The brief preview of the series offered a peek at Los Angeles just prior to the outbreak of the zombie plague that would go on to ravage the country (and possibly the world), with a morning news host reporting on a “strange virus reported in five states” and advising everyone who isn’t feeling well to go home and take care of themselves. The teaser concludes with a short scene featuring a zombie shuffling toward the camera in the shadows of an underpass.
The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman recently indicated that Fear the Walking Dead will begin as a prequel of sorts to the original series, chronicling the early days of the outbreak thousands of miles away from the events unfolding on the East Coast with Rick Grimes and his supporting cast. The new series will eventually unfold parallel to the events of The Walking Dead as the timeline of the spinoff advances in the same continuum, but at this point there’s no official confirmation that the two series will ever “meet” in a crossover episode.
Fear of the Walking Dead stars Cliff Curtis (Missing) and Kim Dickens (Sons of Anarchy) will play a divorced teacher and a guidance counselor, respectively, who find themselves fighting for survival amid the deadly outbreak of the disease that turns humans into flesh-hungry zombies. The series also stars Frank Dillane (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Alycia Debnam Carey (Into the Storm).
AMC has already ordered a second season of Fear the Walking Dead following the six-episode debut this summer. The second season will premiere in 2016.
The pilot episode of Fear the Walking Dead was co-written by Kirkman and Dave Erickson (Sons of Anarchy), who also serves as showrunner on the series. Hell on Wheels and Community director Adam Davidson will direct the pilot episode.
