"The Walking Dead" honcho Frank Darabont is doing some walking himself — away from his position as showrunner on the series, an individual with knowledge of the move confirmed to TheWrap.
The AMC zombie drama had recently begun production on its second season.
It's uncertain why Darabont — whose other credits include screenwriter and director for 1994's "The Shawshank Redemption," and writer and producer of 1999's "The Green Mile" — vacated the showrunner role.
It's also unclear as to whether he will stay on as executive producer for the series, which he created.
Darabont's decision to step down as showrunner comes as a surprise, as he had just appeared at the Comic-Con panel for the series on Friday, with fellow executive producer Robert Kirkman and series stars Andrew Lincoln, John Bernthal and Sarah Wayne Callies.
It's also not yet clear who will replace Darabont as showrunner.
The series has been a reliable performer for AMC, with its season one finale scoring record ratings for the cable outlet — 6 million total viewers watched, and 4 million of them were in the adults 18-49 demographic.
News of Darabont's decision was first reported by Deadline.com.
