NEWS - Finchè respira non è morto! Nonostante il crollo di ascolti, "The Walking Dead" aprirà la terza serie tv. Allo studio anche una nuova location (Londra o Tokio) e lo spin-off di Negan...

News tratta da "Uproxx"
Though ratings for The Walking Dead have taken a precipitous fall since its peak, they appear to have leveled off now, and have actually seen slight upticks in the latter half of season 9 in spite of the absences of Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan. With Game of Thrones returning in April, The Walking Dead will no longer be the highest rated show on cable. It will have to settle for being one of the highest rated shows on cable. AMC nevertheless believes that ratings for the The Walking Dead and its spin-off Fear the Walking Dead (among the top five rated cable shows of last season) are enough to sustain yet a third The Walking Dead series. Details are basically non-existent at the moment, save for the fact that a third series is in “active development,” according to Ed Carroll, chief operating officer of AMC. “We’re not yet at a stage where we’ll be announcing its plans to premiere. But we have hired creative people that have pitched story outlines. We feel very good about the development of that series.” Scott Gimple also teased another The Walking Dead spin-off last year. Those comments came during the company’s fourth-quarter 2018 conference call with media analysts and reporters, and they don’t give us any idea about what kind of spin-off to expect to go along with the Andrew Lincoln movies (which will now also feature Danai Gurira, as she is expected to depart in the series 10th season). One spin-off possibility that I am intrigued by is a limited series on The Commonwealth, the massive, 50,000 person community the characters on The Walking Dead encounter after The Whisperers War in the comics. In Robert Kirkman’s source material, the characters encounter The Commonwealth after it is already fully formed, but it might be interesting to center a spin-off around its creation after the initial zombie outbreak. A limited series of that nature could theoretically end its run once it intersects with The Walking Dead timeline. The timing of that could present an obstacle, however, because AMC would need to get the show up and running before The Walking Dead arrives at that point in the comics. Other possibilities include setting a series in another location, perhaps an international location like London or Tokyo in order to take better advantage of the worldwide market for The Walking Dead. Sending Negan away from The Walking Dead could also open up another spin-off possibility. In the meantime, viewers will have to be content with the creatively revitalized The Walking Dead mothership, which will air five more episodes in its ninth season.

NEWS - Glenn is walking again! Steven Yeun risorge con l'ideatore di "TWD" Robert Kirkman 

News tratta da "Uproxx"
After seven seasons on The Walking Dead, Steven Yeun’s character, Glenn Rhee, was killed off the series in the same fashion as his comic-book counterpart. It was a death that Yeun both thought went too far and a death that he was very excited about. It’s been two-and-a-half years since Glenn’s death on The Walking Dead, and now Steven Yeun is getting back in business with its creator, Robert Kirkman. Yeun will provide voice for the lead character in the animated Invincible, the first series to come out of Kirkman’s production deal with Amazon. It’s based on Kirkman’s comic of the same name, which ran for 144 episodes, beginning in 2003, the same year that Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic began printing issues. Yeun will play Mark Grayson, “a normal teenager except for the fact that his father is the most powerful superhero on the planet. Shortly after his 17th birthday, Mark begins to develop powers of his own and enters into his father’s tutelage. The series is described as suspenseful, action-filled, and emotion-packed, yet builds upon poignant and heartwarming moments of love, friendship, and humanity.” Yeun will join an all-star roster of talent that will also include the voices of Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Mark Hamill, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, and Mae Whitman, among others. What’s also interesting is that while Seth Rogen is doing voice-work for the Amazon animated series, he is also writing and directing a feature film based on the same Kirkman property along with his partner Evan Goldberg. The comic’s run of 144 issues should provide plenty of material for both the animated series and the feature film. The source material is both violent and funny, and it takes destructive aim at a number of superhero tropes. The comic has a sizable following that also happens to include two high-profile devotees: Carl and Enid from The Walking Dead.

NEWS - Negan, abbiamo un problema! "TWD" allo sbando: Lauren Cohan sempre più verso l'addio per il mancato aumento di stipendio (Khary Payton si schiera pubblicamente contro la produzione postando "pagatela!"). L'attrice disdice all'ultimo ospitata al Walker Stalker Con di Londra e Andrew Lincoln la segue a ruota...Ormai le sceneggiature salvadanaio "a gruppetti" si scrivono in base al budget degli attori

