The tentatively-titled spinoff for The Walking Dead , Fear The Walking Dead , debuts this summer, and has already been picked up for a second season before we’ve even seen Season 1. What do we know about this spinoff so far? Star Kim Dickens told E! Online the series will definitely have some differences from its inspiration, The Walking Dead . Specifically, the zombies in Hollywood will be a bit different from the Georgia variety.
“We’re going to have sexy zombies! All I know is there are more zombies that need killing.”
While Dickens had to prep for the role as a zombie apocalypse survivor, what may be shocking is what she didn’t do to prep for her role in Fear the Walking Dead .
“I had not watched [ The Walking Dead ] … In fact, when I was getting close to getting the role I inquired what I should watch of it and they said don’t watch it because A) It’s going to be different than that and B) Your character wouldn’t know what the apocalypse looks like anyway, you know? It was interesting to think of it that way. ‘Oh yeah, I don’t need to watch it.’ We’re going to be doing something different, it’s going to be filmed differently. My character wouldn’t know that, she wouldn’t have that information so it was a fascinating way to start it, sort of clueless just like the characters really are.”
Although she hasn’t read The Walking Dead comic books, either, Dickson is already a fan of their creator, Robert Kirkman, calling him a “super cool guy.”
Like The Walking Dead , Fear the Walking Dead will premiere with a six-episode run, then hopefully expand to a full 13 episodes for subsequent seasons. AMC has already greenlighted Season 2 according to an AMC press release, so they must be feeling pretty good about what’s been filmed so far.
Walking Dead fans might be surprised to know Fear the Walking Dead will debut this summer, to help fill the gap in Walking Dead seasons. The spinoff will be set in Los Angeles and executive producers include Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, and David Alpert from The Walking Dead . However, instead of Scott Gimple, Dave Erickson will serve as the showrunner in addition to executive producer.
The announcement to renew Fear the Walking Dead before it has made its debut was welcome news, according to a press release statement by Kirkman.
“We feel empowered by this two-season commitment, a serious show of faith from our network partner AMC. 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 .”
[Photo by AMC]