With The Walking Dead smashing past ratings records on the regular (Sunday’s midseason finale drew a jaw-dropping 14.8 million eyes, with 9.6 million among adults 18-49), AMC obviously remains heavily invested in turning the post-apocalyptic zombie thriller series into a bona fide media franchise. A spinoff series, tentatively titled Cobalt, has been in the works at the network for some time now, and today brings news that AMC has cast two major roles.
Frank Dillane and Alycia Debnam Carey have both landed parts in the pilot episode, which AMC will view before deciding whether or not to order a first season of the spinoff. Cobalt takes place during the same outbreak depicted in The Walking Dead but at a different location. It centers around a divorced male teacher and a female guidance counselor. Dillane (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince) will play the woman’s son, who has battled drug addiction, while Debnam Carey will play her “ambitious” daughter.
No word yet on which actors will take on the main roles of the teacher and the guidance counselor, though that announcement is sure to come soon. Intriguingly, this isn’t Debnam Carey’s first time working at AMC – the Into the Storm breakout was also cast in pilot Galyntine, which AMC eventually scrapped.
Robert Kirkman, whose graphic novels The Walking Dead is based upon, and Dave Erickson share co-creator credit on the spinoff. Adam Davidson has been set to direct the pilot.