The Walking Dead: 10 things to know about the Rick Grimes movies

Scott M. Gimple revealed quite a few gems about the upcoming Rick Grimes in his Entertainment Weekly interview about The Walking Dead Universe.

The Walking Dead fans have been eagerly awaiting information about the upcoming Rick Grimes movies. Entertainment Weekly’s Dalton Ross provides an update about the films straight from chief content officer Scott M. Gimple in the first of a series of interviews about the state of The Walking Dead and its larger universe.

Gimple talked about the Rick Grimes movies in the first installment of his interview with Entertainment Weekly. While a teaser at San Diego Comic-Con hinted at big things to come from the Rick Grimes movies, there hasn’t been much in terms of concrete news from AMC. Even now, there are a lot of moving pieces that prevent Gimple from giving anything other than cryptic Mystic 8-Ball kinds of answers.

Here’s a breakdown of the ten things we learned from the interview:

Moving Pieces: Gimple was particularly cryptic about the timeframe of the movies, indicating that much of the past year has been spent making plans. “We have a couple of different plans that we’re going with depending on a couple of different factors we have to deal with on everything from story to product aspects.” One reason for the lack of news on this front could be that the scope of the movies shifted as soon as they went from being made-for-television to motion pictures slated for a wide release in theaters.

Script: Gimple indicated that the script is being “defined.” That means there is a script and that the story is being tweaked. This isn’t unusual, but it does suggest that the production team is still a ways away from filming.

Director Update: No director has been determined for the movie. It will be interesting to see whether a TWD veteran director like Greg Nicotero or Michael E. Satrazemis will be given the reins or if AMC will go with a director who isn’t as involved with the franchise but has motion picture experience.

Not TV Shows: Gimple made it clear that the Rick Grimes movies are not being launched in theaters before moving to the small screen, rather they are actual motion pictures.

Michonne: Gimple did not indicate whether there are plans for Danai Gurira to appear in the Rick Grimes movies, but that doesn’t mean she won’t. Instead, he said that fans should focus on Michonne’s final season on the show because “she has an amazing story coming up on Walking Dead that informs everything moving forward, but I don’t want to get ahead of that. We worked real hard on that.” This is entirely fair, and good for him for making it clear that this is Gurira’s final season and that should be the focus right now.

Cameos: It’s too early to talk about whether or not there will be appearances from other familiar faces in The Walking Dead Universe.

Rick’s Story: One main focus of the movies will be Rick’s journey and the “larger world” that he encounters. It’s possible, based on this information, that the movies might tie into other stories from the shows.

Scope and Scale: Gimple indicated that the movies are a departure from the television productions fans are used to seeing. “The scale is bigger and the budget is bigger.” We’re not talking poorly rendered CGI deer anymore. These are going to be motion pictures, and that’s part and parcel of why things are taking so long.

The Trilogy: When Gimple originally announced the movies, he indicated that a trio of Rick Grimes movies had been planned. That was back before Universal stepped in to bring the movies to the big screen. Some people believe that the trilogy plan is being scrapped, but Gimple indicates that this is still part of the plan: “Yes, but we are still playing with things.”

More TWD Content Coming: EW’s Ross teased his upcoming interviews with Gimple, with the following statement: “Stay tuned all week for Gimple’s updates on The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, and other upcoming TWD content.” It’s that last part, “other upcoming TWD content,” that catches the eye. Are there more projects in the works? I guess we’ll have to stay tuned to find out!

The Walking Dead returns February 23 at 9pm on AMC.