Andrew Lincoln left The Walking Dead, but the Rick Grimes movies aren’t happening. Here’s why Rick Grimes is returning in a TWD spin-off show instead.

The announcement of the Rick Grimes and Michonne Walking Dead spin-off series confirms it is too late for a Rick Grimes movie. Andrew Lincoln was best known for UK shows like This Life or rom-com favorite Love, Actually before becoming The Walking Dead’s Rick Grimes. While the AMC series toned down some of the darkness of the graphic novel, it shared the same mission statement as the source material in charting the evolution of Rick as he and his group struggled to adapt to a post-apocalyptic world. Rick’s exit in season 9 prompted the announcement of a Walking Dead movie in 2018, but those plans have changed.

Lincoln was the backbone of The Walking Dead throughout the first eight seasons. That’s why when Lincoln announced Rick was leaving TWD in season 9, it was met with shock from fans. The series didn’t kill off Rick, however. Lincoln’s exit instead saw Rick Grimes risk his life to blow up a bridge to stop a walker horde swarming Alexandria. He was later rescued by Jadis and was absent until the series finale. In the immediate aftermath of his departure, three Rick Grimes movies were announced, and in 2019, it was confirmed these Universal would be theatrically released. Unfortunately, progress on the Walking Dead movie slowly ground to a halt.

The Walking Dead is over, and Rick and Michonne are returning for their own show. The Rick and Michonne movie isn’t happening – but this is better.

The Long Wait Killed Interest In A Rick Grimes Movie

While the COVID-19 pandemic almost certainly impacted plans for the Rick Grimes movies, the lack of updates saw excitement for them wither. In July 2022, it was confirmed the long-awaited Rick Grimes movie had been scrapped entirely, and instead, Lincoln would return for an “epic” six-part miniseries reuniting him with Danai Gurira’s Michonne titles The Ones Who Live. There’s renewed excitement since seeing Rick at the tail end of The Walking Dead finale, but it feels like AMC also realized that the Walking Dead movie release was delayed for far too long.

Following Rick’s departure, there was concern about how The Walking Dead would sustain itself without him. But in the years since, not only has the show evolved nicely in his absence, but the franchise itself continues to expand. Fear The Walking Dead (arguably) became the superior show, and various spin-offs are in the works too, including the upcoming The Walking Dead: Dead City, and a solo Daryl TWD spin-off series. Beloved a character as Rick is, the universe proved it could survive without him, and the seeming lack of momentum in the Rick Grimes movie trilogy also saw the interest in them dip.

With such a long wait, there was concern over how much of an event a Rick Grimes movie would still be. There’s also the question of accessibility to newcomers and the overexposure of the property — which seems to announce a new spin-off every other week — also reduced the uniqueness of a film spin-off, so those factors likely led to the conclusion that Rick’s best comeback would be The Ones Who Live. The reunion of TWD‘s Rick and Michonne and the reveal of what he’s been up to in the missing years makes the upcoming series very exciting, though it’s a shame that plans for a Walking Dead movie didn’t work.

The Entertainment Landscape Is Different Now

While a Rick Grimes movie may have been what everyone was hoping for, the landscape of entertainment experienced a shift over the last four years. The Walking Dead started in 2010 when TV and cable were still the primary entertainment platforms. Over time, streaming services gained more traction, with many viewers giving up expensive cable programs for them. The game changed even further when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, eliminating the possibility of going to the theater to see a new movie. In the years since the Rick Grimes movies were announced, some films have forgone a theatrical release and movies like Army of the Dead went straight to streaming.

The Walking Dead had to change its original plan because the entertainment business has changed drastically. While a Walking Dead movie would’ve been great, there’s much more room to explore Rick and Michonne in a miniseries that would’ve been limited by a two-hour time frame. A six-episode miniseries gives The Walking Dead characters a bit more breathing room to properly explore exactly what Rick Grimes has been up to for the past two seasons.

The Fear the Walking Dead season 8 cast sees some major shakeups in the ensemble after the time jump, but fan favorites like Lennie James are back.

There Won’t Be Any Walking Dead Movies – Rick Grimes Or Otherwise

Not only was the Rick Grimes movie shelved for the miniseries, but there won’t be any The Walking Dead movies – a Rick Grimes movie or otherwise. More AMC shows seem to be the future of the franchise. Daryl will get his spin-off and the Maggie-Negan TWD spin-off in New York City is also on the way. Add in the Michonne and Rick Grimes series, and that is what AMC believes to be the better idea. Instead of handing it off to a movie studio to reap the rewards, AMC will keep everything in-house and this will allow The Walking Dead to tell its stories as it always has – in the long-form format.