AMC clearly knows which side their bread is buttered on, and who is spreading. Even with “Breaking Bad” coming to an end in two weeks, they’ve already greenlit a prequel series, centered around sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman. And now, the network’s other smash success show is also expanding, with AMC clearly taking a page from their major studio counterparts.
Deadline reveals that a companion show to “The Walking Dead” is now in the works, with plans to go to air in 2015. Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert will take on executive producing duties for the show, about which details are not yet known, except that it will an entirely different set of characters and stories (though one can only imagine there will be some kind of cross-pollination). It’s the next logical step for the program that has a rabid following, and more intriguingly, has managed to inject some excitement into the zombie genre. And if they do it right, AMC will keep that fanbase lurching over the network for years to come.
Meanwhile, in other small screen news…
Martin Scorsese is teaming with Harry Belafonte and working on a limited series centering on King Leopold II, the Belgian royal who pillaged the Congo and conquered its people in order to tap the country’s bounty of natural resources. It’s still in early stages, and not set up at any network, though it’s probably a safe bet that Scorsese’s pals at HBO will take a look. [Deadline]
Remember that Denzel Washington/Tony Scott joint “Man On Fire“? Well, it’s now being developed as a TV show over at Fox, so if you want to see John Creasy on a weekly basis, your dream may come true. [Deadline]
Neil LaBute, of all people, it taking a stab at primetime network comedy, setting up “Harmony House” over at NBC. No, it’s not a reality show about Harmony Korine (we wish), but instead is a rom-com about “a young psychiatric resident who finds the woman of his dreams in the most unlikely of places: as a patient in the psychiatric facility where he recently has taken a job.” This is another venture for LaBute into television, with his DirecTV series “Full Circle” launching next month.
Lastly, Ryan Murphy‘s “hypersexual” HBO pilot “Open” has rounded out its cast with Michelle Monaghan, Scott Speedman, Wes Bentley, Anna Torv and Jennifer Jason Leigh all starring in the show about “the complex, ever evolving landscape of sexuality, monogamy and intimacy in relationships.” Shooting will get underway early next year, though there is no series order yet. [THR]