The Walking Dead Boss Explains Rick Grimes Movie Delay: It’s “Worth the Wait”

The Walking Dead Movie is moving forward and "worth the wait," says screenwriter and producer Scott Gimple in an update on the long-awaited return of the missing Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). In the two years since Gimple announced the feature film trilogy that spins out of season 9 of The Walking Dead, we've learned little about the would-be blockbuster. Lincoln is returning with Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh), who disappeared alongside Rick aboard the same helicopter that flew him away from the television series. Rick is off somewhere with the Civic Republic Military, who have since returned in TWD: World Beyond. And Rick's return will screen only in movie theaters — eventually.

Gimple gifted fans a status update on the untitled Walking Dead Movie during The Walking Dead Holiday Special now streaming on AMC+, where the TWD chief content officer said AMC Networks is "moving forward" with the Rick-led movie despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Two years ago, almost to the day, I was in the wilds of England with Mr. Andy Lincoln working on the movie. And because we work in television, we thought we would be working on the second one right now," Gimple said. "Movies take a long time, but it'll be worth the wait. It is moving forward. The COVID time kind of slowed things down anyways, but we're using that time to go back to the lab and make it as great as possible."

He added, "I know that doesn't give you much … but it's happening."

In July, Skybound Entertainment co-founder and Walking Dead executive producer David Alpert said the movie is "coming along in a big way" but would hold off on filming due to the global pandemic.

"We can't shoot right now, so that's just the big thing holding us back," Alpert said at the time. "We are desperate to get back into production and get everything going, but we have something really exciting, really unique, really different, and can't wait to get it going. We just have to wait for it to be safe."

After filming on a new season of The Walking Dead was postponed in March, AMC resumed production in October on the six new bonus episodes extending season 10 into early next year. Producers scaled back these smaller pandemic-proofed episodes because of new protocols that allowed The Walking Dead to film safely across a six-week shoot in Georgia.

AMC and Skybound have partnered with distributor Universal Pictures to bring The Walking Dead Movie to theaters. The movie remains undated.

Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD. The Walking Dead returns with new episodes on February 28, 2021, on AMC.