Posted in: AMC, TV | Tagged: The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead New Rights Deal: AMC Global Eyes Production Partner

The Walking Dead is nearing a new rights deal, with AMC Global Media seeking to maintain "co-exclusivity" as it eyes a production partner.

We've got the third season of Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan-starring The Walking Dead: Dead City on the way, and Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride-starring The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon having just wrapped post-production on its final season. After that? No one knows – and that question just got a lot more interesting on Friday morning. During the company's first-quarter earnings call, AMC Global Media CEO Kristin Dolan shared with Wall Street analysts that a new licensing deal for the franchise is close. Where it gets particularly interesting is that, while AMC Global Media is eyeing "co-exclusivity," Dolan noted that "there are some very large and enthusiastic partners in the bidding process right now" and that a number of options are being considered.

"We've been really excited about the inbound for discussion on the licensing rights for The Walking Dead," Dolan shared. "We're really looking at every scenario. There's a variety of ways to look at it. We definitely feel it's important to keep some of the content for ourselves co-exclusively, so we're emphasizing the fact that we're looking predominantly a co-exclusive deals, but there are some very large and enthusiastic partners in the bidding process right now. So, we're really looking at any variety of constructs, but the key thing for us is co-exclusivity." That means AMC Global Media could be looking at one large production partner or several partners. "We may chunk it up, may all go to one partner, domestic versus international. There's many, many ways to skin this cat," Dolan added.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 4 Wraps Post-Production & More

"And that's a wrap on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon!! An amazing 4 years with the BEST crew ever!! Huge thanks to @postsoundslikebrian for having me and @josh.eckberg jump on this show years ago. Thanks to our amazing show runners David Zabel and John Marler, they are a dream to work with. Jim Gallivan killed it every episode with the sound design, Ian Blackman editing dialogue, @kencainsound editing Foley, @homeskewld recording foley, Sebastian Visconti editing walkers and group, and @jim.schultz editing music. Chad Algerin, mix tech to the stars kept us all laughing and the stage rolling!!
I'll miss mixing this show at @wbppcs," read the caption to the post from bluesfrequency and Warner Bros Post Production Creative Services:

Here's a look at what Reedus had to share overnight regarding the final season of the hit spinoff series, followed by a previously released look at Season 4 filming with Reedus and McBride:

With production wrapping on the fourth and final season, a popular topic among a lot of TWD fans has become front and center once again. Will Daryl and Carol ever be a couple? For many, the seeds of the two eventually becoming romantic were planted earlier in the original series, and they will point to a number of examples from the past that only fuel the belief that they're destined to be a couple. For others, Daryl and Carol have a deep bond of friendship and commitment to one another that's much more familial at heart. During a recent press run in support of the series ahead of its final run, Reedus shared why he's glad that the TWD writers never took Daryl and Carol down the romantic road.

"I'm glad that we never went down that road of, 'We're together, we're a couple.' … They value their friendship so much that — why mess with it?" Reedus shared during an audio interview with ABC. In the ABC News clip above, Reedus further elaborated on why he prefers the creative direction that was gone with. "If we were a couple or if we coupled up, you sort of open up a door for a disaster, you know? Like, in real life, that could happen, but their friendship is so special that they leave it. They know what it is, and they respect it, and they leave it there," Reedus explained. "They sort of have this understanding, this sort of spiritual connection that's not brought on by lust or loneliness or whatever would happen in that kind of a world."

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