Interview With Walking Dead Director Frank Darabont

One thing is for sure. Frank Darabont loves Zombies. The award winning director (The Shawshank Redemption) came across Robert Kirkman's series about five years ago in a comic book shop and has been working to adapt it ever since. The TV series, currently shooting in the sweltering heat of Atlanta and surrounding areas, is on track for an October premier. Darabont took some time to talk about where things are on set.



Frank Darabont's love for the undead:
"I've always wanted to do my take on the zombie mythos, since I was a kid and I saw Romero's Night of the Living Dead - the 1968 black and white version. For our zombie show I'm calling that the Book of Genesis, and whenever there's a question about zombie behavior I go back to Night of the Living Dead. Here's my favorite thing: the endless debate among the fans about how fast a zombie can move. There are the folks who just can't stand seeing zombies running. I'm kind of in that camp, but if you look at the very first zombie in Night - the one in the cemetery chasing Barbara, he gets up to a pretty good jog. I'm keying our zombie behavior off of that film: Whether they're in a very languid state or they're on the attack, they'll move no faster than that first zombie in Night of the Living Dead."

The differences between this TV series and other zombie films:

"One of the things I found most intriguing about The Walking Dead was that it was so focused on the characters. Within the context of the cool zombie apocalypse, there was this very serious character drama. I thought, this is a great opportunity to satisfy not only zombie fans, but bring in an audience that wouldn't normally, necessarily, seek out a zombie film to watch."


Darabont also touched base on what he is shooting right now:

"Right now we're filming the shootout that kicks things off for the series. It's the kind of thing I haven't had a chance to do that often in my career. Most of my movies tend to be very sweet, talking dramas. I haven't had a chance to do that much action. So I'm actually getting a lot of my desire for that sort of thing out right now, and expressing my desire to roll a car six times. Yeah baby, I'm there! Let's load those guns with more blanks, absolutely. The first zombie is up tomorrow. It's going to be the very first scene of the entire series -- a good, gut-punch of a scene right off the bat."