Andrew Lincoln Is Leaving 'The Walking Dead'
by EG
The exodus from The Walking Dead continues. After popular cast member Lauren Cohan decided to no longer be a regular cast member next season, Andrew Lincoln, who plays the series' central protagonist Rick Grimes, cam to the same decision and will be written out of the show next season. That means Norman Reedus, the remaining star on the cast, is likely going to get a big raise. It also means more bad news for a series that was already struggling with a steep ratings decline.
The face of The Walking Dead is leaving the franchise.
Star Andrew Lincoln, who has played beleaguered former sheriff Rick Grimes since the show's premiere, will exit the AMC zombie drama in its upcoming ninth season, sources confirm to The Hollywood Reporter. Meanwhile, co-star Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl, is in the midst of negotiating a rich new deal that will pay him more than $20 million as he will become the new No. 1 on the call sheet.
Sources say Lincoln will be phased out in season nine in a fashion similar to co-star Lauren Cohan, who will film only six episodes of the series. Cohan, who pays Maggie, opted to exit the highly rated AMC drama and booked the lead in ABC's Whiskey Cavalier after her efforts to renegotiate a new deal to stay on The Walking Dead went south. After ABC picked up Whiskey Cavalier to series for a midseason bow, it closed the door on Cohan's full-time return to the series — even if she had closed a new deal. AMC declined comment.
Lincoln's decision to leave comes as a major shock for the franchise, which ranks as one of the top dramas on all of television among total viewers and the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. What's more, Lincoln's Rick is still the focal point of creator Robert Kirkman's comic series on which the AMC drama is based.
Losing Lincoln comes as The Walking Dead has always taken a "remix" approach to its source material and after an eighth season that featured the death of Rick's son, Carl (Chandler Riggs), who was largely seen as the future of both the show and the comic. (Carl remains alive and well in the source material.)
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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