Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson stepping down after season 3

Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson has helped to guide the show ever since before the pilot. Unfortunately, we now have to look towards a future that does not include him as in this said role/

Today, The Hollywood Reporter made it clear that at the end of this season, we would see the departure of Erickson. He will remain on board the series as an executive producer, and to go along with that, he’s also going to remain at AMC Studios under an overall deal. In a statement announcing the news, AMC / SundanceTV president of original programming Joel Stillerman had the following to say:

“We’re beyond grateful for Dave’s amazing work on the first three seasons of Fear the Walking Dead … With Dave as showrunner, the series fulfilled its creative promise to expand the Walking Dead universe in a way that was totally unique from the original series, and has gone on to become the No. 2 drama series in ad-supported cable, behind only The Walking Dead. We are also incredibly excited that Dave has chosen to stay in the AMC family to pursue his next passion project. We look forward to many more successful collaborations.”

Meanwhile, Erickson went on to add the following message of his own:

“I have truly enjoyed working with the writers and directors, cast and crew on Fear and am so proud of what we have accomplished over our first two seasons … I look forward to completing work on season three, sharing it with the fans and developing new projects with my partners at AMC.”

This isn’t the first time that the Fear the Walking Dead franchise has experienced some sort of showrunner swap, given that this has transpired twice with the flagship show already. We’ve seen this with both Frank Darabont and Glen Mazzara departing The Walking Dead proper earlier on in the series’ run; eventually, Scott M. Gimple took over and he’s been the showrunner ever since.

In announcing this move now, the good news is that Fear the Walking Dead will have plenty of time to find itself a new showrunner for a fourth season. You know that one’s coming — even though this show may not have the audience of the original, it still has worthy ratings.

If you missed it, head over here in the event you want to see some of the latest Fear the Walking Dead casting news. (Photo: AMC.)