Hoping to build off the success of The Walking Dead, AMC has already placed an initial two-season order for the show's spin-off series which has yet to be named.
The new companion series, which has yet to be named but has had its share of awful rumored titles, will be set in Los Angeles and focus on an entirely new set of characters and storylines. It's said to take place as the zombie apocalypse is first starting, making it a sort of prequel to the original series. The first season will consist of six one-hour episodes, the same number that made up the first season of the original series, and will premiere on AMC in "late summer." The spin-offs second season will air in 2016.
“We feel empowered by this two-season commitment, a serious show of faith from our network partner AMC,” said Robert Kirkman, the original creator of The Walking Dead comic series of which the show is based on.
“I personally take it as a sign that they believe, like we do, that we’ve accomplished our goal of developing something original that can pay tribute to the original show and expand the world I created while at the same time having something new to say with this story," he added. "I’m very grateful that we now have the opportunity to tell this amazing story and show the fans that we really haven’t scratched the surface yet when it comes to ‘The Walking Dead.’”
Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero and David Alpert from “The Walking Dead” are executive producers of the new series, which, like the original, is being produced by AMC Studios. Dave Erickson (“Marco Polo,” “Sons of Anarchy”), who co-created and co-wrote the pilot with Kirkman, is an executive producer and showrunner. The cast includes Cliff Curtis (“Missing,” “Gang Related”), Kim Dickens (Gone Girl, “Sons of Anarchy”), Frank Dillane (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Alycia Debnam Carey (Into the Storm).
It'll be weird following a new group of survivors, but I look forward to seeing how Kirkman and company handle the initial outbreak. While The Walking Dead has its fair share of action, it's always been a series more concerned with human relationships than dealing with the dead. I worry that a series set during the early outbreak might be too action-focused, but then again maybe that sort of switch would make a spin-off series fresh. Either way, I'll be tuning in.
AMC Global also announced today that it acquired international television rights to the series, and plans to air each episode within 24 hours of its U.S. premiere. AMC Global, the international AMC-branded television network, launched in late 2014 and is available in over 115 countries and territories.
