The Walking Dead Shocker: Future of Franchise Revealed …

[Editors note: If you havent watched The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 5, What Comes After, read on at your own risk.]

Now that The Walking Dead has revealed the fate of Rick Grimes hes essentially been kidnapped, not killed fans wont have to wait long to see the characters further adventures. Kicking off AMCs plans to turn The Walking Dead into a multi-platform universe, star Andrew Lincoln has signed on to reprise the role in a series of movies that are set to start production next year.

In Sundays episode billed as Lincolns final appearance after nine seasons Rick manages to survive being impaled and being chased by a zombie herd, before disappearing in an explosion. Hes presumed dead by his family and friends, but the character is actually rescued in the episodes final moments, and whisked away by unknown forces in a helicopter.

Thats where the first film will pick up, according to Scott Gimple, who serves as chief content officer for The Walking Dead universe. Rick will find himself at the center of something very big, and he will be very small, Gimple said. But hell be drawn into it. These Rick Grimes series of films introduce a new corner of the world to The Walking Dead. And its very much in its own kind of situation and has its own rules.

Read More: The Walking Dead: Andrew Lincoln Confirms His Exit as a New Chapter Begins

The movies will allow Rick Grimes to live on in the universe, but also give Lincoln whose family is in the U.K. more personal flexibility compared to the amount of time he previously spent on The Walking Deads Georgia set. (Gimple doesnt rule out even shooting the films overseas to accommodate Lincolns schedule.) The announcement also allows AMC to stay true to its word, that this is it for Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead itself: Per Gimple, Lincoln will not show up again on the flagship series.

I think its important to say that were not planning to do that, Gimple said. Were planning to do these movies and people shouldnt expect to see him popping up. We have a plan for Rick Grimes to tell some amazing stories for him, for the audience. And thats where they can expect to get their Grimes fix.

Andrew Lincoln (left) with The Walking Dead co-stars Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira and Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock

Gimple said the movies are expected to air on AMC. But he doesnt rule anything out, including perhaps a theatrical release or a partnership with a streaming service. AMC Studios and the producers behind The Walking Dead have met with various outlets (including Netflix and Amazon) to pitch a new multi-prong universe featuring films, specials, series, digital content, and more.

The plan right now is that they are AMC Studios Original Films, Gimple said of the Rick Grimes projects. They are meant to be feature quality, feature timelines, feature budgets, big epic evolutions. We have been talking to other people, so there are possibilities of people seeing them elsewhere. But right now the plan is for people to see them on AMC. One of the reasons weve been talking to folks is that things are changing every day in television, the way that things are [produced], or distributed, or consumed. Were just trying to keep up with that and make sure that with this long-term plan were looking at the future. And different possibilities for different places.

AMC already runs the spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead on its own air; its in-house AMC Studios unit produces both shows. Plans for an even larger Walking Dead universe were first announced in January, when longtime series showrunner Gimple was named chief content officer of The Walking Dead TV universe.

At the time, AMC hinted that Gimple would develop potential brand extensions on a variety of platforms although it wasnt specified what that might mean. Now its clear: a hodge-podge of all sorts of storytelling inside the expanded world of The Walking Dead.

Theres these films, and were also working on a number of different things, Gimple said. Specials, series. Also series of different lengths. We could have some much shorter series. Different aspects of digital content, some crazy content that defies description.

One of the most important aspects is that it all isnt related to each other. Its all in the same world, its all on the same planet, he added. But its not like everyones going to know each other and interact with each other. They will walk the same earth. And there will be stuff that really does inform and speak to each other. And then theres stuff that wont. Were going to do stuff in the past, were going to see old characters, and were going to move into the future with new characters. Different stories, different formats. Were going to want to bring brand new voices to The Walking Dead as well.

Gimple said hes open to all ideas, although he didnt think any of the brand extensions would include a pre-zombie apocalypse prequel, and hes not a fan of diving deep into any sci-fi elements of explaining more about the outbreak, as the source graphic novels by Robert Kirkman dont spend much time looking at how it happened.

