Is The Walking Dead heading overseas for upcoming movies?

With word of Andrew Lincoln returning to reprise his role in AMC’s Walking Dead movies now out, fans are dying to know where those features will be headed setting-wise. Fortunately, we may already have some clues.

Warning! Spoilers for The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead follow. You’ve been warned.

On the most recent episode of The Walking Dead, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) took leave from the post-apocalyptic world he made his home to start on a new adventure elsewhere. Rick’s final scene depicted him aboard a helicopter, accompanied by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh), heading to an undisclosed location not yet seen.

While there’s no way to determine exactly where Jadis and company took Rick, it’s probably far away from the United States. The reason has to do with The Walking Dead’s production.

For those who don’t know, Andrew Lincoln decided to leave The Walking Dead television series because filming required him to shoot in Atlanta for an extended period of time every year. This hectic schedule kept Lincoln from being with his family and inevitably chose his exit to be with them. No one can blame Lincoln for leaving the way he did — and by all accounts, he’s paid his dues.

The whole Walking Dead series started off with Lincoln and he’s stuck with it for eight years. Greg Nicotero and Robert Kirkman brought that vision to life, but it was Andrew Lincoln’s performance that made fans fascinated with the series.

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What’s interesting about Lincoln’s return to reprise his role in a Walking Dead movie is that AMC likely found a filming location closer to Lincoln’s home. His main reason for leaving the television series was that shoots required him to take trips to the United States while his home is in England. So, AMC more than likely worked out a solution that suits both Lincoln and The Walking Dead’s needs.

What this means for the upcoming Walking Dead movie is that Rick’s journey could take him overseas. Details on the aforementioned movie haven’t been made clear yet but the key announcement made by Scott Gimple revealed the movie would tell Rick Grimes’ story after being jettisoned away on that helicopter. His comments also indicated there’d be an exploration of unseen worlds, meaning England and Europe could both be incorporated into both Lincoln-led features.

"“These films are going to be big evolutions of what we’ve been doing on the show, with the scope and scale of features. We’re starting with the first part of the continuing story of Rick Grimes, and there is much more on the way, featuring yet-unseen worlds of The Walking Dead and faces from the show’s past, as well as new characters we hope to become favorites, told by TWD veterans and emerging voices. We want to break new ground with different, distinct stories, all part of the same world that’s captured our imagination for nearly a decade of the Dead.”"

There is, however, another explanation for why Andrew Lincoln is returning. Perhaps, AMC has a different kind of adventure in mind for Rick Grimes’ in the movies. We know that he’s being shipped to a location where properly maintained facilities are functioning, so Rick may be put in a quarantined area that’s limited to a few areas. Rick might even be placed in a social experiment for survivors of the apocalypse, trapping him with others who’ve been picked up by the helicopter people.

In that scenario, AMC could shoot Lincoln’s scenes from a set close to his home. He’d probably be willing to leave for the occasional shoot off-location but the obligation wouldn’t be as extended as was his time shooting for The Walking Dead television series. At the same time, shooting on a closed set would grant AMC the creative freedom to place their Rick Grimes movies in any setting they choose — be it a secret location in the United States, Canada, or a fictional encampment.

Theories aside, taking the Walking Dead movies to England and mainland Europe make the most sense. Between Fear The Walking Dead and TWD, just about every corner of North America has been covered already. Canada is still unexplored, though shooting a movie there would present the same problem for Lincoln as did The Walking Dead television series. Furthermore, taking Rick Grimes to merry ole’ England seems like the next logical step.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays on AMC. The Rick Grimes’ movie will begin production in early 2019.