Andrew Lincoln is confirmed to return to The Walking Dead franchise, as the post-apocalyptic series prepares to hit the silver screen with its first movie.

Advertisement

Lincoln will reprise his role as Rick Grimes from the original series, with the as-yet-untitled film said to be picking up directly from the character's exit back in 2018.

Read on for everything we know so far about the Rick Grimes Walking Dead movie.

When is the Rick Grimes Walking Dead movie released?

The film was first announced more than two years ago, but as yet there's no indication of when we might expect to see the movie.

At the beginning of 2021, Andrew Lincoln revealed that filming was scheduled to begin on the project this summer, telling Extra, "With good intentions – and if everything works and I can leave my country – I plan to be back in America filming in spring/summer."

More like this

Previously, in December 2020, franchise boss Scott M. Gimple provided an update and explained that the process was taking longer than he had originally anticipated.

"Two years ago, almost to the day, I was in the wilds of England with Mr. Andy Lincoln working on the movie," he said. "And because we work in television, we thought we would be working on the second one right now.

"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."

We'll post any updates here – but for now it looks like we'll be waiting a little longer to see Rick Grimes on the big screen.

What will happen in the Rick Grimes Walking Dead movie?

We still don't even have a name for the film yet, let alone concrete plot details, but we can put forward a few theories based on what those involved in the project have said so far.

We know, for example, that the film is set to pick up Rick Grimes' story from the point at which he left the series, presumably providing some answers as to what was going on with that mysterious helicopter.

An AMC blog post dating from November 2018 offers slightly more substantial details, revealing that the film, which is expected to be the first in a trilogy, "will explore the story of where Rick is taken and what he faces in a new corner of the zombie apocalypse."

In that blog post, Scott M. Gimple was quoted as saying, "We have a lot on the horizon – starting with a new epic featuring one of the greatest leading actors in television history and one of the best people I’ve ever met.

"These films are going to be big evolutions of what we’ve been doing on the show, with the scope and scale of features. We’re starting with the first part of the continuing story of Rick Grimes, and there is much more on the way."

Meanwhile, in March 2021 The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman said he was excited about the film project, in part because it would differ so much from the series in terms of its form.

"I think that the show is very much an ensemble story and this is very much a Rick story," he told ComicBook.com. "So, I think being able to focus more on Rick as a character and do more with him is really cool.

"I think it's gonna be a very different kind of Walking Dead story, which is really exciting. You know, when you're doing something like this you have to make sure that it makes sense for it to be a movie.

"This isn't just some kind of expansion of what you're expecting from the show. This is something that's gonna be very different but it's gonna be the Rick Grimes that we all know and love."

Rick Grimes Walking Dead movie cast

The entire project hinges upon the character of Rick Grimes, so it's no surprise that Andrew Lincoln will be leading the cast for the film, reprising his role from the series.

As for other cast members, there's not been too much in the way of information so far – although Pollyanna McIntosh who starred as Anne/Jadis on the show has been announced as part of the cast, which is unsurprising given that she was in the helicopter with Rick when he was last seen.

As soon as any further casting details come to light, we'll update this page accordingly.

Is there a trailer for the film?

Sadly we're still a long way from a full trailer at this point, but as soon as one is made available we will post it here.

In the meantime, you can check out the below teaser, which debuted at San Diego Comic-Con back in 2019 and doesn't give too much away beyond the Philadelphia skyline – which would appear to hint at the film's setting.

Advertisement

Looking for something else to watch? Visit our Movies hub, or take a look at our TV Guide.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement