It’s been over a month now since the the faux-finale of The Walking Dead, and there’s still no date set for the actual finale. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, however, has suggested that that when it eventually airs, it will feel like a mini-movie, but that it may not arrive for several more months.
While that is upsetting in the short them, the long-term view may actually help the ability of The Walking Dead universe to line all of its ducks up in a row, specifically as it concerns the Rick Grimes’ movie. Before the pandemic hit, AMC had essentially lined up 40 consecutive weeks of The Walking Dead content, between the parent series, Fear the Walking Dead, and the two-season spin-off, The World Beyond. However, the architect of The Walking Dead universe, Scott Gimple, still had not yet totally cracked all the details on how and where the Rick Grimes’ movie would fit in, and last we heard, he was still trying to figure out one of two ways he was going with the script.
The pandemic, however, will give Gimple some necessary time to figure that out and slot it in between seasons at the appropriate time, says executive producer Greg Nicotero in an interview with SyFy:
“From what I understand from Mr. Gimple, the script is well underway,” Nicotero said. “I’ve looked at a couple of early drafts, but I haven’t seen anything lately, but from what I understand they’re digging away at it. One thing about this kind of situation is people that work at home… you know, writers… they’re able to take advantage of this time, and it’s a good time.”
“I have a feeling that when people push the play button again, there’s going to be a lot of material that’s going to be ready to go, because everyone’s getting scripts, and getting stuff just right to the point where they can get it ready before you start shooting. I think there’s going to be a lot of busy people, hopefully… hopefully in a few weeks?”
The interview, published yesterday, was recorded a few weeks ago, so by now, Scott Gimple must have all three Rick Grimes’ movies written, along with a map of the next decade of the universe. Right?
In the meantime, AMC announced that The Walking Dead spin-off, The World Beyond, would air in the fall (probably when the 11th season of The Walking Dead would normally air), as would at least some episodes of Fear the Walking Dead. During an earnings call, AMC also stated the the writers were continuing to work on the 11th season of The Walking Dead (and the final season of Better Call Saul), so when production resumes, both of shows should be poised to shoot their next seasons quickly.
Source: SyFy
