While the writers and actors strike continue, AMC Networks just scored a big win, with a new deal with SAG-AFTRA that allows two The Walking Dead spin-offs and Interview With the Vampire to resume production.
AMC Networks reached interim agreements for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live and Interview With the Vampire, which allows all three shows to return to filming, via Deadline.
The agreements are said to be specific to just those three shows, and not a ‘blanket agreement’ covering every show on AMC Networks.
AMC Networks did confirm the agreements to Deadline, but failed to reveal any further details.
While there have been numerous interim agreements signed since SAG-AFTRA went on strike July 14, these deals are the biggest thus far.
Other shows that have secured agreements included indie faith-based series The Chosen, Apple TV Plus’ Tehran and indie series Hal & Harper with Mark Ruffalo and Lili Reinhart.
Tehran was said to have landed an agreement due to the international nature of the production, which may have been a factor in The Walking Dead and Interview With the Vampire deals.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will film its second season in Europe, while The Ones Who Live, which features Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira reprising their roles as Rick and Michonne, set to finish post-production work including Additional Dialogue Recording (ADR).
As for the rest of the shows under the AMC Networks umbrella, CEO Kristin Dolan hinted their production pipeline wouldn’t be affected by the strike until, ‘well into 2024.’
‘We greatly value the work of our creative partners and hope these disputes can be resolved as quickly and fairly as possible,’ Dolan said.
‘In the short term, the reality for AMC Networks is that we have a pipeline of finished shows that will allow us to continue to serve our viewers across all of our platforms for the remainder of this year and well into 2024,” she said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will launch its first season September 10, bringing back Norman Reedus as the title character.
The story follows the crossbow-wielding survivor as he washes ashore in France and struggles to piece together how he got there and why.
‘The series tracks his journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home. As he makes the journey, the connections he forms along the way complicate his ultimate plan,’ reads the show’s description.
The six-episode series also stars Clémence Poésy, Adam Nagaitis, Anne Charrier, Eriq Ebouaney, Laika Blanc Francard, Romain Levi and Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, with Scott M. Gimple, showrunner David Zabel, Reedus, Greg Nicotero, Angela Kang, Brian Bockrath and Daniel Percival serving as executive producers.
Interview with the Vampire paused production on Season 2 in July, after starting in Prague back in April, starring Assad Zaman, Jacob Anderson and Delainey Hayles, Sam Reid and Eric Bogosian, with AMC already renewing it for Season 2.
