Despite shedding viewers faster than a zombie does limbs, or being on the cusp of season in which two of its OG’s will depart the show, The Walking Dead has just announced an ambitious new decade long plan to spread the undead apocalypse into further spin-off shows, and possibly even a movie.
The zombie franchise, originally created by Robert Kirkman, achieved 15 million viewers during its season 5 run, but that number has been eroded by the protracted war between Rick and Negan which occupied the subsequent years, but this hasn’t stopped AMC Chief Executive Officer Josh Sapan telling an investor conference about their ambitious plans.
A Bloomerg report stated that he told the audience “We have a plan that goes well into the future. If we manage it properly it has a long life, which is not to say it will always look like a TV series.”
The article reveals that those privy to the plans have said AMC wants to produce several movies for a TV network or streaming service, and that they’d like to take The Walking Dead overseas, where the show is still immensely popular.
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Fear the Walking Dead‘s improvement as a standalone show proves that an extended un-dead universe might work, with Scott Gimple, who produced the show for a number of seasons, now on-board as chief content officer for both The Walking Dead brand.
With Andrew Lincoln set to leave the show during the upcoming season, and Lauren Cohen following suit in what’s being described as an open-ended departure, it’s an important time for the core fan base of The Walking Dead, so let us know what you think of these developments in the comments below.
“Last season brought the culmination of “All Out War,” which pitted Rick Grimes and his group of survivors against the Saviors and their cunning leader, Negan. With Negan’s life in his hands, Rick had a character-defining choice in front of him. By making the unilateral decision to spare Negan, Rick upheld the values his late son, Carl, championed in order to build for the future, but created conflict within his group. Now, we see our survivors a year and a half after the end of the war, rebuilding civilization under Rick’s steadfast leadership. It is a time of relative peace among the communities as they work together, looking to the past to forge the future, but the world they knew is rapidly changing as man-made structures continue to degrade, and nature takes over, changing the landscape and creating new challenges for our survivors. As time passes, the communities confront unexpected obstacles, danger, and of course, walkers, but nothing quite prepares them for the formidable force they are about to encounter, which threatens the very idea of civilization that our survivors have worked so hard to build.”
The Walking Dead season 9 premieres on October 7th on AMC.
