After an on-set accident that caused the death of a veteran stuntman, "The Walking Dead" is back in running order. AMC has announced that the popular post-apocalyptic horror television series has resumed production on its eighth season.
On Monday, July 17, AMC confirmed to Variety that the "The Walking Dead" cast and crew will to continue with production as scheduled. The cable network and showrunner Scott Gimple have also sent their condolences and prayers to stuntman John Bernecker's family and friends.
Bernecker was shooting a scene with actor Austin Amelio when he fell 20 feet from a balcony. He fell head and neck-first onto the concrete floor, with an on-site medic promptly rendering aid.
After being airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center, the 33-year-old was placed on a ventilator, but his family decided to turn it off a day later. He reportedly died of blunt force trauma after losing his balance.
While the local coroner and sheriff's department have ruled it an accident, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) still launched their respective investigations into Bernecker's death.
In the meantime, a brand-new photo for "The Walking Dead" has been released, showing Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan) working together to bring Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his Saviors down. Along with it, Gimple said fans should brace themselves for a looming all-out war.
"We have basically set the stage for All Out War," the 46-year-old writer told Entertainment Weekly. "Negan's said it, everybody has seen they're in it. It will play out quickly and propulsively and attentively and will shift around the focus quite a bit between the different places and battlegrounds and characters and communities."
"The Walking Dead" season 8 is scheduled to premiere on Oct. 23.
