Michonne and Rick Grimes on the poster for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

The world of The Walking Dead has expanded well beyond the mainline series, with six spinoffs released to date. The franchise is thriving in TV, but head creative Scott Gimple isn’t giving up on that planned movie trilogy, not yet.

Scott M. Gimple said The Walking Dead movie isn’t a priority at the moment. Speaking to The Direct, the franchise’s Chief Content Officer explained they’re currently focused on the serialized TV format. “They’re always in our minds and you know, is it a six-hour, is it a two-hour, is it a… my dream would be another 16-hour a year series,” he asserted. “We’re talking about that. Feature films… probably less likely. But different ways that we do the show, we have to do it and we will.” That’s disappointing news for fans hoping Rick’s movie trilogy would be revived, but at least his storyline is now being explored in the spinoff.

The cast of The Walking Dead Season 2 on the front porch of a farm Daryl ride up with a face covered in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3. Carol stands in shock in teaser for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3. Jeffrey Dean Morgan stars as Negan on The Walking Dead: Dead City Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) sits outside on The Walking Dead: Dead City Michonne talks to Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Episode 5. Rick Grimes sits in a meeting room in front of a bulletin board on The Ones Who Live The cast of The Walking Dead Season 2 on the front porch of a farm Daryl ride up with a face covered in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3. Carol stands in shock in teaser for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3. Jeffrey Dean Morgan stars as Negan on The Walking Dead: Dead City Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) sits outside on The Walking Dead: Dead City Michonne talks to Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Episode 5. Rick Grimes sits in a meeting room in front of a bulletin board on The Ones Who Live

Plans for The Walking Dead movies may have fizzled, but the spinoff shows offer more promising prospects. Gimple previously teased the splintered ensemble would eventually converge in a crossover event. “When it comes to something like [an ‘Avengers: Endgame‘-style, all-series crossover event], yeah, I do have dreams of merging this all together,” he told TV Line in 2024. “I have laid little breadcrumbs toward that, but you never know exactly when and how [it will come together], because of a variety of reasons… I will just say that I’m building those pathways, but there could be all sorts of pivots along the way that change it.”

The Walking Dead Franchise Could Bring Back More Fan-Favorite Characters

That milestone event seems a long way off as Daryl Dixon, Dead City, and The Ones Who Live flesh out character arcs in the mainline show’s aftermath. Dead City and Daryl Dixon are both confirmed for another season, and The Ones Who Live has yet to be renewed. Musing over the original show’s cliffhanger finale, Gimple confirmed they left that door open so other fan-favorite characters can come back. Khary Payton expressed a desire to reprise Ezekiel Sutton in a spinoff or guest appearance, and Lennie James’ Morgan Jones also has a strong following; the franchise could continue his storyline after Fear the Walking Dead.

“I really want to see more of the characters from the past and I know the audience does too,” Gimple asserted. “Or things that were referred to in the past that we never saw. So, I’m determined to have it come back and it’s a very easy show to come back. There’s no… you know, we didn’t end on a cliffhanger. So I think it’s a possibility.” In November 2018, Gimple announced plans for a movie trilogy revolving around Rick (Andrew Lincoln), continuing his arc after The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 5. The project was officially cancelled in 2022, and the movie concept was reworked for The Ones Who Live.

The Walking Dead and The Ones Who Live are streaming on AMC+.