Frank Darabont to Direct The Walking Dead?

[GreenScar]

Frank Darabont, the writer/director of such films as The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist, is in final talks to write and direct a small screen adaptation of the Image Comics series The Walking Dead. Darabont pitched the concept to AMC and several other outlets, with Gale Anne Hurd, who is attached to exec produce. The black and white comic book series was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore in 2003, and is considered to be the definitive zombie graphic novel ever created.

The ongoing series now has over 60 issues, which have been collected in 10 trade paperbacks (but month’s end). You can pick up the first tradepaperback on Amazon for around $10. Brad Ladlee from Examiner said that The Walking Dead “realistically depicts the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse” and is “[m]ore than just a scary story about zombies, it is about how people would physically and mentally handle the dead rising and survive the fall of modern society.”

The story follows a group of people, led by a small-town Kentucky Police Officer named Rick Grimes, trying to survive in a world overrun by zombies. But unlike most zombie films, the books are more character centric. AMC’s senior vp of programing Joel Stillverman says that the tv show will stay faithful to the graphic novels.

“This is not about zombies popping out of closets,” Stillerman told Variety. “This is a story about survival, and the dynamics of what happens when a group is forced to survive under these circumstances. The world is portrayed in a smart, sophisticated way.”

And if you think about it, who better to do a series set in a character survival piece set in a horrific world than Frank Darabont? I have the super duper massive trade paperback which collects the first 8 volumes of the series, but have been unable to find time to begin reading it. That said, I’ve had many conversations in the past with my comic geek friends who have read the series. Most of them agreed that there would be no way to turn this into a film, and that it would work much better as a television series or cable miniseries.

[dvd_mazter]

I hope they do a faithful adaptation, Walking Dead is my fav series I read but Darabont does have great experience in adapting famous material properly.

My biggest worry is that being on AMC, would they have to cut down the gore and lauguage content because that one of the reasons Walking Dead works so well is the way Kirkman writes realistic chracters & how they react to horrible situations.

[Deadset]

Originally Posted by dvd_mazter

My biggest worry is that being on AMC, would they have to cut down the gore and lauguage content because that one of the reasons Walking Dead works so well is the way Kirkman writes realistic chracters & how they react to horrible situations.

Yeah an adaptation like this screams showtime or hbo. It'll be toned down, it has to be, watching the sopranos on A&E is terrible. "You dirtbag!"

It'll be interesting to see it though. Even though it'll have a PG/PG13 feel to it.

[jasonicus]

Darabont is perfect for this. This is one to look for.

[mikejet]

Awesome possibilities with this and AMC can shoot for another Emmy with this one!

I hope this gets fast tracked.

[n90guy]

I think Darabont is right for this, but hopefully when the series hits DVD it will Rated R or have a "Directors Cut". I actually have been working on a short of this myself to send to the owners. I am interested to see if it is anything like I have invisioned it so far.

[adh56]

Sounds very promising, now if only dish network would offer AMC in HD

[Pondosinatra]

Curious as to how the show might have evolved had Darabont stayed on...

I know the general consensus seems to be Gimple killed the show, and then Angela Kang saved it - although not sure I agree that she did.

[jan_tran]

JC… how do you stumble across a thread that’s been dormant for 13 years…

[NI-Gunner]

Show went to complete shit the minute Darabont left. The fact that it's still going and people still watch it completely boggles my mind. Zombies in the show and zombies at home watching too it seems.

[UltraMario9]

The very title of the show took on a completely new meaning once Darabont left.

[Joey9775]

The pilot is the ONLY good thing in the entire Walking Dead tv verse.

[Michael24]

Originally Posted by Joey9775

The pilot is the ONLY good thing in the entire Walking Dead tv verse.

Last year the first two episodes were shown on The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs. I hadn't seen them since they first aired in 2010, and watching them again I'd forgotten just how terrific that premiere episode was.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Joey9775

The pilot is the ONLY good thing in the entire Walking Dead tv verse.

Don’t talk such nonsense. There were many fantastic episodes throughout the series.

[Socko]

Exactly.
although I watched season 1 twice in one day. First alone and then told my wife to watch it too.
I think that the show went downhill after season 4.
The Governor was one of the best villains. Negan's introduction was fantastic, though.

[Pondosinatra]

It also doesn't help that they've already announced the spinoff shows, so any sense of peril for those characters is gone...

[Ben_UK]

I personally found the show a mixed bag. I really got into it and still own series 1-7 on Blu ray, however I couldn’t help but feel like the show had the staging and blocking of a soap opera, usually 2 or maybe 3 characters talking about something, then it will cut to another 2 characters and follow their story thread, just like a soap.

I also felt like the series budget would be blown on maybe 4 episodes and the other 12 episodes is just people sat around because they used up all the budget already.

[HipsterTrash]

I stopped around the middle of Season 5. Read the comics. Loved them and couldn't handle what was going on.

Years later I'm kind of interested in going back and watching everything.

Hope Darabont bounces back and makes another film despite his trouble with AMC and this show.