AMC Reportedly Planning For 10 More Years Of The Walking Dead

Looks like the apocalypse isn’t ending anytime soon, as insider Daniel Richtman reports that AMC has plans for another decade of The Walking Dead, with everything that’s come so far effectively the first half of a much longer tale. The smash hit zombie show debuted back in October 2010 and, despite a couple of wobbles along the way, has been a ratings monster and built a rabid fanbase hungry for more. The core show will conclude next year in season 11, but we already know that AMC have big plans beyond it.

So, what will the next ten years be like? Well, continuing the legacy on the small screen will be existing series Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond. There are many more spinoffs in the pipeline, though: a road trip show about Daryl and Carol, anthology project Tales of the Walking Dead, some kind of comedic outing, a series with an LGBTQ focus and a new TV project exploring a villainous character.

Then there’s the much-hyped Rick Grimes movie trilogy. This has been delayed for various reasons, but has been described as intense, gritty and with a strong, traditional horror focus. We don’t know the particulars, though it seems to be set in and around Philadelphia, will likely also star Danai Gurira’s Michonne and looks to be about the Civil Republic Military finally discovering a vaccine for the walker pathogen. However, I’m thinking that AMC won’t want them to be too successful.

In addition, we’re likely to see further comics, video games and various transmedia projects taking place in this zombie-infested world. Let’s hope the network goes into this knowing where the story ultimately ends, because if they manage to tell a compelling narrative over twenty years (and it stays good), The Walking Dead will go down as one of the greatest franchises in history.