‘The Walking Dead’ is the ratings hit for AMC that refuses to die as the series has been renewed for season 10 with a couple of the highest profile cast members also re-upping with new contracts….
‘The Walking Dead’ is returning for season 10 after the show was officially renewed by AMC on Monday.
While it’s not exactly a surprise that ‘The Walking Dead’ would be returning, there still remain a lot of questions about the direction the show will take from season 9 into season 10 after so many dramatic changes in recent months.
Former showrunner Scott Gimple stepped down from the day to day running of ‘The Walking Dead’ to serve as the chief content officer for the entire brand that now includes ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ as well as three brand new films set in ‘The Walking Dead’ universe that will air on AMC with full Hollywood budgets behind them.
Angela Kang took over for Gimple on ‘The Walking Dead’ season 9 and she will return as showrunner for season 10 as well.
As far as those three films, they will feature Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes after he was written off the main series during season 9. Lincoln had been the main focal point for the series since the very first episode but over time the British actor felt like he was spending far too much time away from his family at home and he decided to cut back dramatically on his schedule by leaving the series entirely.
‘The Walking Dead’ managed to keep Lincoln around as part of the family for those three movies but he’s no longer part of the main show.
In his place steps Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl Dixon, and now becomes the top person on the call sheet going forward from season 9 into season 10. Reedus and fellow co-star Melissa McBride inked new three year deals to stay with ‘The Walking Dead’ with the actors receiving huge pay increases as well as plenty of incentives going forward.
Reedus will reportedly make somewhere between $50 to $90 million with his new deal while McBride is rumored to around $20 million over three seasons.
The biggest unknowns about ‘The Walking Dead’ going forward concerns Danai Gurira and Lauren Cohan, who play Michonne and Maggie on the show.
Cohan already exited ‘The Walking Dead’ season 9 amidst contract negotiations and she ended up landing her own series on ABC called ‘Whiskey Cavalier’ that is set to debut on February 24. Meanwhile, Gurira found herself with a whole new level of stardom after appearing in ‘Black Panther’ in 2018 as well as roles in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and the upcoming ‘Avengers: Endgame’ as well as the planned ‘Black Panther’ sequel.
Gurira was reportedly in negotiations with ‘The Walking Dead’ on a new deal but as of yet no contracts have been signed and her future on the show remains a question mark going into season 10.
The only thing for certain right now is ‘The Walking Dead’ is coming back for season 10 in October but it remains to be seen what the cast will look like when the show returns.
