In 2011, Frank Darabont promoted the second season of “The Walking Dead’ alongside the cast at Comic Con International. Just a few weeks later, Darabont was forced out of the series by AMC and replaced by Glen Mazzara as showrunner — although Mazzara would eventually leave the series as well.
Darabont’s return to television is set for next month, when “Mob City” premieres on TNT. But in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Darabont was asked if he still watches “The Walking Dead’ and he responded, “No more than I would go to the wedding of somebody who broke my heart and left me for the Pilates instructor. One does become very emotionally attached to the things that one does. I get tremendously invested. Why would I do that? Absolutely not, I won’t.”
Darabont cast former “Walking Dead” star Jon Bernthal as the lead of “Mob City.” When the same question was put to him, Bernthal stated, “Sure, I’ll always watch ‘The Walking Dead.’ I mean, as far as I’m concerned, the people that are on the ground that make that show, the people in Georgia who make that show, the cast and the crew and the producers that are there, they will always be family to me and I will always support them.”
For his part, Darabont seems content to move on with “Mob City.”
“[TNT chief] Michael Wright has a tremendous reputation for running a filmmaker-friendly ship and did a lot to set my mind at ease,” explained Darabont, “He made it known it would be a friendly and more supportive place. I’m certainly proud of what we accomplished, but not like I’m out to prove anything here. Whether doing a rewrote or directing a script, I just find the next thing I can be the most excited about and walk down that path and take that job. Why not jump back on? I’m certainly not going to compare it to the success of ‘The Walking Dead.’”
“Mob City” will premiere on TNT on December 4.
