AMC’s upcoming original series, The Walking Dead, will begin filming in Atlanta, GA on June 2nd. So far, the network has ordered five episodes in addition to the pilot.

The series is an adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s novels in which an epidemic sweeps the globe and causes the dead to rise and eat the living. The story is not just filming in Atlanta, it is also set in Atlanta.

Locations scouts have chosen the Fairlie-Poplar District of the city to film a majority of the series since there is less traffic, yet it is still visually stimulating.

*spoiler alert*

One of the scenes they will be filming in the neighborhood includes a main character arriving in a post-apocalyptic Atlanta. The city seems to be void of life when he arrives but he soon finds himself surrounded by the living dead and is quickly engaged in a tense fight to save his own life.

The final scenes of the pilot episode and scenes for the second episode would be filmed during daylight hours over the course of two (2) weekends. The first weekend would be scheduled for June 11–13; the second weekend is scheduled for July 2–4.

In order to film these scenes, the production will need to close Walton, Forsyth and Poplar Streets. The closure on Walton Street would extend from Cone Street to the west to Broad Street to the east. The closure for Forsyth Street would extend from Marietta Street to the south to Luckie Street to the north. The closure of Poplar would extend from Fairlie Street to the west to Broad Street to the east. The closures would begin at 7PM on Friday, June 11th through 5AM Monday, June 14th and from 7PM on Friday, July 2nd through 5AM, Monday, July 5th.

In the meantime, the production company is still looking for extras to appear as zombies in the series.

But, all extras must attend ZOMBIE SCHOOL! All of the “zombies’ who have been chosen so far have been put through the paces and have already been attending “class” all week, they’ve also been told they can’t discuss anything about the production and may be fired for even the slightest hint about the production on Twitter, FB, etc.

If you think you can handle being a zombie, you can email your information to twdextras@gmail.com, you will need to have a “flexible schedule” from June to September.

If you spot zombies in Atlanta, let us know about it at olv@onlocationvacations.com!

Related Link:

•Robert Kirkman Interview [Ain’t It Cool]

•Laurie Holden & Steven Yeun Join Walking Dead [Crave Online]

•Epic Walking Dead Interview [Comic Book Movie]

Update: ComingSoon.net has the first photos of THE zombies! Check them out here! Makes you want to sign up zombie school, doesn’t it?