News tratta da Deadline
Season 8 of The Walking Dead has gone by the motto of “All Out War,” but off-screen, another type of battle is clearly still in full swing, as the contractual fate of star Lauren Cohan remains unresolved. A battle that has grown to now involve another cast member and even the actress herself, who has portrayed Maggie Rhee on the AMC zombie apocalypse blockbuster since Season 2. Earlier this week, fellow TWD regular Khary Payton became seemingly the first of Cohan’s co-stars to speak out for the actress when he bluntly posted “pay the woman” on his Instagram account. A pivotal figure on the series based on Robert Kirkman’s comics, the CAA-represented Cohan has been fighting for a pay increase in her new TWD contract with AMC, and going forward into its ninth season and beyond. As talks hit an impasse, the much-sought-out actress signed on in February as the female lead opposite Scott Foley in Whiskey Cavalier, ABC’s hourlong action-dramedy pilot from Bill Lawrence, Dave Hemingson and Warner Bros. TV. Now ex-showrunner and TWD franchise Chief Content Officer Scott M. Gimple told Deadline late last month that “these sorts of negotiations do happen all the time in television and we’re working on it.” How despite the EP’s insistence that “we’re all talking, so stay tuned,” nothing of substance has been achieved, we hear. Which is perhaps why the man who plays Kingdom leader King Ezekiel wasn’t the only one to make a move on the matter this week. After long having been announced as one of the TWD marquee names at London’s Walker Stalker Con this weekend, Cohan suddenly dropped out of the fanfest on March 8 due to a filming schedule change. That alteration was for the Whiskey Cavalier pilot, which is in production as TWD gears up for a Season 9 that Cohan may or may not substantially be a part of at this point. Cohan was supposed to join TWD co-stars current and past like Payton, Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurira, Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the now-departed Chandler Riggs, Star Trek Discovery lead Sonequa Martin-Green and many more at the March 10-11 UK event. Cohan’s Maggie is still a big part of The Walking Dead this season and is a big part of Sunday’s “Dead Or Alive Or” episode. An episode that faces the ABC launch of the new American Idol and Fox’s deft O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession? counter programming at 9 PM ET. BTW – AMC had no response to Payton’s Instagram post of last week. The cabler has nothing to do with the UK confab. Also, Andrew Lincoln was another no-show at Walker Stalker Con it seems as well.

NEWS - Fermi tutti! Scattata la petizione per licenziare lo showrunner di "The Walking Dead", ma non per le pessime sceneggiature...

News tratta da "Uproxx"
This week, there have been a lot of The Walking Dead fans — and Star Wars fans, for that matter — who are unhappy that things did not go their way with their respective franchises. In the case of The Walking Dead, fans have gone further than to leave negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes: One fan has actually launched an online petition to have The Walking Dead showrunner, Scott Gimple, fired from the series. The petition stems from Gimple’s decision in the midseason finale to kill off a popular character, Carl Grimes, who is not only still alive but a rising leader in Robert Kirkman’s source material. The character is not officially dead on the TV series, although Gimple left no doubt about his eventual fate. The decision upset some fans, as well as the actor who plays Carl, Chandler Riggs, and even his father. The petition, created at Change.org by a fan, Tyler Sigmon, has so far amassed 35,000 signatures (with a goal of 50,000). It asks that AMC fire Gimple not only for killing off Carl, but for the unfair treatment Sigmon feels Riggs received: 

Scott [Gimple] has decided to kill off the shows most pivotal character Carl Grimes, son of main character Rick Grimes. The entire show has been a lead up to showing Carl become the leader that his father is, maybe one day taking on the mantle himself. Actor Chandler Riggs even considered postponing his college education so he could work on the show after Gimple promised that he would be on the show for 3 more years. Chandlers dad, William Riggs, said in a facebook post, that was later pulled, that Gimple fired his son just 2 weeks before his 18th birthday even though he promised the actor 3 more years of working on the show. He goes on to say that he never trusted Gimple or AMC and that his son did, making it especially heartbreaking for him to be fired.

The petition is very unlikely to result in Gimple’s departure on the series. For one, all of season eight has already been shot, so there’s another eight episodes in the can that will give Gimple an opportunity either renew fans’ faith in his stewardship or leave them further disappointed. More importantly, I believe for a variety of reasons that killing off Carl Grimes will ultimately be better for the series in the long term, notwithstanding his role in the source material. Most importantly, and this goes for Star Wars, as well: Film and television makers have no duty to execute for entitled fans the exact vision they had for the series, just as entitled fans have no duty to continue watching a film or television franchise with which they have grown disillusioned. Certainly, fans have every right to complain about the direction a movie or television show takes, or even sign a petition. While showrunners and directors are certainly allowed to take those opinions into consideration, storylines should not ultimately be dictated by the fans.

NEWS - Clamoroso al Cibali! "'The Walking Dead' può sopravvivere anche senza Rick!", Andrew Lincoln dixit

News tratta da "Uproxx"+"Entertainment Weekly"
The Walking Dead is heading into its eighth season and its landmark 100th episode, still rolling strong and possibly pushing its cast to incredible lengths in order to tell the story of the world that follows the zombie apocalypse. While there’s a possible time jump coming this season, Andrew Lincoln things that only the start of the changes the series could bring about in its future and the next 100 episodes. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lincoln details how he could see the show continuing on without Rick Grimes at some point. The magazine calls Lincoln the most “mentally, physically, and emotionally committed” actor you’d meet in his Walking Dead role, but that doesn’t mean the show hinges on him being around until the very end. Putting a period on the end of a performance is something Lincoln talks about during the chat: 

“I think that there’s an innate feeling and certainly in me that I love doing a play or doing the film because you get to put a period on the end of it and you get to do it nightly, which is really exciting. TV is different. The format is different because it is about sort of a continuum. But, you know, there is a sense to me that really needs some… it sounds like I’m in a shrink’s head, but there is a completion thing that I think I deserve for doing it for so long. And also probably the audience would like some completion…

“There’s only so many ways you can bend and stretch this and that. I’m not saying that the show would ever finish, but I certainly think that there’s an opportunity for the show to change at some point, and I think it should.”

