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Norman Reedus & Melissa McBride Sign ‘The Walking Dead’ Franchise Mega-Deals

Although two fan favorites exited last night on The Walking Dead, the series has made sure that Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus aren’t going anywhere any time soon. They are both set to appear in The Walking Dead franchise for the next three years. What does this mean for fans? It means we might see these characters branching off within the series through the films as well as appearing on the show we’ve all come to know and love. My hopes is that this will extend a visit from Carol on Fear The Walking Dead aid Morgan somehow. The opportunities within the franchise are truly endless after Scott M. Gimple’s announcement that the universe is expanding into various films for AMC as well.

David Madden, AMC programming president, revealed the following:

“The deals that we made for Norman and Melissa are franchise deals. Our deals with Norman and Melissa allow us the flexibility to either move them or use them in more than one place, depending on what seems creatively right to Scott and to his partners. We do look at this as a universe where we’re trying to expand into as many different places as the show fits. We think this is a franchise that could live across formats. So, we want to do it carefully; we want to be strategic; we want to try to do it right. But there is a multi-year plan that could include additional series, digital content and specials.”

The new contract negotiations has Reedus making $350,000 per episode on The Walking Dead, which amounts to a little over $5 million by the end of each season alone. However that’s not all! His contract also has him making anywhere between $50 million and $90 million dollars over the next three years as well. How that breaks down we are unsure of at this time, but something tells me Daryl fans around the world have something to rejoice about regardless. More Daryl Dixon is always a good thing.

Melissa McBride’s new deal gives her a significant pay increase. While we do not know the exact amount she will make per episode, we do know that the new deal has her making $20 million dollars over the next three years as well. Considering how far the character has come on the show and well McBride has pulled off the various nuances of Carol over the years, this is a well deserved pay increase. This also has me wondering if this means more screen time for these two characters as well.

As for others in the series, the only additional mega deal currently in discussion is for Diani Gurira. While no one wants to see Gurira exit the franchise, her contract is far more tricky to negotiate. After all, Gurira is also involved in the Blank Panther franchise as well, which inevitably lends her character further into the MCU films overall. Both characters are amazing female characters. I cannot imagine either franchise without Gurira.

Madden thankfully feels the same.

“We really want her to stay. She is an incredibly valuable character and I’m really hoping she stays. Obviously, the lesson of Andy is that the show can survive anybody’s departure if need be but that’s not our goal. The goal is to have Danai continue on whatever basis she can make work, given the other things that she has going on in her life.”

While we do not know the future of Gurira’s character, we can only hope that Gurira feels the same way! I would love more pre-apocalypse Michonne. For now we can look forward to what appears to the many Michonne scenes within the next three episodes of The Walking Dead until the upcoming mid-season finale. Something tells me we have a lot more story to view from Michone, Carol, Daryl, and the remaining cast members alongside the new characters we were briefly introduced last evening.

Let us know your thoughts about what we can only imagine as crossover possibilities, movies, and more screen time for these characters within The Walking Dead universe below.

Source: Comicbook.com