The Walking Dead, once the shining pride of cable TV, isn’t the champion it used to be. Don’t get me wrong, it still gets viewers — lots of them. But the ratings for TWD pale in comparison to the show even a few seasons ago.
Speaking of a few seasons ago, that’s when they wrote out the character Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). He didn’t die, though, but instead was helicoptered off to another part of zombie-infested America. Upon his departure, AMC promised that Lincoln would lead not one, not two but three Walking Dead movies. But, like I said, that was all announced a couple years back, before the show started to lose popularity. So are things still on track?
Yes. The Rick Grimes-led Walking Dead movies are still in development, according to producers of the show. Executive Producer David Alpert had this to say about the movies:
”We’re coming along in a big way. We’re just in this particular space where we have [to wait]. We can’t shoot right now, so that’s just the big thing holding us back.”
Robert Kirkman, the man behind the comic and a heavily-involved producer on the show, had this to add about the movies:
“There’s tons of stuff going on behind the scenes. I don’t want anyone to thin that we’re just kind of waiting around for this pandemic to end. I would say that, if anything, the pandemic is going to make a lot of movies better. I think the Rick Grimes movie chief among them, just because we’re getting a lot more time to cook this thing and make sure it’s perfect.”
For his part, Lincoln has always seemed game to make the movies no matter when they went into production. Any why not? It’s so hard to lead a franchise in Hollywood, especially a franchise that makes the leap from television to film. That’s a pretty big feat.
The Walking Dead may have lost a few viewers over the years but I still think a film based on the show would be quite successful. The audience is still pretty substantial and horror movies are usually reliable hits at the box office. Plus, most moviegoers are familiar with The Walking Dead, even if they don’t watch the series. The name recognition on this thing is huge. I think the movie would do quite well financially. Now, would it be good? That’s a totally different story, considering the series has been really inconsistent.
I’d be down for a Walking Dead movie. However, please don’t force me to watch an after-movie movie starring Chris Hardwick. No thanks.
Source: Comicbook.com