Andrew Lincoln to Star in Multiple ‘Walking Dead’ Movies for AMC

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Andrew Lincoln will stay in the “Walking Dead” universe.

The AMC series veteran has signed on to play the iconic character Rick Grimes in multiple feature-length projects in development at the cable network. A series of Studios Original Films, starring Lincoln and written by “Walking Dead” chief content officer Scott Gimple are planned to continue the story of Rick Grimes, with the first expected to begin production as early as 2019.

The move comes after Rick was badly wounded in last week’s “Walking Dead” episode, with this week’s episode meant to serve as his swan song on that series .

“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,” said Gimple. “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, 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.”

These are the first projects in development from Gimple since being named chief content officer overseeing the “Walking Dead” universe. At that time it was announced he would look to expand the brand of the show across a variety of platforms.

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