And the first cable network looking to capitalize on the massive mainstream success of The Walking Dead TV show is
Walking Dead network AMC. After proving that modern horror can draw audiences to rival and, in some cases, beat the big broadcast networks with the adaptation of Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlards long-running zombie comic, the network is developing a second horror drama based on Dan Simmons aptly named 2007 novel The Terror.
The Terror offers a fictionalized version of the real-life lost expedition of British Royal Navy officer Captain Sir John Franklin in 1845, in which two vessels, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, became trapped in ice in the Canadian Arctic, leading to the eventual deaths of both ships crews. While the true story of what happened to the expedition is both mysterious and grisly, Simmons take on it is far more ready-for-television, featuring a mythological beast hunting the crews and continually fracturing alliances and relationships between the human survivors.
Much as it did with The Walking Dead, which was originally the product of producer Gail Anne Hurd (Alien, Terminator) and writer/director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption), AMC is relying on well-regarded genre veterans to usher the show into reality. Blade Runner and Prometheus director Ridley Scott will be executive producer for the series, while his production company, Scott Free, pairs with Television 360 (Game of Thrones) to bring the show to screen. A pilot script is currently being written by David Kajganich, a screenwriter whose previous credits include 2007′s Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake, The Invasion.
