A third The Walking Dead series has been rumored for a while now, but now AMC is making it official, greenlighting a 10-episode order of another The Walking Dead spin-off set to launch in 2020, five years after launching Fear the Walking Dead.
In announcing the next series, AMC also provided some details about the premise, saying that it “will feature two young female protagonists and focus on the first generation to come-of-age in the apocalypse as we know it. Some will become heroes. Some will become villains. In the end, all of them will be changed forever. Grown-up and cemented in their identities, both good and bad.”
There’s no word yet on whether anyone would cross over into the new series from either Fear the Walking Dead or The Walking Dead, although if they’re looking for two “young female protagonist” coming of age during the apocalypse to center the show around, Judith Grimes from The Walking Dead and Charlie from Fear the Walking Dead could be potential targets.
The series comes from Scott Gimple, the architect of The Walking Dead universe, and writer/producer Matthew Negrete, who has been with The Walking Dead since 2013 and is responsible for writing some of the best episodes, including the season 8 and season nine season finales, as well as Rick Grimes’ farewell episode. Production on the series will begin this summer in Virginia.
The series comes at an interesting time, as The Walking Dead universe continues to expand and weave together. In addition to Rick Grimes movies, it appears as though not just characters but storylines will crossover between The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, potentially concerning the helicopter. That story would also play into the Rick Grimes’ movies and may, as well, provide a starting point for the new spin-off series, particularly if characters from either of the two existing series play a part in the new spin-off. While ratings are not what they used to be for The Walking Dead, they are now holding steady, and AMC is clearly trying to inject more enthusiasm into their flagship series, along with the expansion of the Better Call Saul universe, which may be all the more important since the network hasn’t really produced a big new hit outside of those franchises in a few years, save for borrowing Killing Eve from BBC America.
Meanwhile, in addition to announcing the third The Walking Dead series, AMC also announced that there would be a second season to both Lodge 49 and The Terror.
(Via EW)
