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At one level within the mid-2010s, “The Strolling Lifeless” was the largest present on cable tv. Greater than that, the zombie sequence, which was based mostly on Robert Kirkman’s Picture Comics title of the identical title, had generated a whole multimedia franchise. AMC struck gold, and the community was trying to capitalize in a giant means round 2018, making the bounce from the massive display screen to the small display screen.
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In November 2018, it was confirmed that Andrew Lincoln would headline a trilogy of “Strolling Lifeless” motion pictures centered on Rick Grimes. These have been meant as big-budget options that will broaden the scope of the franchise in a giant, unhealthy means. “The Strolling Lifeless” chief content material officer Scott M. Gimple had this to say concerning the bold mission on the time of its announcement:
“The story of Rick will go on in movies. Proper now, we’re engaged on three however there’s flexibility in that … over the following a number of years, we will be doing specials, new sequence are fairly a chance, high-quality digital content material after which some content material that defies description in the meanwhile. We’ll dig into the previous and see previous characters. We’ll introduce new characters and new conditions.”
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These motion pictures by no means got here to move. Lincoln left “The Strolling Lifeless” in season 9, establishing the story that the films would have adopted. So, what occurred with the films, precisely? Why did AMC cancel them? The reply is sophisticated in that circumstances past the community’s management got here into play. It is also, ultimately, considerably easy in that the character of the enterprise modified, rendering the concept infeasible.
The Strolling Lifeless motion pictures have been a sufferer of unhealthy timing
“The Strolling Lifeless” rankings peaked with season 7 in 2016. Fairly notably, the films weren’t even introduced till 2018, two seasons later within the present’s run. That was arguably the primary challenge. The larger challenge got here later, and it was one which went far past any particular person community’s issues. It was an industry-wide, once-in-a-generation catastrophe.
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The COVID-19 pandemic arrived in early 2020 and shut down film theaters everywhere in the world. That, in the beginning, put the way forward for motion pictures as a bigger concern unsure. It additionally compelled Hollywood to double down on streaming, with AMC going all-in on AMC+, with the “Strolling Lifeless” franchise turning into a pillar of that exact streaming play. Therefore, the films type of quietly died because of what was occurring within the enterprise at the moment.
“It actually was a query of simply time, circumstance, the world altering instantly. And finally, some issues modified in a outstanding means,” Gimple defined to Display screen Rant in 2024. Collection author, govt producer, and director Greg Nicotero, talking on the “Speaking Unusual” podcast, defined the way it went down behind the scenes. As he defined:
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“A number of iterations of the [movie] script flew round and it simply ended up not coming to fruition. The thought of doing a Rick Grimes present popped up a yr and a half in the past in all probability. I do not assume anyone actually thought it was gonna occur. Lo’ and behold, as we get nearer we begin realizing, ‘Look, if we’re not going to do the films then possibly there is a present there.'”
The Rick Grimes Strolling Lifeless motion pictures grew to become a TV present as a substitute
Certainly, as Nicotero advised, AMC determined to show the would-be motion pictures right into a TV miniseries as a substitute. “The Strolling Lifeless” sequence that introduced again Lincoln as Rick was first introduced at San Diego Comedian-Con in July 2022. What’s extra, the present would convey again Danai Gurira as Michonne to assist end the story between these characters. “We owe you the conclusion of this story of Rick and Michonne,” Gurira stated at SDCC.
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Lincoln added, “There’s going to be six episodes on AMC+ airing in 2023. This time subsequent yr, there’s going to be an entire lot extra to speak about…I personally cannot wait to get my cowboy boots again on.”
Certainly, “The Strolling Lifeless” ended its 11 season run in 2022 and left a number of threads dangling. Most notably, the Rick and Michonne of all of it. This present, which premiered in 2024 beneath the title “The Strolling Lifeless: The Ones Who Reside,” answered these questions. With six episodes to its title, AMC basically advised the story they have been going to inform within the motion pictures on TV as a substitute. One might take a look at it as two episodes per film.
Whether or not or not this was higher for followers of the franchise is up for debate. It is unattainable to know what the films would have regarded like, nevertheless it did really feel too little, too late, even in 2018. On the flip aspect, the response to “The Ones Who Reside” was largely very constructive, providing followers a conclusion that they had lengthy wished to see. So all of it labored out, simply not as initially deliberate.
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You possibly can seize “The Strolling Lifeless: The Ones Who Reside” on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon.
