If you look above, you can see the first production still of Andrew Lincoln as The Walking Dead‘s lead character Rick Grimes. In other news, Chandler Riggs has been cast in one of the most important roles, Rick’s son Carl. Hopefully the production has a strategy in place to deal with the inevitable growing Riggs will do between seasons, unlike Lost and Walt for instance.
Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) is the writer and director of the pilot and will continue to be the main creative driver of the series, which is based on Robert Kirkman’s comics series. The story 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 events 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. So it’s not just about finding a safe house for a short time, but finding permanent residences, sustainable food sources, creating a working community, etc.
The series stars Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes), Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori Grimes), Chandler Riggs (Carl Grimes), Jon Bernthal (Shane), Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale), Steven Yeun (Glenn), Laurie Holden (Andrea) and more yet to be announced cast members.
The Walking Dead will begin its six episode first season on AMC in October.
