Darabont linked to Walking Dead project

Frank Darabont is to finalise a deal to adapt graphic novel series The Walking Dead for TV, it has been reported.

The Mist writer and director is partnering up with cable network AMC for the potential project, Variety reports.

Darabont and producer Gale Anne Hurd have reportedly pitched the idea to various cable outlets with no studio attached. However, AMC senior vice president Joel Silverman expressed his interest in the zombie-themed series.

He said: "We've got an audience that loves this kind of material. These are two world-class filmmakers who are also brilliant storytellers with experience in the fantasy genre."

The plotline of the show will apparently centre around a group of zombie survivors looking for a safe haven after apocalyptic events transpire. Silverman added that the proposed adaptation will remain faithful to the Image Comics material.

He said: "This is not about zombies popping out of closets. This is a story about survival and the dynamics of what happens when a group is forced to survive under these circumstances.

"The world [in Walking Dead] is portrayed in a smart, sophisticated way."

Darabont recently quit as the director of thriller Law Abiding Citizen.