AMC's "The Walking Dead" spin off to be a prequel?

AMC announced a few months back that they were in the early stages of developing a spin off series to "The Walking Dead", now we are hearing that the new series "will be a prequel of sorts, one that would chronicle the early days of the epidemic and the effort to contain it."

Creator Robert Kirkman previously told IGN that the new series would be set in a different location and would feature completely different people. "It definitely won’t be set in Georgia… It’s important to us that this show exists on its own. The spin-off has to be a show worthy of existing, or else we've all sold out."

Robert Kirkman talks "The Walking Dead" season 4

Along with the newest showrunner Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman is at the centre of "The Walking Dead" season fours development and knows what he is planning for the upcoming season. There is definitely a lot of questions after last weeks Season 3 finale and Kirkman has discussed what we can look for in the fourth season.

As mentioned recently, David Morrissey is back as a series regular in the fourth season. Here’s what Robert Kirkman told IGN about The Governor: "Yeah, he’s still very much in the mix. That’s certainly not the last that we’ll see of him. When we see him again and where we see him again, that’s the big question. It’s not going to be like it was in Season 3; it’s not going to be Rick and the Governor on a collision course with a conflict between them. He’ll be used in very different ways next season."

We’ll see a different Carl and Rick in Season 4: "Rick has had a success. The people at the prison have survived this conflict with the Governor, he brought people from Woodbury into the prison, and he’s kind of had this big win. He’s had this moment where he’s brought people together and he’s doing good things. But he’s had this tremendous loss in that Carl has lost this piece of his humanity. This has been Rick’s main mission throughout the show, to protect his family. We’ve seen two very big failures on that front this season.
Moving into next season, we’re going to see a very different Rick, but one of his main goals is to manage this situation with Carl and see if he can bring him back from this darkness that’s crept into him. Whether or not he’s able to do that, we’ll have to see. But this is a big change in the character of Carl, but it’s something that’s going to be weighing heavily on Rick next season."

Although it seemed very likely, Robert Kirkman confirmed that the new season will take place at the prison once again: "I’ll say that there are a lot of familiar elements that are remaining. Michonne is still around, Rick and his group are still in the prison, the Governor’s still out there… so there are a lot of things that are carrying over from Season 3 to Season 4, but I can’t stress how different things are going to be.
There are going to be some radical changes to those elements that are going to bring in a lot of new storytelling. While [Season 4] does seem somewhat familiar, it’s going to be vastly different from Season 3."

"The Walking Dead" hires new writers

"The Walking Dead" third season hasn't even finished yet, but a huge section of the filming was done last year. The focus is now moving towards the development of the fourth season, with Scott M. Gimple taking over as the seasons show runner. It is now being reported that there is a few new writers joining the set up.

Robert Kirkman: “We’ve always been sort of moving in and out of the comic book, and I think that we’re going to continue to do that. I think that there are huge elements of the comic book in Season 3. Moving into Season 4, it’s going to be pretty much the same…”

Gale Anne Hurd: “We are going to amp up the threat of the walkers, because they’ve started to seem like a manageable threat. They are not a manageable threat… [Scott M. Gimple is] very character-driven; he wrote the episode where Sofia comes out of the barn, he wrote [the Season 3 episode] ‘Clear,’ so you get his voice.”

In case you missed the recent news on Season 4 by AMC here it is;

"AMC announced today that the cast and crew of “The Walking Dead” return to Atlanta, Georgia on Monday, May 6th to begin production on season four. AMC also confirms Scott M. Gimple as showrunner and executive producer for the series’ fourth season to premiere in October with 16 episodes. Gimple has been on the show’s writing staff since season two. Co-Executive Producer, Emmy® Award-winning Special Effects Makeup Supervisor and Director Greg Nicotero and Producer Tom Luse have also been elevated to executive producers. “The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book series created and written by Robert Kirkman and published by Skybound, Kirkman’s imprint at Image Comics. Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert continue to serve as executive producers for season four.

