of the season. Instead, he's doing a new project under the franchise, which will center on a trilogy of movies featuring his character.
The Rick Grimes movie trilogy has no title thus far. With development still underway, it's not so clear what the story will be about. However, Lincoln revealed when he was on the talk show "Talking Dead" that the films will likely explore a wider world of "The Walking Dead" lore.
The actor said that he's very interested in knowing what's beyond their world as the survivors of the zombie apocalypse.
Lincoln also likened the Rick Grimes movie trilogy to "Unforgiven," the award-winning 1990s Clint Eastwood film. Here, his character, a known hero and a legend, is forced to live in a new world and will have to start all over.
The actor told Entertainment Weekly that this spinoff idea appealed to him because, while he's still playing the same guy, Rick Grimes is going to be a completely different character on the inside. It's a very interesting starting point to an already established persona.
Meanwhile, "The Walking Dead" comics creator Robert Kirkman will reportedly be heavily involved in the development of the Rick Grimes movie trilogy. Series creator Scott Gimple will write the first movie's treatment. He hinted that it would likely start with the exploration of the group that picked up a badly wounded Rick in his final scene.
At the moment, the plan is to run the Rick Grimes movie trilogy on the AMC network as an original offering. It's still not yet settled if the film will also hit theaters, especially in the U.S. as there is no confirmed release date as of press time.
Production for the movie is marked for this year. Fans of the franchise may likely have to wait until the end of 2019 to see a clip or a teaser with the new Rick Grimes offering.
