AMC is doubling down on David Morrissey.
The Walking Dead villain has been tapped to star in the cable network's drama pilot Line of Sight, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Line of Sight centers onon a National Transportation Safety Board investigator who survives a mysterious plane crash. Brotherhood's Blake Masters will write and serve as executive producer.
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Morrissey will play Lewis Bernt, the investigator who survives a mysterious plane crash and begins an emotional journey to discover the cause of the accident.
Morrissey will film Line of Sight alongside the upcoming fourth season of The Walking Dead.
"We are huge fans of David Morrissey and are glad he'll be doing double duty for AMC viewers through his work on The Walking Dead and our pilot for Line of Sight, both of which are produced in Atlanta," AMC said in a statement.
Morrissey plays The Governor, the central villain on the zombie drama. In the Robert Kirkman comics on which the series is based, The Governor is ultimately killed during a bloody battle for the prison -- the central location of the series' third and upcoming fourth season.
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This would mark the second time that a casting could potentially predict the future for a character on the top-rated drama. Word leaked during season two of the The Walking Dead that star Jon Bernthal (Shane) had landed the lead role in TNT's Frank Darabont drama pilot. The character ultimately perished in the second season finale and TNT confirmed his casting the following day before picking up the drama, Mob City, to series.
Avid fans of Walking Dead thought the character would not make it out of season three alive. The British actor initially signed on for one season and after he survived the deadly season finale, is slated to return as a series regular in season four.
AMC picked up Line of Sight to pilot in April. Production on the Fox TV Studios/AMC Studios drama will begin this year, with Jonathan Demme directing the pilot. This marks the second Walking Dead actor to headline a pilot at AMC. Lennie James (Morgan) stars in AMC's freshman drama Low Winter Sun.
Morrissey is repped by Troika and Silver Lining Entertainment.
E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
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