For Lincoln, he doesn’t see Rick as the main narrative force in the series and the door is already open for his exit if the chooses to walk through it. That focus is Rick’s son, of course, growing up in this new world and experiencing all the beauty and horror it has to offer: 

“It’s beautifully set up for that — for the camera to be certainly his story, and then it just shifts off. If ever there was a landscape or an environment to do that, it’s our show. But whether or not that’s this season… well, you have to find out, don’t you?”

Chandler Riggs stepping into that Rick role in the show would be a tough pill to swallow for some fans, but Carl has certainly grown a bit since those early seasons. Also he’s supported by a great ensemble of characters that also seem to come and go, giving him a safety net of sorts for any sort of transition that could happen. That said, it probably shouldn’t be expected any time soon. Lincoln is the guy for now, with Scott Gilmple even jokingly talking about “year 20 or year 30” of the show being the point where the show moves on without him. But the belief from those on the show and creator Robert Kirkman is that Rick Grimes isn’t what drives The Walking Dead, even if he’s not walking into the sunset any time soon: 

“Andy is the leader of this show and his dedication to the show is absolutely inspiring,” he says. “Everyone just looks up to him and he’s a huge part of this show. But we have a very strong ensemble, and there’s a lot of characters that could carry the show. The Walking Dead is a story very much about a world and a bunch of people inhabiting that world.”

While this certainly feels like the latest worm on the hook to pull people in and make them ask, “will they do it?,” an actor wanting to go off and do other things isn’t a new or outrageous concept. Lincoln would have the luxury of choice coming from a massive success like The Walking Dead, so this type of conversation is good to put out in the open. Even if you’re not going to run off and do Shakespeare for the rest of your life, you want folks to know you could and things would be fine. We just hope they use his heroic ending if they do send him off. Make it count.

NEWS - Pur di sopravvivere, l'ottava stagione di "The Walking Dead" punta sulle "strane coppie" e i salti temporali. La prima tecnica per risparmiare sul cast (mettere più protagonisti insieme costa...), la seconda apri-pista per scoprire il passato di Negan

News tratta da "Uproxx"
The seventh season premiere of The Walking Dead was the most controversial episode of the series. It’s an episode so violent that a number of shocked viewers quit the show (at least temporarily) out of disgust. Creatively speaking, however, it was not the series’ lowest point. That would come six episodes later with “Swear,” the only seventh-season episode to receive a rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. IMDb also rates “Swear” as the worst episode of the series’ entire run, and it’s not even close. Those who have forgotten about “Swear” can be forgiven. The entire episode focused on Tara and Heath, two characters viewers had not seen at the time of its airing in nine episodes — eight months in real time. It introduced the Oceanside community, and to date, it’s the last we’ve seen of Heath, who may or may not have died during “Swear.” What was so frustrating about “Swear,” however, is that it took the focus from fan favorites like Carol and Daryl and shifted the narrative away from the main storyline involving Rick and Negan. Instead, we had to spend an hour with two characters viewers cared little about, one of which many had forgotten even existed.
It wasn’t the first time, either, that the writers on The Walking Dead spent an entire episode on two of three characters in a huge ensemble drama. “The Cell” spent most of its time focused on Daryl, for instance, and because the season 7 episodes shifted between communities, we went long stretches of time last season without seeing Carol or Morgan or Jesus, among many others. Ezekiel was introduced in the second episode of the season, but we didn’t see him again after the midseason break in episode nine. Spending that much time away from characters can be frustrating for viewers, and by rotating storylines, it prevented the season from gaining much momentum until the back half of the seventh season.

Thankfully, that kind of storytelling is expected to end in season eight, according to showrunner Scott Gimple, speaking to TVLine.

Because of the narrative that we’re following,” Gimple continues, “the story this season is really spread out among all of the characters. And the story shifts quite a bit in single episodes between lots of different characters on a consistent basis, which is a little more unusual for the show.” 

Besides the All Out War and the non-stop action that entails, there are some other things to be excited about in season eight. We will see a lot more of Negan, but also potentially his death, depending upon how Scott Gimple approaches the source material. Negan’s full backstory may also be revealed in a standalone origins episode. We’ll find out how Pollyanna McIntosh’s Jadis — who is not from Kirkman’s original source material — plays into the All Out War, and who she will ultimately back (or if she’ll play free agent to the highest bidder). Given that the Saviors easily outnumber Rick’s crew in the upcoming war, Rick and co., will also have to resort to a kind of guerrilla warfare, which could mean a lot of mini-capers over the course of the season as the Alexandrians et. al marshal their wits to out-scheme the brute force of Negan’s Saviors. Perhaps what viewers are most looking forward to next season, however, will be an increase in screen time for two characters who quickly became fan favorites last season: Steven Ogg’s Simon, who plays Negan’s right-hand man, and Justin Cooper’s Jerry, who plays Ezekiel’s right-hand man. Ogg has been promoted to series regular, while Kirkman has promised we’ll see much more of Jerry in season eight. With a time jump, the quickly shifting storylines, the elevation of fan favorites, and the promise of “lots more killing, and lots more explosions,” all the ingredients exists now for a solid bounce-back season of The Walking Dead. Season eight premieres on October 22nd.

