Andrew Lincoln to Star in Walking Dead Movies for AMC

AMC has planned a series of original films set in the universe of The Walking Dead starring Andrew Lincoln and written by Scott Gimple to continue the story of Rick Grimes.

Lincoln’s character of Grimes is last seen in the Walking Dead series being flown away by helicopter to an unknown destination after being mortally wounded. 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 the multiyear plan for the Walking Dead universe, there are other projects currently in the works, including additional films, specials, series, digital content and more. Some of the stories will be tied to The Walking Dead while others will be standalone stories. These mark the first projects in development under Gimple as chief content officer.

“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.”