Andrew Lincoln and Jon Bernthal join the cast of The Walking Dead
Over the last couple weeks there have been a couple of cool developments with AMC’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comics. Firstly, even though the pilot hasn’t even begun production, AMC has ordered the show to series with a six episode first season set to air in October. The pilot script was reviewed by a few places earlier in the year and basically only covered the very first issue, so it seems likely that the six episode season will track the initial six issue arc. That begins with police officer Rick Grimes waking up in a hospital to find the world around him devastated by a zombie apocalypse. He sets off to find his wife and son, with things spiraling from there. Unlike most zombie stories that take place over the course of just a few days, The Walking Dead comics follows a group of survivors over the course of months, dealing with the long-term issues of a ruined civilization.
The other big news is the casting of Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually, Teachers) as protagonist Rick Grimes, while Joe Bernthal (Eastwick, The Pacific) plays Shane, Rick’s partner on the police force. I haven’t seen tons of their work, but I’ve liked them in what I have. Plus, I trust the hell out of Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist), who’s writing and directing the show, to knock this out of the park.
So things are looking good for The Walking Dead as a TV property. Look for it on AMC come October.
