The Walking Dead producer and episode director Greg Nicotero says the Rick Grimes movies are still happening, but doesn’t know when. Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes was the lead character on AMC’s zombie soap until his emotional ninth season exit. Of course, Rick did not die but instead was snatched up by a CRM helicopter and whisked off to an undisclosed location.
That Rick wasn’t actually dead turned out to be an important point as AMC in November 2018 announced their plans to make a series of movies centered on the Walking Dead character. Originally the movies were to air on AMC itself, but Universal later entered the picture and they became theatrical productions. A teaser was revealed at Comic-Con back in 2019, but since then there has been little news about the status of the reported trilogy. The last semi-update came in April when Lincoln himself said he had not yet begun work on the movies as he was still in lockdown. But Lincoln did give fans some hope to hold on to as he said it was possible work might begin soon.
But despite Lincoln’s early 2021 assurances there has as yet been no confirmation that cameras are rolling on the Rick-trilogy. However, it seems plans are still in place to make the films. Walking Dead producer and episode director Nicotero gave the latest update on the movies’ status in an interview with ComicBook.com, indicating that they are “still alive.” Unfortunately he couldn’t say much more than that:
"I wish I knew, and I wish I could say [when it's happening]. I've read a variety of drafts of the scripts over the last few months. They're really making sure that they get it right. I don't know, because I'm always in my head going, 'Okay, so Walking Dead is wrapping up [in Season 11], but now they're talking about all these spin-offs and all these movies and all this and all that. And then Creepshow.' Everyone's like, 'When does it feel like you're going to be done?'"
The Robert Kirkman-penned Rick Grimes trilogy is of course just one of many Walking Dead projects currently in the works. There are also plans for a spinoff show centered on Carol and Daryl, as well as an anthology-style show called Tales of the Walking Dead that promises to bring back deceased characters. There has also been puzzling talk of a comedic Walking Dead spinoff, as well as a digital show set entirely in a submarine. Rumors persist that Negan could get his own spinoff too but that still seems like a long-shot. Obviously, there’s also the World Beyond spinoff which continues alongside the flagship show, which is about to enter its eleventh and final season, as well as Fear the Walking Dead.
The three current Walking Dead shows are in fact putting in a lot of work to seemingly set up whatever is going to go down in the Rick Grimes movies. World Beyond for instance filled in more information about the helicopter group the CRM, while the main show set up a potential down-the-road reunion between Rick and Michonne as it bade farewell to Danai Gurira. Of course none of this set-up means anything unless the payoff comes. Given the current slow pace of progress on getting the Rick Grimes movies up and running, it seems TWD fans will have a long wait before they get the resolution they want. Assuming the movies ever do get made. But of course, disappointing fans with lack of resolution is something The Walking Dead has long excelled at.
Source: ComicBook.com