L'EDICOLA DI LOU - Stralci, cover e commenti sui telefilm dai media italiani e stranieri

LA STAMPA
In "Outcast" e "TWD" i mostri siamo noi
"Tra le tante frasi che Tiziano Sclavi, papà ed ex-curatore di Dylan Dog, stella della scuderia della Sergio Bonelli Editore, ha pronunciato nel corso della sua carriera, ce ne è una che, con buone probabilità, non passerà mai di moda. Dice: «I mostri siamo noi». E' una frase che spiega tante cose, sotto tanti punti di vista. Innanzitutto, quello di Dylan Dog, l'Indagatore dell'Incubo, che spesso e volentieri è molto più amico e vicino ai freak, ai mostri, che alle persone «normali». Quindi apre a un certo modo di vedere il mondo e la società in cui viviamo, piena di pregiudizi e stereotipi, profondamente - e insensatamente - maligna e ipocrita. Robert Kirkman, che è un altro autore di fumetti e che viene dagli Stati Uniti, parte da una premessa molto simile. Sia nel suo The Walking Dead (best seller tra i comics e grande successo sul piccolo schermo) sia in Outcast, sembra voler sottolineare, proprio come ha fatto Sclavi, la natura profondamente mostruosa - diabolica, addirittura - dell'essere umano. I cattivi, così, non sono gli zombie. E nemmeno i posseduti. O, figurarsi, i demoni. I cattivi sono gli altri, quelli che hanno paura, quelli che vivono, respirano, giudicano. Sono gli uomini e le donne. Macché demoni e posseduti. I veri mostri siamo noi anziani, e - parola terribile e mediocre - i normali. In Outcast (in onda ogni lunedì su Fox Italia) al gioco delle parti, uomini contro demoni, esorcizzati versus esorcisti, si aggiunge un altro tassello, fondamentale: una corrispondenza metodica, anzi quasi scientifica, tra ricordo e possessione, tra paura e realtà; tra passato e presente. L'inspiegabile spiegato con la presenza del demonio, del soprannaturale, dell'immateriale. Kyle Barnes, il protagonista interpretato da Patrick Fugit, si trova davanti a un bivio: spirituale e, in un certo senso, fisico. Deve decidere se cedere oppure combattere, se essere sconfitto oppure sconfiggere. In un racconto che si diverte a citare luoghi comuni e simbolismi (la città in cui la storia è ambientata si chiama Rome, West Virginia; e immediatamente alla mente viene un'altra Roma, quella italiana e capitale dello Stivale, sede della Città del Vaticano), lo spettatore si ritrova spaesato e terrorizzato. I mostri, i veri mostri. Più li cerchi e più scopri che hanno una faccia simile a quella del tuo vicino, o del tuo migliore amico; o del passante che hai incontrato in metropolitana andando a lavoro. Restano i dubbi e le incertezze; resta il grigiore di un racconto che - molto sclavianamente - prende posizioni più sugli uomini che sui nonuomini". (Gianmaria Tammaro)

NEWS - Clamoroso al Cibali! In Italia il 60% degli spettatori di "The Walking Dead" (500.000) lo guarda on demand (non live)

News tratta dal "Corriere della Sera"
Resta la serie televisiva più amata fra quelle prodotte dalla tv a pagamento (la «basic cable» Ame) e gli ascolti americani continuano a essere fra i più elevati della settimana (10,4 milioni di spettatori per l'ultimo episodio), anche se il calo per questa stagione è notevole, da oltre diciassette milioni della première ai dici milioni attuali. Stiamo parlando di «The Walking Dead», uno dei fenomeni televisivi più importanti dell'ultimo decennio. Caso rilevante negli Stati Uniti, il Paese d'origine di questa saga nata nei fumetti di Robert Kirkman e diventata un «franchise transmediale», ma anche negli oltre cento Paesi in cui viene distribuita, creando culto e comunità di fan. L'ascolto delle sette stagioni finora realizzate non è nuovo agli alti e bassi: anche lo scorso anno ci furono momenti di stanca, poi la serie si è ripresa. In Italia — uno dei tanti «territori» in cui Twd è trasmessa, a pochi giorni dalla messa in onda americana, grazie alla cura telefila di Fox Italia — l'andamento è più regolare, caratterizzato da una consistente comunità di appassionati, quantificabili in poco meno di mezzo milione. Negli anni gli spettatori del "live» del lunedì sono rimasti abbastanza stabili (tra i 230.000 della prima stagione e i 278.000 della settima), ma sono cresciuti gli spettatori «non lineari» (quelli che guardano le puntante on-demand). Per le ultime due stagioni, Twd ha accumulato un ascolto non-lineare del 60%, toccando il mezzo milione di spettatori, un risultato straordinario per una serie complessa, cruda, dalla serialità fortemente orizzontale (che richiede, dunque, notevole fedeltà). Gli spettatori di Twd sono giovani o giovani-adulti (età media 40 anni), con buoni livelli d'istruzione. Attraverso zombie e uomini resi mostruosi dall'Apocalisse vediamo rispecchiate le nostre odierne paure e insicurezze. (Aldo Grasso in collaborazione con Massimo Scaglioni, elaborazione su dati Auditel)

