Earlier today AMC released its quarterly earnings and teased about a new spinoff series based on The Walking Dead. The network’s chief operating officer, Ed Carroll, announced during Wall Street meetings that the series is in “active development” but would not give any information on premise, characters or premiere date.
AMC feels confident that there is still a large market and fan base for The Walking Dead including future movies and TV series. The show that has consistently been the number one series on cable has certainly undergone many changes in the course of its run including losing series regulars Andrew Lincoln, Chandler Riggs and Lauren Cohan (although it’s rumored that Cohan will be back in season 10.) It also appears that Danai Gurira who has played Michone since the end of season two will be in less episodes in season 10.
AMC is also planning more crossover events between The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead. It is clear that the network still has faith in the franchise despite the lowest ratings in the show’s history this season. Even knowing that a show about an apocalypse is bound to have a high character death toll, fans of The Walking Dead were blindsided when fan favorite Chandler Riggs was killed off in season 8 and then it was announced that Andrew Lincoln was leaving the show in season 9. Although the fate of Lincoln’s character, Rick Grimes, has been left open-ended, maybe the trilogy of movies that AMC is planning will answer that question.
What we do know, is that The Walking Dead has helped boost AMC earnings to $15 million more than experts estimated for a total revenue of $773 million. So while viewership of the flagship series may be waning, fans of the franchise should have no fears that it will be ending anytime soon. As long as zombies are big business, you can bet we will continue seeing them munch their way across our TV screens.