The other week, AMC paid original Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont and his representatives $200 million in settlement of a lawsuit where Darabont alleged that the network had failed to pay him a share of the profits from the hit show in accordance with their original agreement. It marked the end of a legal battle that had dragged on for years.
But if you thought that was the end of the legal drama surrounding The Walking Dead, you were wrong, because Darabont was far from the only person suing AMC over the zombie drama. Robert Kirkman, the creator of the original Walking Dead comic books, has his own suit alleging that AMC had stiffed them on money due, which he brought with Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Charles Eglee and Glen Mazzara.
About a year ago, Kirkman and company hit a road block when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel Buckley ruled that it was clear that AMC “shall” have the authority to define how modified adjusted gross receipts (MAGR) are collected from the exhibition of The Walking Dead, and that accordingly, the “plaintiffs’ fairness arguments are foreclosed by the express terms of the parties’ contracts.”
Robert’s Kirkman’s lawsuit against AMC can proceed, judge rules
In other words, Judge Buckley said Kirkman and friends couldn’t go after AMC with the theory they had been using — Kirkman was so frustrated he replaced his entire legal team. But now, The Hollywood Reporter has it that Judge Buckley has made a new ruling: just because the “fairness arguments” are out the window doesn’t mean Kirkman and the other plaintiffs can’t go after AMC on other grounds. In particular, they can argue that AMC breach an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, specifically crafting the MAGR agreements in a way that the plaintiffs wouldn’t get paid. They can also argue that AMC engaged in alleged tortious interference, “that AMC Network — which didn’t have direct contractual relations with the show’s producers — had knowledge of its sister company’s dealings and intentionally induced a breach for its own advantage.”
I won’t claim to fully understand what all of that legalese means, but the gist is that Kirkman and company get to keep suing AMC, although the network’s attorney Orin Snyder sounds confident that they won’t succeed. “ just an early ruling that a new claim can proceed to discovery,” he said. “It is not a ruling on the merits of that claim, on which the Judge said Plaintiffs have ‘a steep uphill battle.’ This new claim is Plaintiffs’ latest effort to re-write the contracts they signed years ago. It is just as meritless as the 7 out of 7 claims we beat at trial last year, and we are confident we will defeat this new claim as well.”
And all this is happening while AMC tries to turn The Walking Dead into a mega-franchise with multiple shows running at once, some of which Kirkman is involved in. Do you think it gets awkward at company holiday parties?
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