The Walking DeadThis weekend’s series finale is here, but the battles for the big bucks from the blockbuster Zombies Apocalypse are far from over.
The frayed remnants from a 2017 profits participation lawsuit, filed by Robert Kirkman and Gale Anne Hurd. Also, David Alpert. Charles Eglee. TWDGlenn Mazzara, showrunner of the show, continues to struggle through the courts. AMC on November 14th hit AMC with a new breach clause action for $200 Million.
“Even though AMC exploited Plaintiffs’ ideas and services to make billions from The Walking Dead franchise, AMC issued a MAGR definition that, in its original form, would not have paid out a single dollar in profit participation to Plaintiffs,”Los Angeles Superior Court filing focusing on modified gross receipts and other alleged sleights by AMC “Unsurprisingly, AMC’s MAGR definition has spurred a storm of disputes with the creative talent on The Walking Dead that ultimately resulted in litigation,”The document is 19 pages long and includes exhibits. (Read it here).
“Plaintiffs are entitled to the same treatment afforded to Darabont with respect to his MAGR interests, they are therefore entitled to have the same valuation applied to their MAGR interests, which, collectively, exceed Darabont’s and CAA’s,”The original filing also mentions the 2021 settlement. TWDAfter almost a decade in bitter litigation, Frank Darabont was named showrunner and CAA became the new CEO. “As a result, Plaintiffs are entitled to a payment well over $200 million from AMC, in an amount to be proved at trial.”
Looking towards the end of TWDThe beginning of a number of spin-offs which basically make the former home of Mad MenAnd Breaking BadEnter the TWD Network, AMC’s top outside lawyer pumped the brakes today.
“Robert Kirkman, David Alpert and the rest of these plaintiffs have had their biggest claims against AMC Networks thrown out of court twice, so now they are back with another lawsuit,”Orin Snyder, Gibson Dunn partner, spoke to Deadline in a statement. “And another lawsuit means another attempt to rewrite their agreements and extract even more than the millions they have already been paid, and will be paid in the future, for their profit participation in The Walking Dead. This is another crass money grab. As their previous attempts at it have failed, we believe this will be a failure.
Centering now on audit claims after being torn down to the bone back in April, Kirkman, Hurd and the others’ initial suit is set to go to trial in February 2023. His broad-ranging action was filed in 2013 for the first time. Shawshank Redemption Director Darabont, CAA and almost all of their rights were purchased “for a cash payment of $200 million (the “Settlement Payment”) to the plaintiffsAnd future revenue sharing related to certain future streaming exhibition ofThe Walking DeadandFear The Walking Dead,” the agreement document of July 16, 2021 stated.
“Plaintiffs were forced to file this lawsuit as a result of AMC’s two faced treatment of their right to participate in the historic success of The Walking Dead,”Sheldon Eisenberg, attorney, to Deadline today on behalf of Kirkman and Hurd “On the one hand AMC tells them they are entitled to nothing based on erroneous pre-trial rulings which are subject to appeal, while AMC paid $200 million to Frank Darabont and CAA to avoid a New York jury’s review of the exact same contingent compensation definition,” the Sullivan & Triggs lawyer stated. “Instead of giving Plaintiffs the benefit of the Darabont settlement as required by the express terms of their contracts, AMC’s creative activity these days seems limited to figuring out new ways to mistreat the talent that is responsible for its now past success.”
TWDThe series’ 11 seasons and 177 episode run will end on November 20, 2019. The comic was actually ended by Kirkman in 2019 but the lucrative franchise will continue with more. Fear the Walking DeadPlus, the Norman Reedus staring Daryl Spin-off and Jeffrey Dean Morgan NYC-based Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan The Walking Dead: Dead City spin-off. With other as yet unannounced shows in the pipeline, there’s also a yet untitled Rick Grimes and Michonne mini-seres coming too starring Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira reviving their roles from the mothershow.
It’s not over.