Coming to Netflix: Entire Walking Dead Universe

Netflix is betting half a billion dollars that viewers aren't done with zombies. The streamer is paying $500 million to AMC Global Media for five more years of rights to The Walking Dead and all six of its spinoffs, in a co-exclusive deal that Deadline reports will also put the shows on AMC+. The deal is effective starting next year, notes Variety. The package covers 371 episodes, available on Netflix in the US, plus new territories including the UK, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand. The renewal arrives as AMC reported second-quarter results that missed Wall Street forecasts but raised its full-year outlook, partly on the strength of the agreement.

The deal bundles the original series with Fear the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, The Walking Dead: Dead City, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, and Tales of The Walking Dead. It creates what AMC's CEO Kristin Dolan called a "global destination" for the franchise, making it "more accessible than ever to fans around the world." For Netflix, which has faced questions about declining viewership for some originals, the move leans on what executives still see as a powerful "Netflix effect" for older hits—something The Walking Dead, on the service since 2011, has already demonstrated.