The Walking Dead director and SFX guru Greg Nicotero and his crew showcased their incredible talents in the season 3 opener of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. The episode featured some incredible dormant walkers interconnected by overgrowth. Next, Nicotero will host an incredible new competition series for AMC, Guts & Glory, which has now moved its premiere date.
Guts & Glory is an unscripted horror-based competition series that was originally scheduled for a September release on Shudder and AMC+. According to Bloody Disgusting, the series will now, fittingly, premiere closer to Halloween on October 14. New episodes will be released weekly, on Tuesdays, with the season finale airing on November 4. The series features integrated sponsorship by Hyundai.
Nicotero, who announced the series at the 2025 SDCC panel promoting The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, serves as showrunner and executive produces with Brian Witten from Monster Agency Productions, Chris Wagner from White Label, and Andrew Molina from Salaryman. Jeffrey F. January serves as co-executive producer.
The new series will "flip the script" of what you know regarding competition series, as competitors are immersed in a world of horror where they must face unexpected challenges. Guts & Glory combines horror movie elements with survival game type competitions.
Nicotero shared his excitement regarding the release date being moved closer to Halloween on Instagram (below). In an interview for AMC's press release, Nicotero described the series as “if Survivor and The Blair Witch Project had a baby.”
Monster Agency Productions is Greg Nicotero and Brian Witten's banner which produced Shudder's acclaimed horror anthology, Creepshow series that continued the story from the original film. New projects for the duo include Black Vault which is based on a novella by Alma Katsu, and an espionage thriller, Bannerman, based on the renegade assassin series from John Maxim.
In 1988, Nicotero co-founded KNB EFX Group, a known powerhouse within the SFX industry specializing in prosthetics, animatronics, creature creation, and replica animals. The group is quickly approaching its 40th year with recent credits including AMC’s Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, the upcoming Anne Rice’s Talamasca, Amazon’s Fallout, and ongoing work across The Walking Dead Universe.
Nicotero will write and direct the pilot of the adaptation of Swan Song, the award-winning novel from Robert McCammon. The novel tied with Stephen King's Misery for the 1987 Bram Stoker award and tells of the aftermath of a nuclear war, which sets off an evolution of mankind.
Don't miss Guts & Glory beginning October 14 on Shudder and AMC+.