`The Walking Dead' managed to buck the franchise fatigue trend
Love means never having to say you're sorry — even if you're a katana-wielding survivor of the zombie apocalypse desperately searching for your kidnapped husband.
That sentiment is the beating heart of “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live,” the latest entry in AMC's “The Walking Dead” franchise. Although there is plenty of the gnarly gore that was a trademark of the original series, which premiered in 2010, the new spinoff's main focus is the more intimate romance between Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and the fierce warrior Michonne (Danai Gurira).
The return of “Richonne” is the event that “The Walking Dead” faithful have been craving since Lincoln left the series in 2018, followed by Gurira in 2020. While “The Walking Dead” remained a solid performer for the network until its series finale in 2022, the absence of the two beloved characters was among the factors that caused a chunk of the audience that had made “The Walking Dead” a popculture phenomenon to drift away in its later seasons.
Since then, AMC has launched a fleet of spinoffs featuring mainstays from the “mother ship,” including crossbowman Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and onetime villain Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) — with results that executives say are promising.
But the real test of the effort to create a “Walking Dead” cinematic universe is “The Ones Who Live.” While the relentless action will put Richonne to the test as the couple battle zombies and human evildoers, the drama also raises a key question for the franchise: More than a decade after it upended television, is there still enough love for “The Walking Dead” to sustain multiple concurrent series?
Complicating matters is the timing. Just as the further expansion of “The Walking Dead” franchise is underway, with “The Ones Who Live,” “Dead City” and “Daryl Dixon,” similar endeavors, such as the “Star Wars” and Marvel franchises, are witnessing signs of fan fatigue.
So far, at least, “The Ones Who Live” appears to have bucked the trend, with the first two episodes topping the charts for cable dramas this season in key demographics. The Feb. 25 premiere attracted a combined total of 3 million viewers across multiple showings on AMC, streaming platform AMC+ and simulcasts on other networks. (On AMC alone, the debut drew 1.3 million viewers, with Episode 2 bringing in 1.4 million. The series premiere is also the most-watched episode ever on AMC+.)
By contrast, the premieres of two previous spinoffs, “Dead City” and “Daryl Dixon,” attracted 1 million and 851,000 viewers, respectively, according to Nielsen.
The forces behind “The Walking Dead” universe are thrilled with the initial reception and are preparing for a future with a permanent “Walking Dead” footprint.
“I really do believe that `The Walking Dead' in one form or another can absolutely keep going and going and going,” said Scott M. Gimple, the franchise's chief content officer.
Added Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios: “It's impossible to overstate the importance of `The Walking Dead' to AMC and AMC Studios. We don't want to drive this into the ground, but we honestly believe we can tell stories indefinitely into the future, with all kinds of stories and different genres. If we're smart and sensitive and creative, this is a multigenerational IP.”
McDermott pointed out that although the popularity of the original series softened in its later seasons, “The Walking Dead” was “the biggest and most successful show in the history of cable television. Fortyeight of the top 50 scripted [episodes] on cable television of all time were `Walking Dead' [episodes]. It's such a big part of so many viewers' lives.”
“The Walking Dead” was in many ways revolutionary. An adaptation of Robert Kirkman's graphic novels, the series set new standards for graphic violence on cable TV with hordes of flesh-munching zombies and vicious thugs.
“When Robert Kirkman was pitching this comic years ago, he pitched it as the zombie movie that would never end,” Gimple said.