I read that the movies were actually his pitch. LOL

Blew THAT theory out of the water didn't I?

 

A zombified London could be an interesting location.

 

I believe him when he said he wanted to be home more. 6 months living away from his Family is tough. I also believe he loves the character and the story but when they killed off Carl, Andrew had a hard time wanting to continue to live away his family.

So Gimple came up with a solution. Leave the series and make some films. Allowing him to spend less time filming, should only take a few weeks or a month to film a 2 hour movie...assuming the filming schedule for 32 hours of a season. Plus they can film at different times of the year. It makes sense. Instead of spending 6 months in the States, he only has to spend a few weeks at most and he can do it at a time of the year where it's easier to bring his family if he wants.

In the end, after a few more years. Either return to the show for a few episodes or have the show finale be the third movie of his trilogy.

I'm thinking we will see this.
S9 2018/2019
S10 2019/2020
Grimes movie #1 Summer 2020
S11 2020/2021
Grimes #2 summer 2021
S12 2021/2022
Grimes #3 series/story finale. A goodbye, farewell, amen for the series. Summer 2022

 

I'm reminded of the controversy of The Walking Dead comic book being a rip-off on the apocalypse film 28 Days Later.

 

I just realized that when Rick was saying I'm looking for my family, it echoed Andy's real life longing to get back to his own family.

 

They could use footage from 28 Days Later. Mind you, those were some fast-movin’ zombies.

 

I can’t see enough audience interest to milk the golden cow for that long to be honest. I mean, viewer interest has waned significantly already. I’d be surprised if the show lasts past the ninth season.

 

Over 6 million people still watch the show. It isn't going anywhere. People tend to focus on the drop in ratings, which is significant. But they ignore that the show is still the most watched show on amc. There is no way they give that up.

 

Don't forget the DVR Defense.

TWD's ratings suck? That's because everyone DVR's it now!

 

Breaking Bad was the most watched show on AMC once, but they wisely wrote an ending to that while there was still a story left to tell.

 

I see what you are saying, that the story itself won't make it 3 more seasons. That's very possible. There are only so many "and the new bad guy is..." stories you can tell.

 

Exactly. Witness how long it took for Negan to just become kind of ho-hum. And he was a well built up villain.

 

And it could still lose over half of those viewers and remain one of, if not the most watched show on AMC.

AMC doesn't get great ratings. Breaking Bad in its peak averaged around what TWD's pulling now, in its lowest ratings in history. For better or worse, it's not going anywhere any time soon.

 

That movie still freaks me out when I watch it.