According to reports, Frank Darabont, the creator, executive producer and director of AMC‘s The Walking Dead, is stepping down as showrunner of the series, which is well into production for season 2.
Surprising news. Not only because Darabont was at the show’s Comic-Con panel last week, but because he previously said that he doesn’t want to be an “absentee landlord“:
“I love this thing and really want to keep my hand very much in the process. I don’t want to be one of those guys who gets a show set up, directs the pilot and then buggers off and is never heard from again.”
Word is that Darabont, who is from the feature world, never quite adjusted to the daily toll of producing an ongoing TV series – though he may stay on in some capacity.
Darabont had also spoken glowingly about the ability to develop characters over a period of time – something the movie medium doesn’t really allow for.
As noted by Deadline, who first broke the story:
Last December, he considered forgoing a writing staff for Season 2 and assigning scripts to freelancers but ultimately went for the traditional writing staff model recommended by the network and tapped Glen Mazzara as an executive producer and his No. 2. It is unclear if The Shield alum Mazzara, who has showrunning experience, would now step in to run Walking Dead. I hear that the behind-the-scenes turmoil has not affected production on the show, which continues as scheduled.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Darabont remains in an ‘overseer’ role — I would be surprised if he didn’t. More importantly, let’s hope this doesn’t destabilize production of the series.
While Darabont is certainly not the only creative force behind the show, as series creator there’s little doubt that his departure will have some impact on The Walking Dead (they are currently filming episode 5 of season 2). The extent of which be remains to be seen. Hopefully it’s a hit they can take.
AMC has yet to officially confirm the departure. We’ll have more on this as we get it.
The Walking Dead returns for Season 2, October 16 on AMC.
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