The Walking Dead movie: Release date, cast, plot and Rick’s return

The Walking Dead, one of the most popular TV series of all time, is getting a trilogy of movies that will see Rick Grimes make his long-awaited return.

Although it’s been confirmed that the hit AMC series will end after its 11th season, its legacy will live on in a number of spin-off series including World Beyond, Tales of the Walking Dead, and that highly-anticipated Daryl and Carol show. There’s also a trilogy of movies coming our way, which promise to continue Rick Grimes’ story after his shock disappearance from the show during season 9. It first appeared he went out in a blaze of glory, but it was later revealed that he survived – although viewers haven’t seen him since.

“The story of Rick will go on in films,” Walking Dead boss Scott Gimple told The Hollywood Reporter. Fans have been promised a ‘feature film-level budget’ and an estimated run time of around two hours. These won’t just be longer episodes; they’ll be genuine movie experiences. While the ongoing global health crisis has slowed down work on the franchise’s jump to the big screen, there’s still a lot of speculation and teasers about what we can expect. We’ve rounded up everything you need to know below.

Is there any release date for The Walking Dead movies?

There’s no release date in mind for The Walking Dead movies yet, which is probably because they’ve not even started production. Therefore, we wouldn’t expect to see them hit cinemas for a while. So how far along are the movies? Gimple recently gave an update to Collider, explaining that they’re currently working on the scripts and playing around with different ideas, but that it’s still “fairly early on” in the process.

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He also clarified that although the global health crisis has slowed things down, it’s something that could actually work out in their favor. “Current circumstances have given us a little extra time that we seem to need anyways,” Gimple explained. “We really want to do it right.”

The Walking Dead plot: What will happen to Rick Grimes?

As we mentioned before, the last time viewers saw Rick Grimes he’d blown up a bridge and was presumed dead by his loved ones. But, he was actually whisked off in a helicopter by the Civic Republic Military, and taken away to an unknown location.

It’s expected that the movies will offer an explanation as to where Rick has been for the last few years, what his relationship with the CRM is like, and why he hasn’t made an attempt to reunite with his family or friends. Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen. Although, a reunion with Michonne seems likely to happen. More on that later.

The Walking Dead movies cast: Who will appear alongside Rick Grimes?

Given that most of the hype surrounding the upcoming Walking Dead movies revolves around Rick Grimes making his return, it’s safe to say that British actor Andrew Lincoln will be appearing as the iconic lead character. In an interview with Collider, The Walking Dead boss Scott Gimple said Andrew is “super involved” in the process of creating the movies. He also said that Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead comics and wrote episodes of the show, is having a lot of input.

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Will we be seeing any other familiar faces joining Rick on the big screen? Well, one character who fans are eager to see make a return is Danai Gurira’s Michonne, who exited the main series after finding proof that Rick is still alive.

Her journey to find the man she loves could be explored in the movies. This seems especially likely now that Gimple has confirmed that viewers haven’t seen the last of the sword-wielding hero. “Absolutely, you’ll be seeing Michonne, yeah,” he said. “We’re going to be telling stories with Michonne again. The end of her on the [main] series was, in many ways, the start of the story.”

The Walking Dead movies trailer: Do we have any footage yet?

We don’t have an official trailer yet, but we did get a teaser for the upcoming movies was unveiled at Comic-Con in July 2019. The short clip didn’t reveal much at all, but it did confirm that Rick Grimes will be returning, as well as the mysterious helicopter that whisked him away in Season 9. Eagle-eyed fans have also pointed out that the skyline that appears in the background of the teaser is likely to be Philadelphia, which is just north of The Walking Dead Season 10’s setting, Virginia. Could we eventually see Rick reunited with Judith, Daryl, and the rest of the gang? We’ll have to wait and see.