In an effort to further distance itself from that pesky “American Movie Classics” moniker, AMC has announced plans to adapt Image Comics’ The Walking Dead as a live-action TV show. Frank Darabont, who has directed a pair of Stephen King prison movies (The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile), is set to helm the project. The Dead series (written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Charlie Adlard since issue #7) has been around since 2003, and follows a small group of survivors who are trying to survive a zombie apocalypse.Sounds right up our alley, doesn’t it?
From the beginning, the wonderful thing about this book is that the story has never relied on the gore factor. Its black and white print run has kept the graphic imagery from being over the top, while the plot itself (aside from the obvious) has never been completely horror-driven. It’s more about how people would react given this nightmare set of circumstances, and what they might do to protect their family. At the heart of this band of refugees is the nuclear family unit of Rick Grimes (a small-town police officer from Kentucky), his wife Lori and his son Carl. A lot of the peripheral cast has been ever changing as they meet up with other pockets of survivors, and as they lose people to… well, y’know…brain chompers.
As The Walking Dead pushes past the 64th issue marker (something of a feat for a non-anthology horror book), there will be a wealth of material for the show to delve into. Hopefully AMC will treat this venture with as much respect and attention as they have with Mad Men, and we can all look forward to multiple seasons of undead action…
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In related news, NBC has just ordered a pilot script for DC Comics’ Vertigo mini-series Midnight, Mass. The original story follows a husband and wife team, Adam and Julia Kadmons, as they travel the world solving supernatural mysteries. In the book, the monster baddie had a connection to the Kadmons that was slowly revealed. What direction the project will take (if it has any life in it) is too early to tell.That's it for now, kids. What do you think the odds are of either of these shows having legs? Better than The Middleman? (God I miss that show!) Let me know your thoughts in the comments section...
1 comment:
Don't forget Frank Darabont wrote and directed the adaptation of The Mist, too. And at one point he was going to do a miniseries sequel to Carpenter's The Thing as well. Creepy is right up his alley.
Heck, I might have to get cable...
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