AMC Networks president/general manager Charlie Collier had been overseeing the pitch to Hollywood, which, as Bloomberg reported in September, might collectively cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Collier, however, is now departing AMC to run the Fox network, and its unclear how that might impact AMCs aggressive push to find a Walking Dead partner. Also, according to insiders, there remains a debate inside AMC on whether the company should share its most prized property with competitors.

But if it were to happen, nows the time to exploit The Walking Dead as a multi-screen universe in the vein of Marvel, Star Wars or Star Trek. As the original series ages and its ratings erode, time might be running out to capitalize on the shows success and create a universe that could generate major revenue for the company.

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead

Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

After years of dominating the Nielsen ratings The Walking Dead is easily the biggest basic cable series in history the show has faced major ratings declines with its live, linear viewing on AMC. That could ultimately mean decreased ad revenue for The Walking Dead on AMC.

Gimple defends the shows ratings, noting that its remarkable that The Walking Dead is still TVs No. 2 drama (behind This Is Us) in adults 18-49, even in its ninth season. That said, television ratings as a whole are incredibly down, he said. That doesnt mean people arent watching these shows, theyre just watching them differently. The Walking Dead is a show that started in an entirely different era of television. And its still going well in a very different era. But I think people are still comparing those two eras as apples to apples.

As linear ratings and primetime ad revenue drops, thats a good reason to consider a future where AMC Studios monetizes its premier property in ways beyond its own screen. Another reason: In order to maintain programming balance on AMC, the cable network cant run too many Walking Dead series at once. Sister networks BBC America and SundanceTV could perhaps harbor some, but if AMC Studios wants to give the franchise a wider exposure, thats another case for partnering with a streamer.

We believe this is a world and narrative with many possibilities and opportunities for character development and were excited to expand the series into a franchise that can live across multiple formats, David Madden, president of original programming for AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios, said in a statement. For many years, fans have talked about things in the apocalypse they want to see and now we have an opportunity to explore those stories, beginning with the character who started it all, Rick Grimes.

The decision to pitch The Walking Dead projects beyond AMC puts it in company with other legacy media companies looking for new ways to monetize library content as audiences migrate to digital platforms.

Viacoms MTV network, for example, recently announced that it would revive one of the biggest TV franchises in its history, The Real World, but produce it for Facebook Watch instead of its own air.

In a recent report, analyst Rich Greenfield also stressed that legacy companies without the capital to build a major streaming service would be better off monetizing their intellectual property by producing for others.

AMC has dipped its toes in the streaming waters via AMC Premiere, an add-on service that gives cable and satellite subscribers access to commercial-free versions of its TV series and film library, for $5 a month. But thats not a stand-alone over-the-top play, and if AMC Studios is aiming to monetize its content on digital platforms, it will have to go to one of the big ones Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YouTube, Facebook Watch, or coming soon, Apple, Disney, and WarnerMedia.

Legacy media companies cannot and simply will not be competitive in the new media world, said Greenfield, reversing his earlier argument, two years ago, that companies needed to get into that business. Instead of trying to compete, they should stick to what they know best creating amazing content and look to maximize their profits on that content and manage the secular decline of their legacy cable network infrastructure.

The plan for a Walking Dead universe also gives AMC a way to keep monetizing the brand even after the original series goes off the air. Gimple said there has been no discussion about an end date for the mothership: Are we going to go 30 seasons like The Simpsons? I really would love that. But television is changing too much. Were figuring it out.

More immediately, Gimple admitted hes bracing for the usual fan outrage over a major plot point this time its the decision to keep Rick Grimes alive, which he knows will divide fans between those who are relieved that a beloved character survived, and those who angrily consider it a cop-out. (Of course, those viewers should be reminded of what Lincoln said this summer at Comic-Con: My relationship with Mr. Grimes is far from over. Hes a large part of me.)

There isnt a lot of middle ground and the fans are very passionate. And I respect their passion, he said. Regardless of whether theyre elated that Rick lives to be at the center of more stories for us or whether they feel he should have died, we are going to be telling these new stories and I hope people dig them.

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