WIRE Buzz: Walking Dead movie sets 2021 start; Nevers & House of the Dragon teased; Midnight Mass

If you're a fan of The Walking Dead and you've been missing Rick Grimes, then here's some good news: the first in a trilogy of films based on Andrew Lincoln's character will hopefully start shooting in the Spring of 2021, the actor told the Associated Press.

“It does feel like there is a certain sense of positivity and the cavalry’s coming with the vaccines,” he added “And there’s a real sort of sense of a renewal, hopefully."

The films, set after Lincoln's departure from the series at the end of Season 9, will tell the story of what Rick gets up to as he continues to make his way through the ongoing zombie apocalypse, widening the world ever further. 

What's more, even though the films were originally planned to air on AMC as AMC original TV movies, their feature film scope means that AMC Networks and Skybound Entertainment will partner up with Universal Pictures to release the movies in theaters with fans now able to watch it on the big screen. 

Should the film complete production as planned, it's eyeing a 2022 release — a perfect follow up to the show's eleventh and final season. Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman penned the film's screenplay along with Scott Gimple, who serves as the franchise's Chief Content Officer. 

Of course, just because The Walking Dead is coming to a close, it doesn't mean other favorites won't live on, with a spin-off already in the works for fan-favorites Daryl and Carol (Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride). The alking Dead returns in early 2021, as does the second half of the sixth season of Fear the Walking Dead. Spinoff series The World Beyond also returns next year for its second and final season.

Next up, if fans weren't already anticipating all the Warner Bros. fare set to hit HBO Max in 2021, the streaming platform just teased even more of its upcoming content in a mega-trailer of sorts.  

Among the shows teased therein were HBO's upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, which takes place centuries ago, when dragons still flew overhead and a Targaryen still ruled the realm; and The Nevers, a Joss Whedon-created show set in the Victorian era (though Whedon has since exited), focusing on a group of young women with superpowers as they try and save the world.

It stars Laura Donnelly, Olivia Williams, James Norton, Tom Riley, Ann Skelly, Ben Chaplin, Pip Torrens, Amy Manson, Eleanor Tomlinson, Denis O'Hare, Zackary Momoh, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Elizabeth Berrington, Ella Smith, Viola Prettejohn, Anna Devlin, and Martyn Ford. 

While House of the Dragon will only start production next year, The Nevers is set to premiere sometime in the summer. 

And finally, it looks like the wait for Mike Flanagan's next project, Midnight Mass, won't be as long as it could have been, with production on the seven-episode Netflix series having finally wrapped this week. Flanagan, the creator of The Haunting of Bly Manor and it's predecessor Hill House, tweeted the news on Wednesday. 

"That's a wrap on Midnight Mass. It has been an extraordinary, unprecedented production, and I cannot be prouder of this amazing cast and crew," said the Doctor Sleep director. "In fact — and I do not say this lightly — this has been the best production experience of my career." 

He went on to add, "This series has been a dream project of mine for many, many years. It is the most personal story I've ever told. I've been reluctant to direct a whole season again after Hill House, but I'm so glad I did in this case. I am so lucky to have worked with this cast and crew."

The series was at the end of pre-production and would have started shooting soon, but was forced to halt entirely when the coronavirus pandemic first hit, with the cast and crew all going into lockdown. Preproduction then started up again in July, with the show starting to shoot episodes on Aug. 17 — long before a few other series announced they'd be filming again. Per one of Flanagan's later tweets, the series shot for 83 straight days without shutting down once, while also strictly adhering to COVID-19 protocols. 

Midnight Mass is set in an isolated island community and tells the story of the miraculous events and frightening omens that start to break out among the inhabitants after the arrival of a mysterious priest. 

Flanagan has directed all seven episodes of the show. The cast includes Rahul Kohli (The Haunting of Bly Manor), Kate Siegel (The Haunting of Hill House), Zach Gilford (The Purge: Anarchy) Hamish Linklater (Legion), Annabeth Gish (The Haunting of Hill House), Michael Trucco (Hunter Killer), Samantha Sloyan (Grey’s Anatomy), Henry Thomas (The Haunting of Hill House), Rahul Abburi (Killer Ransom), Crystal Balint (The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco), Matt Biedel (Altered Carbon), Alex Essoe (Doctor Sleep), Rahul Kohli (Supergirl), Kristin Lehman (The Chronicles of Riddick), Robert Longstreet (Doctor Sleep), Igby Rigney (Blue Bloods) and Annarah Shephard.

No release date has been set for the series.