LEWISTON — For “Walking Dead” fans, it’s not hard to imagine the scene.
Producers of “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” has asked the Sun Journal for permission to use its March 12, 2010, edition in the new series.
In the latter part of 2012, zombie apocalypse survivor Daryl Dixon is rummaging through an abandoned car somewhere in Maine when he uncovers a pair of faded and yellowed newspaper pages.
Giving a cursory glance at those pages, the grimy and embattled Dixon sees that on March 12 of 2010, the Lewiston Sun Journal had reported that Oxford Aviation was cutting jobs. On April 19, Dixon would note, the newspaper reported that a man from Wilton had been killed in a car crash and that a fresh, new market was being opened in the lobster industry.
Dixon presumably gives these matters very little thought — it is, after all, the zombie apocalypse and there are shambling, flesh-eating ghouls that need to be dealt with.
We have no idea that the scene will actually play out this way, but we DO know this: the producers of a “Walking Dead” spinoff have requested two specific front pages from the Sun Journal to be used in a series that focuses on Dixon, played by the wildly popular actor Norman Reedus.
The show is being filmed largely in France, with French service provider LEFT producing the series with AMC Studios. A spokesperson for the group did not elaborate on what kind of scene the Sun Journal pages will be used in, although she did acknowledge that the scene takes place in 2012 and that the set will involve an abandoned car in Maine.
“The Walking Dead” is one of the most popular and successful shows in television history.
Producers of “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” has asked the Sun Journal for permission to use its April 19, 2010, edition in the new series.
At the Sun Journal, news that a couple of its pages might be used in one of the spinoff series caused a ripple of excitement Wednesday among the staff.
“I’m not much of a zombie buff,” Judith Meyer, the newspaper’s executive editor, said, “but I appreciate that ‘The Walking Dead’ has an enormous fan base and am glad to see the Sun Journal make even a small appearance in this spinoff. Creepy as it might be.”
Jennifer Gendron Carleton, a paginator at the newspaper, was just hearing the news Wednesday afternoon.
“I’ll be researching promos and previews of the new series tonight to see if I can catch glimpses,” she said, “and pointing it out on social media, pretty sure.”
Permission to use the pages was requested by Myriam Chukoury, legal clearance supervisor for Fairplay, a group that manages matters of intellectual property. Chukoury did not specify why the production team wanted those two pages — from March 12 and April 19, 2010 — specifically or if that particular scene will be set in Lewiston.
Furthermore, will Reedus come to the area to film the scene? Will any of the cast members? Should we expect to see the undead ambling down Lisbon Street?
For those answers, we’ll have to wait until the show premieres, but it shouldn’t be TOO much longer — production of “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” got underway in October 2022. The new show is expected to begin airing later this year.
Glimpses of the local newspaper in an AMC series will be cool and all, but this is not the first time that Lewiston has been featured in big and small screen productions.
In 2004, Stephen King’s TV series “Kingdom Hospital” was set here and featured a lot of Lewiston logos — even though the 15-hour series was actually filmed in Vancouver.
In 2019, the popular show “Criminal Minds” set an episode in Lewiston and included actors portraying Lewiston police officers, with authentic department uniforms and logos.
In 2007, the History Channel aired an episode of “Monster Quest” that focused on the so-called Turner Beast, a strange animal that had been found at the side of a road in Turner. Parts of that episode were filmed inside and outside the Sun Journal, which was then on Park Street.
Clearly there’s just something about Lewiston. And it’s mayor, Carl Sheline, thinks it’s particularly cool that the Sun Journal will be represented when the big show hits the airwaves. He was even waxing a bit creative about it.
“Under an apocalyptic sky, with zombies encircling, it’s interesting to note that Daryl Dixon lingers a moment to read his hometown newspaper,” Sheline offered. “This speaks volumes about the indispensable role of local news in society. Incidentally, I look forward to the Sun Journal covering the undead horde when the time comes.”
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