AMC Plans Ten More Years Of The Walking Dead
by Erik Amaya
It seems the imminent departure of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) will not be enough to stop The Walking Dead from ambling on.
As various sites, including Deadline, have noted, AMC has an ambitious plan to keep the television series based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book going indefinitely. They also intend to expand from the core series into other shows and platforms. AMC CEO recently told investors the company has “a very careful plan” to “manage [The Walking Dead] over the next decade plus.”
Currently, the channel produces the two television series, The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. Further spin-offs and possibly even features are expected to emerge from the brand at some point.
It all seems a natural outgrowth of Kirkman’s original format. When The Walking Dead was just an Image comic book, Kirkman always saw it as an open-ended concept with characters appearing and dying as the world of The Walking Dead marched on. The television and comic book have always been separate entities, but Lincoln’s departure in the upcoming season will see AMC’s version become almost entirely from the source; though it is easy to imagine Chief Content Officer Scott Gimple and new Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang will return to the comic book for ideas from time to time.
The Walking Dead returns October 7th on AMC.
