Back in May, we reported that horror icon George A. Romero has signed a deal with Demarest to develop a TV series adaptation based on his comic book miniseries Empire of the Dead. The report revealed that George A. Romero is co-writing the TV adaptation with his longtime collaborator Peter Grunwald, although it wasn't revealed if a network was involved at that time. Over the weekend, Empire of the Dead comic artist Arthur Suydam attended the Wizard World Comic Con in Louisville, Kentucky, where he revealed to local news station WHAS 11 that the series has been picked up by AMC. Here's what the artist had to say, while holding up a copy of the Empire of the Dead comic.

"This just got signed to AMC. The new big zombie series on AMC is expected to be this one right here."

The news hasn't been confirmed by AMC at this time, so we'll have to wait and see if the network makes it official soon. The comic series launched in January 2014, with a 15-issue run that concluded this August. The comics served as a continuation of George A. Romero's zombie movie series that started with the 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead. His last movie in the series was 2010's George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead.

The comic series is set in New York City, several years after the undead plague was unleashed. The Manhattan area of the Big Apple has been quarantined, but a new threat emerges when an ancient race of vampires emerge, as their war with the zombies traps all of the survivors in the middle of a supernatural war. Demarest's Sam Englebardt and William D. Johnson are executive producing with George A. Romero and Peter Grunwald.

While George A. Romero is best known for his zombie movies, he has also worked briefly on the small screen as well. He previously served as a writer and producer on the 1980s TV series Tales from the Darkside. If this news is confirmed by AMC, Empire of the Dead will be the third zombie series on the cable network, followed by The Walking Dead and its companion series Fear the Walking Dead.

It's possible that AMC could be developing Empire of the Dead as a series that could air on the same night as The Walking Dead, giving fans a double-dose of the undead on Sunday nights. Fear the Walking Dead is coming back for a second season, but it is believed that this series will return next summer, preceding the next season of The Walking Dead. Would you like to see two zombie shows in one night on AMC? Do you think Empire of the Dead would be a good fit for the cable network? Take a look at the brief news report from WHAS 11 that includes the Empire of the Dead news.

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