"The Walking Dead" is using Rick Grimes' final episode to explode into a larger universe.
The character, played by Andrew Lincoln, will be the main focus of a series of AMC Studios original films written by Scott M. Gimple, the network announced.
The first film, expected to start production "as early as 2019," will pick up where Lincoln's final episode of "TWD" left off. It will explore where the seemingly mortally wounded Rick is helicoptered off to and what he faces in new territory.
"It's not the beginning of the end, it's the end of the beginning," Lincoln said during Sunday's episode of "Talking Dead." "And I like the idea that we get to tell a bigger story, maybe with a sort of wider vista. And I've always been interested in what's going on out there, you know, whether or not there is contact with the wider world. I want to know the meta of it all."
Gimple, who executive produces "TWD" and is now chief content officer of the franchise, said he wants to break new ground with the zombie-apocalypse concept.
"These films are going to be big evolutions of what we've been doing on the show, with the scope and scale of features," Gimple said, teasing to "faces from the show's past, as well as new characters."
"We're starting with the first part of the continuing story of Rick Grimes, and there is much more on the way," he said.
The announcement was made shortly after Lincoln's final episode of "The Walking Dead" premiered. The ninth season continues next Sunday, and a just-released trailer for upcoming episodes, above, indicates a jump in time and hints at an evolution among the walkers.