MUMBAI: Coinciding with an AMC U.S. pickup of two seasons of The Walking Dead companion series (title TBD), AMC Global has announced its acquisition of the international television rights to the series, and plans to air each episode within 24 hours of its US premiere.

Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero and David Alpert from The Walking Dead are executive producers of the new series, which, like the original, is being produced by AMC Studios. Dave Erickson (Marco Polo, Sons of Anarchy), who co-created and co-wrote the pilot with Kirkman, is an executive producer and showrunner. The series will star Cliff Curtis (Missing, Gang Related), Kim Dickens (Gone Girl, Sons of Anarchy), Frank Dillane (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Alycia Debnam Carey (Into the Storm).

The new series will be set in Los Angeles and focus on new characters and storylines. The show’s first season will consist of six, one-hour episodes and premiere on AMC in late summer. The show’s second season will air in 2016. 

“The AMC brand is quickly becoming synonymous with the most sought after and compelling content around the world,” said AMC and Sundance Channel global president Bruce Tuchman. “We’re pleased to bring the series to a global audience within 24 hours of the U.S. premiere and ensure that The Walking Dead’s worldwide community of fans can experience this new story together as it unfolds.”

 AMC Networks COO Ed Carroll added, “With Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson at the helm, along with an amazing group of executive producers and cast, this new series will give The Walking Dead fans what they’ve been asking for all along -- a look at another part of the zombie apocalypse and one which takes us back to the very beginning of the plague.”