The Walking Dead co-creator Frank Darabont and CAA are taking AMC to trial in a lawsuit over profits from the series. Darabont first filed the suit in 2013 after his untimely firing from the second season of the show. Since then, The Walking Dead‘s rising stock has caused the lawsuit to balloon. It is reportedly now worth upwards of $250 million.
On Monday, a judge denied summary judgment on both sides’ arguments, declaring that a jury will ultimately decide the case. The main issue revolves around AMC’s in-house valuation of the series. This is the number that AMC uses to calculate the profits Darabont receives and his main argument revolves around the idea that they are severely undervaluing the show, causing him to receive significantly less money than he feels entitled to. Darabont is asking for a reported $20-30 million per episode instead of the $2.4 million AMC is offering.
Monday’s result may look bad for AMC on paper but actually signals a small victory for the network. In past weeks, the judge had seemed to be partial to Darabont but this decision shows that AMC is gaining ground. AMC released a full statement regarding the decision. “We are very pleased with today’s decision,” says AMC attorney Orin Snyder. “It is a victory. The judge denied plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment outright on the fundamental issue in the case. We now look forward to trial where we are confident we will prevail. This lawsuit is nothing but a money grab by CAA and the greedy Hollywood lawyers who feed off talent and are the driving force behind this suit.”
Darabont’s camp also released a statement following the decision. “We are pleased that the Court denied AMC’s motion for summary judgment as to every key claim in Plaintiffs’ case,” said Dale Kinsella, attorney for Darabont. “We look forward to proceeding to trial on Plaintiffs’ claims, which now exceed a quarter billion dollars.”
The case has already dragged on for 5 years and with this new development, it will likely still be a couple years before we see the end of it.