L'EDICOLA DI LOU - Stralci, cover e commenti sui telefilm dai media italiani e stranieri

CORRIERE DELLA SERA
Con la violenza di "The Walking Dead" i vivi sono più pericolosi dei morti
"Sono tornati gli zombie di «The Walking Dead». Con l'atteso inizio della nuova stagione, la settima, sono tornati su Fox i «non morti» di una delle serie più viste e amate degli ultimi anni, oltre che delle più g metaforizzate (lunedì, ore 21, canale Fox di Sky). II contagio epidemico come paura sottile che attraversa la civiltà occidentale, lo scenario post apocalittico come simbolo della fragilità delle istituzioni umane sociali e politiche, il personaggio di Rick Grimes come incarnazione della figura del leader carismatico alla ricerca di legittimazione: sono solo alcuni dei significati simbolici che sono stati associati alla serie. Nel susseguirsi delle stagioni, «The Walking Dead» ha acquisito ammiratori (molti), ma anche alcuni detrattori, che ne hanno sottolineato la ripetitività, il giocare su meccanismi sempre identici: ormai a ogni puntata si fa la conta dei morti e si scommette sulla perdita dei personaggi più amati tra il manipolo di sopravvissuti. Certo il forte legame con i racconti a fumetti di Robert Kirkman, da cui è tratta la serie, è senz'altro un fattore che ne vincola non poco il passo narrativo. La settima stagione si è riaperta sul cliffhanger che aveva chiuso la sesta: Rick e i suoi stanno fronteggiando il gruppo di sbandati capeggiato da Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), un violento psicopatico che terrorizza le sue vittime con la forza bruta quanto con la manipolazione mentale. Raramente si è visto rappresentato in televisione, e in modo così esplicito (forse troppo?), un simile carico di violenza fisica e psicologica, di tormento e sofferenza, che ha portato all'addio di personaggi ormai storici scontentando molto i fan della prima ora. Abbiamo imparato a capire che, nel mondo al disfacimento di «The Walking Dead», spesso i «non morti» non sono le entità più temibili. L'essere umano può essere ben più pericoloso dell'orda priva di coscienza degli zombie". (Aldo Grasso, 31.10.2016)

NEWS - Diavolo d'un Kirkman! Dopo gli zombie di "TWD" lancia i demoni di "Outcast" (da stasera). "Nelle mie storie cerco l'umanità tra gli orrori quotidiani"

Intervista a Robert Kirkman tratta da "La Repubblica"

Degli angeli ciascuno è tremendo scriveva Rainer Maria Rilke nelle Elegie Duinesi. Figuriamoci i diavoli. Non risparmia nulla a riguardo la nuova serie di Robert Kirkman, Outcast, tratta come già The walking dead da un suo fumetto di grande successo: negli Usa il primo numero di Outcast ha venduto oltre centomila copie. Esempi unici di comics che in tempi brevissimi riescono ad arrivare sullo schermo e da lì diventare, è il caso di The walking dead. la serie più vista nella fascia d'età 18-49, con una media di 11 milioni di telespettatori a puntata. Outcast potrebbe persino superarla. Di certo nella prima puntata in onda stasera su Fox (canale 112 di Sky) in contemporanea con 129 paesi, non manca niente: voci inquietanti, levitazioni, testate contro il muro e un bambino ( posseduto) che viene preso a pugni, ma li restituisce anche, e con grande efficacia. Robert Kirkman da Los Angeles ci ha raccontato gli orrori che ci attendono. 
Qual è il film più spaventoso che le sia mai capitato di vedere? 
«Beh, forse è una cosa un po' strana ma direi che è stato 'La casa'. So che probabilmente non è il miglior film della storia e che se lo guardassi adesso probabilmente mi farebbe ridere ma quando lo vidi avevo solo dieci anni. I miei genitori avevano affittato il vhs ed erano convinti che fossi a dormire, invece io attirato dalle urla mi ero alzato e stavo dietro di loro che erano seduti sul divano... Non ho potuto dormire per settimane".
Per molti il film più spaventoso della storia è stato "L'esorcista". E adesso lei è in procinto di farci vedere proprio una nuova serie Tv, "Outcast", dedicata alla possessione demoniaca... 
"Volevo fare una storia sull'esorcismo e sulla possessione perché mi sembrava che fosse ricca di tematiche. Naturalmente 'L'esorcista' ha rappresentato la pietra di paragone, ma io volevo fare qualcosa di mai visto prima». 
Come già sa chi ha iniziato a leggere il fumetto che in Italia è arrivato all'ottava puntata...
«Si e no: come per The walking dead, fumetto e serie tv sono diversi. Sono due media differenti e certe cose impossibili per il fumetto funzionano benissimo per la tv...".

