It’s the beginning of the end for The Walking Dead, but there’s a half-season still to shoot before the zombie drama wraps with its series finale in 2022. Filming on the eleventh and final season, premiering August 22 on AMC, has been underway since February in Senoia, Georgia, weeks before The Walking Dead returned with a six-episode Season 10 extension to bridge the gap to Season 11. The Walking Dead ends next year after a final 24 episodes airing in three parts, each with eight episodes, as part of what AMC Networks calls The Walking Dead: The Final Season Trilogy.
Walking Dead director of photography Duane Manwiller revealed the final season is “officially” halfway through filming with a behind-the-scenes look at Season 11 published to Instagram:
“I think for all of us that are working on the show, we’re still actively shooting and writing and editing,” Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang said when asked about the looming conclusion during last week’s Walking Dead Season 11 Preview Special. “We’re just about at the halfway point of filming this season, so there’s still a long ways to go. I think we’re all kind of like, ‘This is bittersweet and sad,’ and then there are other days where we’re just hour-to-hour trying to get the thing made for everybody.”
These first eight of a final 24 episodes pits the survivors, among them Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan), against a new group of formidable foes known only as the Reapers. Elsewhere, Eugene (Josh McDermitt) and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), along with Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and Princess (Paola Lazaro), are the first to encounter an advanced new community from the comic books: the Commonwealth.
At virtual San Diego Comic-Con, Kang promised a return to “our big, scope-y, massive, just extravaganzas with lots of great character interactions between the people we love,” after the smaller-scale Season 10 bonus episodes. “But also our stunts and scares and all of that fun stuff that I think is for all of us working on it part of the joy of working on this show. Season 11, we kind of go in hard with some new stories, and new characters, and I’m really excited to share it with the audience.”
Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD. The Walking Dead: The Final Season Part 1 premieres August 22 on AMC.