The Walking Dead Creator Robert Kirkman and EPs Sue AMC for $200 Million in Latest Legal Skirmish

As AMC preps to air the final episode of The Walking Dead later this week, the creator behind the comic series the show is based on has sued the network once again. After Robert Kirkman’s first lawsuit against the network stalled in courts, Kirkman and other producers from the show—Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Charles Eglee, and Glenn Mazzara—have sued AMC for an alleged breach of contract. The suit is seeking $200 million in damages for the group of producers.

“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,” the suit reads (via Deadline). “Unsurprisingly, AMC’s MAGR definition has spurred a storm of disputes with the creative talent on The Walking Dead that ultimately resulted in litigation.”

Filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the filing adds that the “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.”

That comment is referencing the settlement made between former Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont and AMC in 2021. An outside lawyer for AMC told the trade the lawsuit was “just another crass money grab.”

“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,” Gibson Dunn partner Orin Snyder told Deadline. “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 just another crass money grab. We are confident it will fail, as their previous attempts have failed.”

The Walking Dead proper will end November 20th as it airs its series finale. AMC is, however, actively expanding the universe the series has established, continuing to produce Fear the Walking Dead and two other spinoffs, one starring Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Moran, and another featuring Norman Reedus. Andrew Lincoln and Danai Guriria are also set to reprises their roles as Rick Grimes and Michonne in an upcoming mini-series, though little else has been revealed.