Lei ha creato un tipo di fruizione nuova nell'horror: dialoghi di qualità e analisi approfondita della natura umana...
"Tutti noi lottiamo. I protagonisti delle mie storie hanno a che fare con i nostri stessi problemi e credo sia proprio questo ciò che rende credibile l'incredibile. Questa quotidianità cerca di persistere anche tra gli orrori e credo che sia proprio questo che definisce la nostra "umanità". 
Lei è un ottimista o un pessimista? 
"Non saprei...Credo un po' di entrambi. Sono un ottimista nella vita familiaree un pessimista per quanto riguarda l'economia".
Crede nel demonio?
"Non lo so: lascio le porte aperte...Credo ci siano dei fenomeni con cui la gente ha a che fare che non sono del tutto spiegabili...".
George Romero considerava gli zombi dei suoi film una metafora contro il consumismo. Anche le sue opere si possono leggere in modo politico?
"Mi interessa raccontare storie che tengano la gente inchiodata. Questo non significa che non ci siano aspetti leggibili in maniera politica ma io non intendo essere predicatorio: la gente è libera di leggerle come vuole». 
Che cos'è un "Outcast", un "Reietto" nella traduzione italiana, per lei?
"È una condizione che ha a che fare con una serie di cose brutte che possono capitare a tutti, volontarie e involontarie che portano una persona ad allontanarsi dalla comunità: è quello che capita al protagonista di Outcast, accusato di aver picchiato la moglie anche se si scoprirà che non è esattamente così...".
Non le piacciono gli eroi tutto di un pezzo... 
«Le persone reali non sono tutte di un pezzo: hanno delle cadute ma possono rialzarsi, è come se il protagonista, Kyle Barnes, iniziasse un viaggio con lo scopo di combattere i demoni: ci riuscirà o no? L'importante è il viaggio e le cose che lo rendono interessante sono gli errori che si compiono.. 
"The walking dead" nasconde una lotta per sopravvivere. In questo difficile momento economico lei pensa che in America sia difficile riuscirci?
"Per un sacco di persone lo è e credo che questo sia il motivo per cui sia così popolare. Le cose stanno andando male e c'è una vera lotta oggi per riuscire a pagare l'affitto. The walking dead mostra anche l'incredibile capacità degli uomini di reagire alle avversità...".
Quando lei ha iniziato a fare fumetti l'ha tenuto nascosto alla sua famiglia...
"Si mi sono licenziato dal lavoro e non l'ho detto fino a che non sono riuscito a guadagnare abbastanza per vivere. Non volevo che i miei genitori si preoccupassero e quindi sì, ho mentito ma con le migliori intenzioni".
Cosa dice la sua famiglia del suo successo?  
"I miei figli e mia moglie sono contenti ma lei non legge fumetti e non guarda serie tv».
Prima zombie, poi demoni. Dopo "Outcast" arriveranno i vampiri? 
"(ride) Non lo so. In realtà credo che la prossima cosa che farò sarà qualcosa di completamente differente da tutto quello che ho fatto fino a questo momento...".

L'EDICOLA DI LOU - Stralci, cover e commenti sui telefilm dai media italiani e stranieri

CORRIERE DELLA SERA
"Fear the Walking Dead", racconto epico sulle paure globali
"Paramount Channel sta proponendo «Fear the Walking Dead», spin offe prequel della celebre serie «The Walking Dead» (canale 27 del dtt, giovedì, 2L10). Nella Città degli Angeli, dove le persone vanno per sfuggire ai propri segreti e seppellire il proprio passato, un'epidemia misteriosa minaccia di distruggere la fragile stabilità che i protagonisti sono riusciti a crearsi. Lo scenario è ancora apocalittico, l'avanzata degli zombi pare inarrestabile. «Fear the Walking Dead» è creata da Robert Kirkman e Dave Erickson per la Amc. Anch'essa è basata sul fumetto omonimo di Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore e Charlie Adlard: è il classico prodotto «di genere» che strizza l'occhio agli appassionati della graphic novel da cui è tratto. Ma è anche un grande racconto epico, una narrazione popolare e raffinata allo stesso tempo, in cui sentimenti e pulsioni prendono forma narrativa. Per dirci cosa? Che dobbiamo temere i morti viventi? Che la fine del fondo procede? Che perle famiglie Manawa e Salazar il destino è segnato? Citando «Game of Thrones» il politologo francese Dominique Moïsi ci ricorda che «l'inverno sta avanzando», ovunque. Nel suo recente La géopolitique des séries, ou le triomphe de la peur (Stock, 2016), Misi sostiene che le serie americane raccontano, meglio di ogni altra forma espressiva, la globalizzazione della paura. Per esempio, «Game of Thrones» «esprime la fascinazione per il caos, la paura di fronte al ritorno della barbarie, il Medioevo di ieri che evoca il Medio Oriente di oggi». Anche una serie come «Fear the Walking Dead» contribuisce ad arricchire il catalogo delle paure del mondo, qualunque spavento incarnino gli zombi. Traduce il nostro sconcerto di fronte a un mondo complesso e ansiogeno. Moïsi è perentorio: «Sappiamo che i terroristi dell'Isis sono molto connessi a Internet e possiamo domandarci se non si ispirino alle serie per atterrire l'opinione pubblica mondiale»". (Aldo Grasso, 26.03.2016)

