COVID-19 could lead AMC to pivot to the Rick Grimes movies

Filming in the UK has resumed, so could work begin on the Rick Grimes movies?

Despite promising numbers in May, the continued spread of novel coronavirus has led to shutdowns in many industries across the country. COVID-19’s impact has slowed down in the United Kingdom, however, allowing for the return of filming. Could this be a window of opportunity for the Rick Grimes movies?

When one door closes, another one opens, right? If that’s the case, then filming shutdowns in the United States could be a big opportunity for work to begin on the Rick Grimes movies because filming is allowed in the UK, and with a few adjustments Andrew Lincoln could start work without needing to return to the US.

Several major productions have resumed filming in the UK, including the highly anticipated Matt Reeves Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson. While UK safety guidelines remain strict, they could allow for some Lincoln to film scenes where he is by himself or with small numbers of people.

The biggest factor, of course, would be makeup and FX work on actors playing walkers. There’s no way for actors to put their own walker makeup on, at least not to the level that TWD fans expect, and that’s why filming would be limited to smaller scenes with Lincoln only.

Obviously, there are a number of factors that make this difficult, including not having all of the crew and cast in place in the UK, but AMC might need to get creative in the coming months. And with the ability to beam in Scott M. Gimple and Greg Nicotero on Zoom, it allows work to begin without requiring anyone to fly overseas.

The biggest challenges facing AMC right now are that Los Angeles is a COVID-19 hotspot (and it’s where many actors live and post-production takes place), Atlanta (where TWD films) is seeing record numbers of cases and Austin (where Fear TWD films) is one of the most impacted cities in Texas. Virginia, where World Beyond films, is also seeing a rise in cases. There is no way for production to resume under these circumstances, nor will cast and crew be willing to travel until it’s safe to do so.

The immediate filming future looks murky right now, so it would be in AMC’s best interest to find ways to work on other TWD Universe projects wherever possible. If there is a script for the Rick Grimes movie, why not let Andrew Lincoln begin work and get as much done as possible under the current filming guidelines? At the moment, it’s the best option available and it could work.