AMC Officially Moving Forward With Third ‘Walking Dead’ Series

On Monday, AMC officially announced its plans to move forward with a third series in the ever-expanding Walking Dead franchise. This marks yet another step in Chief Content Officer Scott M. Gimple’s plan to grow the property out concurrently with The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. Future plans also include a previously announced trilogy of feature films centered around Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes.

Gimple co-created the new series alongside Matt Negrete, a writer for the main series. The two have collaborated on The Walking Dead for the last five years. Negrete will be bumped up to showrunner for the new show.

At this point, it is unclear which, if any, characters from The Walking Dead will make their way over to the new series. It’s worth noting, however, that stars Norman Reedus (Daryl) and Melissa McBride (Carol) have what The Hollywood Reporter refer to as “franchise deals” in place that allow them to move freely in and out of the different series within the universe.

As part of the announcement, Negrete said:

“I’m beyond excited to be a part of this new show set in The Walking Dead universe. Writing and producing for the original series has been the job of a lifetime and I’m honored to be working with Scott and all the fine Dead folks at AMC in this new capacity. I can’t wait for the fans of the franchise to see what we’ve been cooking up!”

Details about the new series were not immediately available. That said, it was disclosed that the third Walking Dead show will focus on two young female protagonists and the first generation to come of age during the zombie apocalypse. It’s interesting to note that the THR article describes the new Dead show as a “Lord of the Flies-like series.”

Here is the formal description from AMC:

“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.”

Production is set to begin this summer in Virginia with an eye for a 2020 premiere on AMC.

What do you think about a third series in the world of The Walking Dead? Are you excited? Or did you fall off the show a long time ago? Sound off in the comments below and let me know your thoughts!