AMC Isn't Done Expanding the Universe of The Walking Dead

You'd think that with ratings for The Walking Dead on the decline, AMC might hit the brakes on milking the franchise for more spin-offs or other projects. Nope.

With Season 8 in the can, former The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple is now AMC's chief content officer of The Walking Dead -- yes, the franchise is big enough that it's getting corporate-style positions now -- and is already planning on new ways to bring zombies to life on TV... and other formats. That includes possible new spin-offs.

"We're going to be doing traditional stuff, non-traditional stuff, stuff people don't expect," Gimple told The Hollywood Reporter regarding the future of the franchise. Among those things people don't expect could even be unscripted Walking Dead fare, though Gimple says the odds of that are "remote." (A Face-Off style show with zombie makeup maybe?)

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What's clear from THR's chat with Gimple is that nothing is out of the picture as he looks toward different formats, platforms and styles in plotting out what's next for The Walking Dead.

"There are different approaches to how we tell stories and how long we tell them for and the places we can do them," Gimple told THR. "I'm hoping to do a variety of different projects that are probably more in line with what we see on TV but maybe in different rhythms and formats and things like that. We'll still continue to come out with great digital content but I'm excited about the kind of stuff we can do. But I really am talking about all sides of it and I know we'll have more to talk about soon on that."

The Walking Dead has done shortform programming before, such as the webseries Flight 462, and has expanded into video games that have grown the universe as well. And of course there's the full-fledged spin-off Fear the Walking Dead, which AMC has invested in a great deal to revamp ahead of its upcoming season. In other words, The Walking Dead may not be as big as it has been in the past, but there's a chance it will get even bigger over the next few years.

The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on AMC.