"Scott has been an essential part of this show since he came aboard at the very beginning of season two. He’s contributed to guiding this show in a substantial way that has resulted in a lot of the key scenes and storylines fans have dubbed signature moments of ‘The Walking Dead,’ " said Kirkman.  "I am thrilled to begin work on a brand new season of ‘The Walking Dead’ with Scott at the helm, and I truly believe we could be embarking on what will be the best season of this show yet."

"Scott’s voice has been an integral one since he joined the show. Greg Nicotero is a true artist whose work is simply brilliant. And, Tom Luse has really created the machine that allows this very large show to get made week to week. We congratulate all three in their new roles on the series and look forward to ramping up production on season four," said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s EVP of original programming, production and digital content.

"I’m thrilled to continue the tradition of the spectacular, cinematic, horrifying, exciting and emotional storytelling of ‘The Walking Dead,’" said Gimple. "I’m a huge fan of the comics, and started with the show on the other side of the set, as an avid viewer. Over the past two years, it’s been an incredible privilege making such great television with the best cast and crew I’ve ever worked with – I can’t wait to make some more."

Gimple has written some of the most celebrated and talked-about episodes from seasons two and three including episode 306 (Hounded) and last season’s climatic mid-season finale episode 207 (Pretty Much Dead Already), which revealed Sophia in the barn. Gimple previously worked on NBC’s acclaimed series “Life” and ABC’s cult favorite “Flashforward.” “Flashfoward” began as a collaboration with David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight, Man of Steel) with whom he co-wrote both the Sony feature film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and episodes two and three in the upcoming inaugural season of Starz’ “DaVinci’s Demons.” Gimple also worked for Matt Groening’s Bongo Comics, where he wrote and edited “Simpsons Comics.” He has also written stories for the comic books “What If?” and “Spider-Man Unlimited."

Nicotero (Kill Bill, Transformers, Inglorious Basterds) and his team received the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup two years in a row (2011/2012) for their work on “The Walking Dead.” In addition to leading the visual and special effects and makeup for the series, Nicotero has directed several episodes. Luse (Remember the Titans, “One Tree Hill,” Jeepers Creepers, “The Joneses,” “Everwood”) has been with the show since the beginning of production and was instrumental in setting up the production of AMC’s first owned scripted series. Based in Atlanta, he manages and oversees the day-to-day production of the series."

Robert Kirkman to work on Exorcism TV Series

"The Walking Dead" is undoubtedly the biggest Horror related show on television these days and it looks like Fox want their part of that success. They have hired Kirkman to develop an Exorcism TV Series based on an upcoming comic, according to Deadline;


"Los Angeles– 4 March 2013 – FOX International Channels (FIC),The Walking Dead Creator/Executive Producer Robert Kirkman, Kirkman’s Skybound imprint at Image Comics, and Circle of Confusion are developing a script based on Kirkman’s upcoming comic book series set in the world of exorcism. This partnership emerged from a long-standing and successful relationship between Kirkman and FIC during the ongoing run of AMC’s hit series, The Walking Dead, based on Kirkman’s Eisner Award-winning comic book series, on which FIC is international partner.

Told through the Kirkman prism, the series follows a young man, Kyle Barnes, who has been plagued by possession since he was a child. Now an adult, he embarks on a spiritual journey to find answers but what he uncovers could mean the end of life on Earth as we know it. Kirkman will serve as executive producer alongside The Walking Dead executive producer David Alpert of Circle of Confusion.
Kirkman states, ‘Sharon Tal Yguado and the entire team at FOX International Channels have been instrumental in making The Walking Dead the worldwide success that it has become. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to continue working with this forward-thinking and extremely talented group.’

‘Exorcism has captivated movie audiences all over the world but has never been explored on television,’ said Sharon Tal Yguado, EVP Global Scripted Programming and Original Development at FIC. “Robert Kirkman, who forever changed the scope of Cable TV with The Walking Dead, possesses an unparalleled talent of telling big concept stories in a smart and incredibly genuine way. We couldn’t be more excited to be working with him on this project, which we see as a reinvention of the genre."