NEWS - Fermi tutti! Kirkman ha bene in mente come finirà "The Walking Dead" (è già una notizia, viste le ultime stagioni...): "non ci sarà un cataclisma, ma si andrà avanti fino a che gli zombie saranno spazzati via".  "Potrebbe non esserci una spiegazione di come tutto ha avuto inizio" (altrimenti "Fear TWD" che lo faceva a fare?). Poi la minaccia peggiore di qualsiasi virus: "la serie potrebbe durare 10 o 12 stagioni!" 

Post tratto da "Uproxx"
Fans of zombie films are no doubt familiar with the standard zombie film ending, popularized in George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead trilogy: Eventually, the zombies overrun the planet and everyone dies. Sometimes, in zombie films, the zombies are wiped out, there are a few survivors, and they ride off into the sunset.
Robert Kirkman’s original conception for The Walking Dead, in fact, was in response to how zombie films typically ended, as he told Marc Maron in a recent WTF podcast. “They never solve it. At the end of every movie, they’re like ‘The world is covered in zombies, and we’re out of time, so see ya later!”.
George Romero famously doesn’t care for The Walking Dead, saying of it that “it’s a soap opera with a zombie occasionally.” Conversely, Kirkman created The Walking Dead in response to the disappointment he felt at the end of Romero’s zombie flicks. He wanted to know what happens after the end. “How do you continue to find food and shelter and protect loved ones for years and years and deal with the fall of civilization?” Kirkman wanted to know. “How does that affect you? The weak people get strong, and the strong people get weak, and people become insane.”
But The Walking Dead eventually has to end. It may not be anytime soon — Kirkman has suggested the series could run 10 or 12 or more seasons — but the show eventually has to come to a close. And how would Robert Kirkman like The Walking Dead to end?

Not in a cataclysmic event, as we’ve come to expect from the zombie genre. Rather, he’d like it to continue until the walkers are wiped out. “The goal… I hope The Walking Dead goes on long enough that at the end, everyone is like, ‘Good thing we took care of those zombies!'”

“People talk about how The Walking Dead is bleak, and if you take a certain cross-section of the story, then yeah. Horrible. People have their loved ones eaten and they have a horrible time. But I see the story from beginning to end, over many many years about humanity overcoming this insurmountable apocalyptic situation.”

Kirkman may never reveal the origins of the zombie virus, as he’s mentioned in the past, but it’s good to know that he does have an ending in mind, and even better to know that it is a hopeful one in which some of his characters — LIKE DARYL DIXON, RIGHT? — endure and survive.
Don’t expect that to come anytime soon, although Kirkman doesn’t want the series to run forever. “Let’s all be honest. season 16? I’m not even going to be watching this show. I’ll be on a boat. Oh, [season 17]? I don’t care! I’ve transcended television.”
He also joked that more spin-offs aren’t out of the question. “We’re doing [Fear the Walking Dead], and I’m sure that, if it does well, we’ll do The Walking Dead: China eventually. [And then] The Walking Dead: SVU.”

NEWS - Clamoroso al Cibali! "Fear the Walking Dead" non avrà zombi (o quantomeno "non ancora" tali)! "Sarà una serie sull'ansia, l'attesa e la depressione"...

News tratta da "Uproxx" e "Tv Line"
As AMC heads toward its summer premiere of Fear the Walking Dead, everyone involved in the series has been quick to remind us that it’s “very different” from the original The Walking Dead. No, it’s not the same thing at all, they keep telling us, as though reading from AMC scripted talking points.
But the truth is that it is quite a bit different. Yes, it takes place in the same universe, and yes, the events in the prequel happen while Rick is in his coma (at least, in the beginning), but Fear the Walking Dead is hitting upon different emotional terrain. Remember how grief stricken Morgan was that he had to kill his wife in the pilot? Or how upset Hershel was about killing all the walkers in his barn, because he was still under the misconception that they were people? Take that and multiply it by 10.
That’s the emotional basis of Fear the Walking Dead. There’s more uncertainty about the infection. There’s more uncertainty about what becomes of the infected, and because they still look very human, it’s far more difficult to kill them because it doesn’t feel like killing a zombie. It feels like killing your wife.
Fear the Walking Dead sounds like it’s going to be a lot more depressing, according to showrunner Dave Erickson in an interview with TVLine:

It’ll differ in so many ways … [It’s about] the anxiety and anticipation. We don’t go, for lack of a better term, full-zombie. There’s a bit more of a slow-burn to the story. We don’t get to a point where we’re actually in a full-blown apocalypse until much later in the show. [Fellow EP] Robert [Kirkman] wanted to really dwell on what it’s like to [commit] a violent act — especially in our world, because it’s so early, and our walkers are fresher and far more human. It’s [emotionally] difficult to kill them, even when somebody’s coming after you… In terms of emotional tension, when we put one of our characters through a moment where they have to commit some brutality to defend themselves or others, they’ll suffer for it.

