Yesterday, the hopeful dead lined the streets at Universal Studios Hollywood to audition for the all-new, walkthrough attraction based on the walking dead. The Walking Dead attraction will be a real-life interpretation of AMC’s award-winning television series. Universal Studios Hollywood cast a wide net in search of walkers and human survivors for its upcoming new permanent attraction based on AMC’s The Walking Dead opening this summer. A relatively large cast of 100 male and female actors will be chosen to populate the new attraction from the 1,100 estimated people that arrived to audition.
The new attraction is, of course, based on AMC’s runaway hit, The Walking Dead. An annual maze at Halloween Horror Nights on both coasts, the series will have a new, permanent, state-of-the-art home that intends to push the boundaries of realism and scares. To elevate its authenticity, Universal Studios Hollywood has partnered with The Walking Dead’s creative team, including visionary executive producer and director, Greg Nicotero and his special effects company, KNB Efx.
Heading up the auditions were a number of park executives, Park Entertainment Directors, and Universal Studios Creative Director, John Murdy. Murdy greeted the members of the press in his typically approachable fashion, to chat about the development of the attraction. Recounting the story of how series Executive Producer, Greg Nicotero, became involved, Murdy explained, “When he heard that we were doing a year round attraction he left me a message on my phone saying ‘I really, really, really want to be a part of this project.” Universal has always had a knack for attracting those directly involved with the franchises they bring to life, but Nicotero was especially keen to keep the detail and authenticity at the highest level. His team will be responsible for masterfully creating the show’s realistic decaying walkers as they do on the actual show.
Murdy also explained a bit more about the attraction. “We actually had about 12 different treatments for the walkthrough. We wanted to capture all of the right moments, to make guests feel as if they are actually running for their lives from the walkers in search of a safe haven.” Murdy said. The attraction will begin with a radio message from a dubious source, urging visitors to make the journey and come to a new safe place. As we know, you can’t trust anyone in the world of The Walking Dead. And visitors venture out into the dangerous world of flesh eaters they will feel none too safe, wondering if they are headed to safety or certain doom.
To keep the experience as fresh and current as possible Murdy even held off on a few areas of the maze. “We got to a point where we realized that we didn’t know where the next season was headed.” said Murdy, “We waited until we saw what was coming up so that we could include the latest scenes from the show.”
As explained at Wondercon, the attraction will truly push the art of the live walkthrough with a mixture of live actors and newly developed animatronics. “During Halloween,”Murdy said, “Everything is puppetry basically, when it comes to the figures that move. Now though we have had the chance to create some amazing animatronic effects.” Further noting the difference between building a temporary experience during Halloween and constructing a permanent environment he explained, “Yes, it’s funny. We are creating something so convincing and immersive, we keep walking through the sets, tapping things saying,’Is this steel our wood? Yep, steel.” So apparently, even at close range, these sets are convincing.
How did the auditions go? Let’s just say, we are in for the fright of our lives. As prospective monsters entered they were put into groups and given a number. Then, they were escorted into a large, space and introduced to the casting directors. Once settled in, the actors were asked to find their inner Walker. The Walking Dead soundtrack was played and they were let loose to explore the space. It was here that the casting directors were looking for original movements, fresh body language, and a menacing gate.
Next, a chair was placed in the center of the room and the actors were told to pretend the chair was a guest. One by one the actors were asked to perform their best scare. The wide range of approaches was fascinating as each seemed to have a different approach to the idea.
Who was cast? We don’t know. We can tell you that what we saw was hugely promising. The amount of talent on display only foreshadowed the terror that visitors will soon face when The Walking Dead opens this summer for guests at Universal Studios Hollywood.
