‘Walking Dead’ Spinoff Not Green-Lit Yet; Still Developing Story Line

We’ve got some good news and bad news for “Walking Dead” fans dying for a spinoff series. While the show has a target premiere date of 2015, AMC executives recently opened up about the status of the spinoff … and it’s moving very slow.

Last time fans heard any news, series creator Robert Kirkman revealed in November that the spinoff would be in a “different location,” with “completely different people.” Vulture recently spoke with AMC network chief Charlie Collier and programming head Joel Stillerman about the state of the show and, according to Stillerman, the show is only in development, which means it’s not 100 percent green-lit yet. But that doesn’t mean that “The Walking Dead” spinoff is not happening. Collier explained that the network and creators want to do the show “right.”

“What we want to do is not diminish the mothership,” Collier dished. “What we want to do is find something that everyone involved feels as passionately about as a unique vehicle and unique enterprise as compared to the original series. We’ll take our time, and do it right.”

Part of the reason for the delay is that Kirkman is busy with the comic books and season 4 of the TV series. “He continues to write every issue of the comic and hasn’t finished season 4 of ‘The Walking Dead,’ which he is very intimately involved with and will continue to be,” Stillerman revealed to Vulture. With that said, the spinoff can be considered in the “incubation” stage with Kirkman and the network discussing ideas and “why there should be another version of the show.”

Fortunately, Kirkman believes that “there’s more story to tell,” the challenge now is for them to “zero in on the specific creative.”

“The spin-off has to be a show worthy of existing,” Kirkman previously told IGN. “Or else we’ve all sold out.”