The world could absolutely come to an end tomorrow, and somehow zombie fiction would still live on. Undead corpses have held a place in the hearts of horror geeks ever since George A. Romero brought them to the mainstream with Night of the Living Dead in 1968. Now it seems – if we are to believe the rumors – another side of Romero’s undead vision could soon be coming to AMC.
At the recent Wizard World convention in Louisville, Kentucky, comic book artist Arthur Suydam showed off his most recent work on George A. Romero’s comic series Empire of the Dead, and talked about the project’s future on television:
The series that I just finished up is for Marvel Comics. So this is me and George Romero, and this just got signed to AMC, so it’s gonna be the new big zombie series on AMC. It’s expected to be this one right here.
We have reported as far back as six months ago that Empire of the Dead may indeed be getting a show of its own, but at the time we did not know AMC would be the potential home of the series. If this were true then it would seem that AMC could be seeking to corner the market on hardcore small screen zombie fiction. They have already brought another popular zombie universe to their series with Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead back in 2010 – which remains as strong as ever – and they expanded that universe with the spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead earlier this year.
Despite the saturation of zombie material these days, Empire of the Dead has a unique enough premise that the series could stand on its own if it comes to fruition. While The Walking Dead and its spinoff center around a fairly grounded zombie apocalypse, Empire of the Dead instead focuses on a world where vampires, zombies, and humans have forged a tenuous yet stable coexistence. In many ways it bears a greater resemblance to a cross between Romero’s Land of the Dead and FX’s The Strain than AMC’s current zombie material – but that is just our opinion.
Check out the video below to see Suydam’s comments on the upcoming project for yourself:
It’s worth noting that none of this has been confirmed by anyone at AMC, and as such we cannot speak to the validity of Suydam’s off-the-cuff remarks at Wizard World. So while it remains an intriguing prospect, we have to take this entire story with a grain of salt. We will keep you posted on any and all developments that come up regarding Empire of the Dead, but for now you can continue to check out The Walking Dead every Sunday night on AMC.
