AMC Labels Frank Darabont's Walking Dead Lawsuit As Baseless

Two months ago, Frank Darabont – The Walking Dead's original showrunner – and CAA, the organization that represents him, filed a lawsuit against AMC claiming that the network owed Darabont tens of millions of dollars in revenue from the show. AMC has issued its first response to the lawsuit, saying that Darabont's claims are baseless. "AMC Networks has filed its initial response to the Darabont lawsuit. We look forward to demonstrating through the legal process that this is a baseless lawsuit built on claims that have no merit," the network said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. Darabont and CAA claim that AMC has been a running a shell game with The Walking Dead, licensing the show to itself and running the show at a deficit in order to keep a larger percentage of the profits and continue to receive tax dollars from the state of Georgia. Darabont also claims that he was fired from The Walking Dead in July 2011 so that AMC wouldn't have to pay him the increased fees they agreed to in a prior arrangement, according to Deadline. The case could, potentially, open up a can of worms over how AMC deals with its big-name showrunners, like Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, that have helped turn the network into a staple of high-quality television.