AMC has ordered six episodes of "The Walking Dead," an adaption of Robert Kirkman's comic book about survivors of a zombie apocalypse.

Frank Darabont ("The Mist," "The Green Mile") will serve as executive producer and is writing and directing the pilot, which is set to debut in October alongside AMC's annual "Fearfest" event, according to Variety. Joining Darabont in executive producing duties are Kirkman, Charles Eglee ("Dexter"), Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Motion Pictures and David Alpert of Circle of Confusion.

"The Walking Dead" follows Kentucky police officer Rick Grimes as he leads his family and a group of survivors in search of a safe home as zombies rapidly become the dominant species.

Jon Bernthal ("The Pacific," "The Ghost Writer") has been cast as Grimes' partner and friend Shane; casting for Grimes is still underway.

AMC gave a pilot greenlight in January, and was soon convinced to move forward after hearing Darabont's vision for a six-episode Season 1. Production is now set for a June launch in Atlanta.

Darabont has taken "the baseline road map of the underlying material and just blew it out to the next level," said Joel Stillerman, AMC's senior senior vice president of programming, production and digital content. "There's stuff in there that will make the people who love the comics very happy and some surprises in there as well.

"'The Walking Dead' is that rare piece of material that plays on many levels. Kirkman's series brilliantly captures the social commentary and ongoing human drama of the zombie apocalypse; and let's us kick a little zombie you-know-what from time to time."