The Walking Dead Creator Robert Kirkman Describes Rick Grimes Movies as More Succinct, More Spectacle

The Walking Dead creator promises the first franchise movies, centered around the long-missing Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), will offer even more “spectacle” than their television counterparts.

“I’m very excited,” Kirkman told ComicBook.com at San Diego Comic-Con. “I can’t say much — let me think about what I can say — but framing the story in a little different way, and telling the narrative in a more succinct [way], more spectacle possibly… I’ve already said too much. It’s gonna be fun.”

After some playful ribbing from Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld, Kirkman joked: “I can’t wait to see Rick Grimes fighting ninjas.”

Kirkman is “heavily involved” with the project in the works from Walking Dead chief content officer Scott Gimple, who described the coming movie side of the franchise as “big, epic entertainments.”

“It’s going to show a different situation that Rick is involved in. These are going to be shown on AMC, but they are going to have the scope of feature films,” Gimple said when announcing the Lincoln-led movies in November, promising an “epic story told over years.”

According to a press release distributed from AMC, “The first film will explore the story of where Rick is taken and what he faces in a new corner of the zombie apocalypse.”

When following Rick, who is believed dead by the Alexandrians after a bridge explosion in Season 9, the films will unravel the mystery behind the CRM organization responsible for his six-year disappearance. Gimple confirmed Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh), formerly Scavenger leader Jadis, will be involved.

“These films are going to be big evolutions of what we’ve been doing on the show, with the scope and scale of features,” Gimple said in November, after Lincoln exited the mothership series in 905, “What Comes After.”

“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.”

AMC has yet to stake a release date for its first TWD movie. Gimple previously hinted a 2020 release is possible.