With filming now underway on The Walking Dead spinoff’s pilot, AMC has ordered two seasons of the zombie drama.
AMC announced that season 1 will consist of six episodes (just like season 1 of the original series!) and debuts in “late summer.” Season 2 will air in 2016. A title for the show was not announced today.
With a “late summer” debut, it sounds like the spinoff will finish airing right before The Walking Dead season 6 kicks off during Fall 2015.
Here’s the first photo from the series depicting stars Cliff Curtis and Kim Dickens:
(We were asked to remove the photo that was previously included in this article because it was unintentionally released.)
“We take incredibly seriously the notion of building a satisfying companion series to the number one show on television. From the beginning of The Walking Dead on AMC, we’ve been asked questions about what was going on in other parts of the zombie apocalypse, and what it looked like as the world really did ‘turn.’ Through this new series, we’re going to find out,” said Charlie Collier, AMC president, in a press release. “Robert Kirkman, Dave Erickson and their writing team, along with an incomparable set of producers, cast and crew have created something remarkable and clearly distinct. We respectfully follow the request of Monty Python as we bring out (the latest of) our Dead.”
“We feel empowered by this two-season commitment, a serious show of faith from our network partner AMC,” added Robert Kirkman. “I personally take it as a sign that they believe, like we do, that we’ve accomplished our goal of developing something original that can pay tribute to the original show and expand the world I created while at the same time having something new to say with this story. I’m very grateful that we now have the opportunity to tell this amazing story and show the fans that we really haven’t scratched the surface yet when it comes to The Walking Dead.”
The Walking Dead spinoff series is set in Los Angeles and stars Cliff Curtis (Missing, Gang Related), Kim Dickens (Gone Girl, Sons of Anarchy), Frank Dillane (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Alycia Debnam Carey (Into the Storm).
No additional plot details were unveiled today, but the rumor mill believes the spinoff will begin slightly before the outbreak (unlike the original series, which began as Rick woke up in the hospital post-apocalypse).