Andrew Lincoln's Rick crawling away from a horde of walkers in The Walking Dead
After over 15 years exploring the post-apocalypse, AMC is looking to shake things up for The Walking Dead. The cable network first brought Robert Kirkman's graphic novel series to life with the eponymous show, which ran for 11 seasons from 2010 to 2022.
The original show was such a hit that it spawned multiple spinoffs, beginning with Fear the Walking Dead, which came to an end after eight seasons in 2023, followed by The World Beyond, which ran for two seasons, the short-lived Tales of the Walking Dead, the Rick and Michonne-focused limited series The Ones Who Live and the ongoing Dead City and Daryl Dixon. Now, as the current spinoffs continue working on their upcoming seasons, Deadline reports that The Walking Dead rights are going up for sale.
AMC Global Media CEO Kristin Dolan revealed in an earnings call that the company has"some very large and enthusiastic partners" currently in the bidding process for the franchise's rights, though clarified that they are aiming to"keep some of the content for ourselves co-exclusively," emphasizing said co-exclusive deals are"predominantly" the ones being negotiated. Dolan went on to address the possibility of breaking The Walking Dead rights down into smaller pieces, saying AMC is open to said plan, as well as keeping them all together for a singular deal with one partner.
AMC Global Media's President and CCO, Kim Kelleher, went on to assure that"the customer experience and discoverability" are more important factors than financial for their deal-making, and indicated that some of the partners they already have for international territories are part of the ongoing bidding process. The decision for AMC to open up the rights to The Walking Dead to other partners may initially come as something of a surprise.
Even with the mainline series ending, the network has kept the franchise alive and well with its various spinoffs, while franchise boss Scott Gimple teased in October 2025 that they were eyeing at least another 15 years' worth of stories. While Daryl Dixon is set to end with season 4 later this year, Dead City's future beyond season 3 has not yet been set, while further stories involving Andrew Lincoln's Rick and Danai Gurira's Michonne have remained on the table.
That being said, it wouldn't be the first time that AMC has teamed with other partners for The Walking Dead's rights. There have been a variety of video games either directly based on, or connected to, the mainline series, including the Daryl-focused prequel Survival Instincts, the VR title Onslaught and 2023's show-altering action title Destinies.
The show also spawned a number of novels both spun-out from Kirkman's original graphic novels and the series, helping flesh out the world of the franchise. With AMC explaining that The Walking Dead's rights bidding is largely meant to be co-exclusive deals, one of the more likely avenues being explored is the potential to expand the show's streaming exposure.
Every installment of the series has primarily made homes on Netflix and AMC+, giving them a fairly wide range of visibility around the world. However, with Netflix unavailable in certain territories, they may be aiming to branch out to other platforms and increase their streaming revenue. Related All The Upcoming Walking Dead Shows Explained The Walking Dead may be over, but the horde of TWD spinoffs is still creeping forward, each with its own distinct setting, characters, and tone.
Posts 3 By Craig Elvy The other possibility for The Walking Dead's franchise rights going up for sale is the aim to better expand into multimedia territory. The podcast format is one growing quickly in possibility, and there's never been an official version for the AMC series, while the majority of video games attached to the shows have been critical and commercial disappointments.
In re-evaluating their relationships with other major studios, it could go a long way to ensuring the franchise stays alive and well for years to come.
The Walking Dead TV Show The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Tales of the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Dead City, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, More Tales from the Walking Dead Universe Video Game The Walking Dead The Game, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, OVERKILL'S The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, The Walking Dead: Destinies First TV Show The Walking Dead Cast Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Danai Gurira, Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chandler Riggs, Steven Yeun, Lennie James Created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard Latest TV Show The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live The Walking Dead is a massive multimedia franchise that began with a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard.
The franchise gained widespread popularity with the launch of the television series The Walking Dead in 2010 on AMC, which chronicles the lives of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, referred to as "walkers.
" The success of the original show has led to numerous spin-offs, web series, video games, novels, and other media. The franchise explores themes of survival, human nature, and the breakdown of society in the face of an existential threat, making it one of the most successful and influential horror series of the 21st century. Expand Collapse
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