AMC’s 10-Year Plan For ‘The Walking Dead’ Includes Multiple Feature Films & Spin-Offs Despite Plummeting Ratings

Just when you thought AMC’s hit zombie horror series “The Walking Dead” was beginning to signs of rot, perhaps dying a slow, painful death like someone bitten by the undead, it appears that there are plans in motion to keep the franchise alive for the next decade. And no, that doesn’t mean “The Walking Dead” is guaranteed an extension through season 19. Fans of the series should prepare for several different takes on the Robert Kirkman-created universe.

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Last week, during AMC’s investor conference, the plans for the future of the highly-profitable franchise were teased. “We have a plan that goes well into the future,” Chief Executive Officer Josh Sapan said.

And now, thanks to Bloomberg, we have an idea of what this plan will look like. First, and foremost, the network wants to spin-off the cable series into several different feature films. The details of these films are still unknown, but the idea is that these new films would then lead into their own spin-off TV series. In addition to these bold, risky moves, AMC also plans on having at least one spin-off series take place in another country, adding to the growing global fanbase the zombie series has been gaining in recent years.

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As mentioned, the details are scarce, but we do know that longtime ‘TWD’ producer-writer Scott Gimple (who was showrunner for several seasons) will oversee all these new projects, as a sort of Kevin Feige-like boss of the extended zombie universe. However, there is still one major hurdle that AMC needs to overcome before its world domination scheme is to happen — money and distribution.

AMC has been notoriously tight on budget for its crown jewel series, leading to holdouts among cast members and some seriously shoddy CG effects work. And if the network wants this massive plan to actually work, executives will have to sign off on hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of spending, which seems unlikely. There’s also the problem of distribution, with AMC’s streaming network struggling. Therefore, AMC is reportedly courting other streaming services and studios to see if there’s any interest in collaboration.

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So, even with feature films in the future, these could be produced by a partnership between AMC and Netflix, for example, which would split the costs and allow for the projects to be seen by many, many more eyeballs.

The real underlying question, at this point, isn’t whether or not this is a good, solid plan for AMC moving forward. The question is “do people even care?” Sure, “The Walking Dead” is consistently one of the most-watched series on cable, even after almost a decade, but viewership has dropped drastically in recent years and the zombie genre, in general, has grown quite stale. Will fans follow “The Walking Dead” into the world of feature films and multiple spin-offs? We’ve seen how the first spin-off “Fear the Walking Dead” has struggled to match its mothership’s ratings.

One thing is for certain, AMC is potentially risking its livelihood on the plan, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens.