The Walking Dead: Frank Darabont Fired?

The departure of Frank Darabont from The Walking Dead TV Series was shock, mainly because they were in the middle of filming the second season and there were no signs of this coming at the Comic-Con panel he attended a few days earlier.

From a recent story that provides new details, it looks like Frank Darabont didn't know he was leaving the show either during Comic-Con. Apparently AMC fired him with little warning, and despite reports, the cast and crew are having a difficult time adjusting. 

"In hot, sticky Atlanta, where production on the second season had been under way since June, the cast was summoned to a lunch meeting with AMC vp scripted programming Ben Davis, who confirmed that Darabont was out. The crew was briefed separately. One insider says those gathered were stunned at "the duplicity of AMC" for having used Darabont to promote the show at Comic-Con before firing him. And they were angry about the lack of explanation; they were simply told, cryptically, "This isn't working." Above all, they were disheartened. "It's a crushing blow," says the insider. "Even when you have a hit, they can still destroy you."

In the case of Walking Dead, AMC has replaced Darabont with executive producer Glen Mazzara, by many accounts a strong talent. But sources associated with the show say Darabont was an integral part of a lightning-in-a-bottle formula that had been working. "Everybody loves Frank and has had an amazing experience," says a talent rep with a client in the mix. "He's brilliant, and we want him there."

According to an insider, many members of the cast and crew feel the same way. "Frank's fingerprints are all over every single aspect of the show," this person says. "I heard a Teamster saying, 'How are we going to do this without Frank?' "

But AMC's budget-cutting upset him. "Frank doesn't like to see the cast and crew overworked and underpaid," says a show insider. As recently as the end of May, with the show's second season poised to go into production, Darabont seemed to be holding out hope that AMC would relent. "Creatively, I have no complaints thus far," he said at a THR roundtable. "But I believe if they do move ahead with what they're talking about, it will affect the show creatively … in a negative way. Which just strikes me as odd. If you have an asset, why would you punish it?"

The specific reason behind the firing of Frank Darabont is still unknown, and it would be a shame if this all happened due to AMC management problems. They have been facing new season negotiation issues with the producers of their other hit shows Mad Men and Breaking Bad, so this is not just an issue that was related to Darabont and The Walking Dead. The rest of the article is a really interesting read, and you can check it out at The Hollywood Reporter.