Who knew Robert Kirkman’s comic would become such a pop culture phenomenon when AMC took a huge chance and adapted the material, which had been passed on more than a handful of times.

Now in its ridiculous seventh season, with the eight already announced for 2017, the zombie series shows no signs of slowing down. The ratings have never been better – averaging near 12 million people a week – and Kirkman’s comic has set the stage for at least 11 seasons.

Scott Gimple, showrunner of “The Walking Dead”, believes as much will be the case for the hit AMC series, as he revealed when ComicBook.com asked whether or not the TV show could become a movie. He even jokes about what a modern day cast would look like:

“That question comes up every now and again,” Gimple said. “I’m sure one way or another, one day, it’ll happen. I think it would be cool.”

“William Shatner as Rick. We’ll get Edward James Olmos as Daryl. Hit all the big shows!” Gimple joked about a potential reboot on the big screen. “Matthew Fox as the Governor!”

Recent shows have been turned into movies and found huge success (i.e. Sex and the City, The Entourage), but would it make sense to wait until the series concludes to tackle such a feat? I love the idea of a movie creating an arc that fits right in the middle of a show’s high point, like what Paramount did with “South Park” and the accompanying R-rated film in 1999. Here we are 17 years later and that show is still going strong. AMC could do this with “The Walking Dead” and its massive fan base (12 million viewers could translate into a $100 million box office) at any point and it would work. The question is, would it be worth their time and money, would it signal an end to the show, could it kill the show? You know the old say, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

Still, those hoping to see Rick and company on the big screen should be beaming with optimism. It’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when.