Deadline Hollywood has shocking news to report: writer/director/executive producer Frank Darabont has reportedly stepped down as the showrunner of The Walking Dead. This comes just days after appearing with fellow executive producers Robert Kirkman and Gale Anne Hurd at the The Walking Dead panel at San Diego Comic-Con this past Friday.
Photo courtesy of ScreenRant
In television, the showrunner is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operation of the production. Darabont, who is a noted feature film director, wrote and directed the pilot episode of The Walking Dead. Deadline notes that while Darabont has apparently stepped down as showrunner it is unclear if he has left the show entirely. We will bring you more news on this as it develops.
The Walking Dead, whose first season was a surprise hit, is currently filming season two, which is set to debut in October.
UPDATE: Executive producer and head writer Glen Mazzara has been named the new show runner. There is still no word on if Darabont will stay on with The Walking Dead.
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shocking
First they lost all those writers and now him? The future of this show isn’t looking too good.
Not that shocking considering that the original deal had been that Darabont would be showrunner for Season 1 and then move on, leaving room for Eglee to take over and this rumour has been circuating since the writers were fired.
Not a good sign
This sucks …
That first episode was the best one …
now they just gotta find a jason katmis
Gilmore Girls put me on watch for series switching showrunners, but Supernatural has balanced the ratio in my mind. Let’s see how this one goes.
Showrunner moves can be good or bad. My interest in the comic is waning, my feelings about the show were mixed on season 1… think I may take a wait and see approach to season 2, but I’m going in with lowered expectations.
A few weeks ago he was hinting that AMC wanted to cut the show’s budget, despite much higher than expected ratings. I blame AMC, the greedy bastards.
@ghettojourno I was expecting Supernatural to take a nose dive in season 6, but I was surprisingly pleased with it. Can’t wait to see what happens in season 7!
I’m not going to worry about Darabont leaving Walking Dead. It’s not like he ran the show for 5 years. it was just a handful of episodes. I’m sure it’ll be fine.
His showrunning was too schmaltzy. I hated season one — here’s to a better season two.
@WilliamKScurryJr His showrunning was too…what does that even mean?
Too sentimental? Can’t say I see that…
Not shocking at all. More shocking that he was showrunner for two seasons in the first place. Running season two for 10 episodes i’s a workload an accomplished director isnt comortable with.
This happens all the time in TV. The Simpsons have had 6 showrunner changes in 22 years. (Although the last one has been Al Jean for over 10 seasons).
It is a shock that he is leaving so soon though since it seemed like he genuinely cares about the show. I’m sure he still does, but leaving the position seems a bit too sudden. It might really hurt the quality of the show and considering how underwhelming season one is that can’t be a good thing.
considering darabont wrote/directed the only good episode of last season, this doesn’t bode well for season 2.
research has shown he wrote a few others too (including the terrible season finale) so who knows anymore.
lets hope he still stays involved as a director or something. Day to Day film production management stuff probably sucks the creative life out of a creative.
I’m still confident that season 2 will be solid.
@Suicidalkangarooz the whole writer firing is pretty common on T.V. aspecially for a short season like that. I am not sure but it is likely some came back on for season 2 but all the firing really meant was they would no longer be on payroll since there was no writting to be done at that time. This practice frees the writers to continue work on other projects during the hiatus. All jobs in show buisiness are temporary, it’s rare to see someone besides actors and producers stay on the full run of a show.
I have faith that AMC and Kirkman will carry on with a good season 2 even if Darabont is really out of the picture completely.
I feel like the showrunner does have massive influence over the tone of the show. and if one felt the tone was too schmaltzy, i don’t think its outragious to blame the showrunner….
now that is scary.
If chick eglee is taking over I think it’s fine he’s a great show runner, the show is in good hands
Yeah… not sure the firing of the writer’s room and this news bodes well. While some of this is normal… the two coupled together does send up red flags. As well clearing out the dedeciated group of writers in lieu of nothing but work for hire is also odd. With a short-run show, it’s usually preferable to stick with a writer’s room approach. Work for hire is easier to do with full-run shows, as you have time for one-offs and such to give the staff writers breathing room. Very odd doings.
@Gabe Paul is pointing out that the person referred not to the tone of the show as schmaltzy but infact to the actual showrunning. Which really doesn’t make a lick of sense.
Great I have a reason now if i don’t like an episode this season.
@PaulMontgomery: Darabont’s work is, for me, characterized by an excessive amount of mawkishness. The tone of the show was not horror, but instead monologues about “me and mah son looking for his ma” (that awful digression in episode 2). His showrunning, like his direction, is rife with pathos and manipulation.
What @magnus said.
@willaimkscurryJr You’ve just described the source material.
@Magnus Maybe while running the show, Darrabont plays cheezy music in the background and cries?
@williamkscurry Perhaps you’ve not read the comics, but that’s pretty much part and parcel of the storyline. Less about the horror, more about the human drama. The horror is in what’s become of us rather than in what’s become of the dead. Also, making a point 2 without a point 1 is dirty pool! 😉
I would call this surprising but not devestating. They didn’t say he’s completely out of the picture.
@PraxJarvin “The horror is in what’s become of us rather than in what’s become of the dead.” that should be a quote on the next tradepaperback
This worries me. And I agree, the pilot was the best episode. The second best was the one where one of the characters kept digging graves. I think Kirkman wrote that one. I hope season 2 delivers.
Weird. Tryin to stay optimistic about this series. But after all this news and one too many departures in season one, I’m havin a hard time.
“Not that shocking considering that the original deal had been that Darabont would be showrunner for Season 1 and then move on, leaving room for Eglee to take over and this rumour has been circuating since the writers were fired.”
THIS.
I don’t get all you people all ‘shocked!’ by this. did you all just now realize you can read news on the internet like a month ago? Because it was always known/apparent taht Darabont wasn’t in it for a long haul and questionable if he would be in it for Season 2 even.
And most shows ARE like that. You start off with a creative team who hand it off to someone else to complete. Most everything from Seinfeld to Twin Peaks to Weeds is like that.
The first episode was the only one I truly enjoyed. This is a bummer.
The real shock is how many people still care about this show if they apparently don’t like it anyway.
Well this press release makes it sound like Darabont isn’t coming back….
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=33603