Andrew Lincoln’s ‘The Walking Dead’ Movie Will Be Released In Theaters

AMC

Rick Grimes will be back, but you’ll have to pay for a ticket to see him. San Diego Comic-Con 2019 has already had its fair share of news and previews, with some shows hoping to be the next cultural touchstones finally getting trailers out to the public. But one longstanding touchstone — The Walking Dead — got some interesting news about a character who the show has already moved past.

According to Variety, Andrew Lincoln will reprise his role as Rick Grimes in a feature-length movie, but it won’t happen on AMC. A teaser trailer for the movie dropped on Friday night at SDCC 2019, with the “only in theaters” tagline that’s commonplace for movies that see theatrical releases. As such, The Walking Dead movie that he’s currently slated to star in will be sent to theaters, as often happens to feature-length films.

— The Walking Dead AMC (@WalkingDead_AMC) July 19, 2019

Many Walking Dead fans have long thought the best episode of the show was the pilot, which ran at a short movie-length 90 minutes and packed the substantial emotional weight that set the stage for what’s become a cultural phenomenon of a TV show. And it’s a fitting way for Lincoln, beloved for his role as Grimes on the show, to potentially finish his tenure on one of AMC’s most successful shows. And according to Variety, the movie should have a lot for Walking Dead fans to love given the context and those involved.

The films were first announced in late 2018 following Andrew Lincoln’s departure from the flagship AMC series, on which Lincoln had played Grimes since the pilot.

“Walking Dead” chief content officer Scott Gimple will serve as writer. The film is planned to continue the story of Rick Grimes. AMC had originally planned to begin production as early as 2019 but it is unclear if that is still the case.

Here’s hoping Lincoln is not resigned to holding a bunch of signs and trying to get his emotional point across sometime in this film. He’s been brilliant as Rick Grimes, and the chance to see a full movie of Lincoln as the character should have fans excited.