Basically, Erickson says, Fear the Walking Dead is about this family in Los Angeles slowly coming to realize “what Rick came to realize in the [Walking Dead] pilot; these people are not people anymore.” Expect to see a lot of people being forced to kill their loved ones or, worse, refuse to kill their loved ones and succumb to their infections. It sounds harrowing, and brutal, and hopeless.
I can’t wait!
What you should not expect, according to Erickson, is faster zombies (though, they may have some more physical strength since they’re earlier in the decaying process). There are also no plans to do any crossover episodes with The Walking Dead because, as Erickson says, “Geography is an obstacle, and frankly somewhere down the road it will become an even greater obstacle.” Likewise, the series will not deal with the government’s efforts to contain the virus, or explore the origins of it. That will remain a mystery.

NEWS - Clamoroso al Cibali! Lo spin-off di "The Walkind Dead" s'intitolerà "Cobalt" (?), si trasferisce a Los Angeles e "sarà molto diverso"! Spoiler: gli script del pilot ("Fear The Walking Dead")

News tratta da Uproxx.com
Robert Kirkman is on record as saying that The Walking Dead companion series (working title, Cobalt) will be very “different.” In fact, he’s very adamant about how different the companion series will be. But besides a different setting (Los Angeles) and different characters, how will the series be different?

(Minor Spoilers Below)
A clue to that has arrived in the form of excerpts from the original pilot script for the companion series (via Bleedingcool), which is called Fear the Walking Dead, which may either be the name of the pilot episode or the actual name of the series. The interesting part about the pilot episode, however, is that it goes back to when the outbreak began, before anyone understood exactly what was going on. Here are the excerpts from that pilot script (dated September 2014) that clue us in on the origin story, so to speak, from the perspective of a dysfunctional family:

So, basically, the outbreak is happening, and no one realizes that zombies exist yet. Essentially, it looks like they are covering what happened in the world (or at least, in Los Angeles) while Rick was in his coma in the pilot episode of The Walking Dead.
That is a different and interesting take, and I’m curious as to how long the companion series will spend on the initial outbreak. Will the bulk of the series, the first few episodes, or just the pilot deal with the immediate fall-out, before everyone was either killed or scattered? Or will the companion series quickly deal with that and move it along to the aftermath of the outbreak?
I feel like we already have a series set during the aftermath. It would be more compelling to explore the days and weeks before everything went completely to hell, and maybe even get a glimpse into how the virus spread (or, possibly, a clue as to the origin of the virus).

NEWS - Sei personaggi in cerca di zombie! Lo spin-off di "The Walking Dead" accende i riflettori su un sestetto da...fine del mondo. Prequel o contemporary, un personaggio si chiama Andrea...

News tratta da Tv Line
As The Walking Dead shuffles toward its Season 5 premiere, AMC is readying some fresh meat feed the zombies. Details have just been revealed on the Walking Dead spinoff, which AMC says will explore “what is going on in the zombie apocalypse in other parts of the world.” Hit the jump to get the dirt.

Here’s TVLine‘s rundown of the new Walking Dead spinoff characters.

SEAN CABRERA | A Latino male in his early 40s, Sean is a good man trying to do right by everyone in his life.
CODY CABRERA | Sean’s whip-smart and rebellious teenage son. Known as the angriest kid in town.
NANCY TOMPKINS | A thirtysomething single mom to two kids, Nancy looks like the girl next door, but there’s an edge to her.
NICK TOMPKINS | Nancy’s screwed up teenage son. He’s too old to stay home, too scared to flee.
ASHLEY TOMPKINS | Nancy’s mostly level-headed teenage daughter. Her ambition is in direct proportion to her older brother’s failures. She loves her mom but it’s time to get out of Dodge.
ANDREA CHAPMAN | A somewhat wilted flower child, fortysomething Andrea — yep, another Andrea! — has retreated to the outskirts of the city to recover after a horrible marriage.


As previously reported, rumor has it that the new series will be a prequel of sorts set in the early days of the zombie pandemic, when the living still outnumbered the dead. For its part, AMC has stated only that the show would follow “an entirely new story and cast of characters” not tethered to Robert Kirkman‘s original comic book series.
Kirkman and Dave Erickson are writing the new show, with the latter serving as showrunner. For now, AMC has only ordered a pilot. The episode will shoot this fall and things will proceed from there. Assuming all goes well, we can probably look forward to meeting Sean, Cody, Nancy, and the rest of the gang next year.
In the meantime, The Walking Dead returns to AMC October 12.