AMC announced today that it has greenlit a third “The Walking Dead” series. The 10 episode order will begin production in Virginia this summer with the series scheduled to premiere in 2020.
“We’re thrilled that the Dead will keep walking into a new corner of the post-apocalyptic world, a corner that will present stories and characters unlike any that The Walking Dead has dramatized thus far, and that is bound to excite one of the most passionate fanbases in television,” said David Madden, president of programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios.
The next series in “The Walking Dead” universe will feature two young female protagonists and focus on the first generation to come-of-age in the apocalypse. Like every “The Walking Dead” series, the spinoff will explore both the good and bad in humanity, but in this case we’ll see it evolve as these characters grow into and cement their identities.
The new series will be co-created by Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of “The Walking Dead” universe and Matt Negrete, who has been a writer and producer on “The Walking Dead” for the past five seasons. Negrete will also serve as showrunner of the new series.
“Showing audiences an unseen pocket of “The Walking Dead” Universe steeped in a new mythology is a very cool way to celebrate a ‘Decade of the Dead’ on TV and over fifteen years of Robert Kirkman’s brilliant comic,” said Gimple. “Matt Negrete is one of the best writer-producers in TWD’s long history — I’m thrilled to be working beside him to tell stories unlike we’ve seen before, taking our first step into an even larger world.”
While many might wonder why the network would greenlight a third “The Walking Dead” series after reported declines in series viewership, “The Walking Dead” remains the most watched drama on cable among adults with the show’s first spinoff “Fear The Walking Dead” ranking fourth in the same demographic.
