AMC Settles Walking Dead Profit Lawsuit for $120 Million

AMC Global Media has settled a long-running profit participation lawsuit brought by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and producers Glen Mazzara, David Alpert, Charles Eglee and Gale Anne Hurd.

Under the settlement, AMC will pay $120 million to resolve claims tied to profit participation for the original Walking Dead series and its first spinoff, Fear the Walking Dead. AMC will pay $85 million this month, with the remaining $35 million due next year.

The $35 million payment will also serve as an advance against future profit participation rights.

The lawsuit, filed in 2022, centers on how AMC calculates and collects profits from the Walking Dead franchise and, as a result, how much its creative participants are owed.

The settlement marks the latest legal battle over AMC’s most successful franchise. The company has faced litigation over The Walking Dead for more than a decade, dating to a 2013 profits suit brought by Frank Darabont and his agency, CAA. Darabont developed, directed, and executive produced the first season of The Walking Dead in 2010.

That case was settled in 2021 for $200 million and helped pave the way for subsequent challenges from other Walking Dead producers.

The settlement comes as AMC continues to expand the franchise’s value across streaming and other platforms. In July, the company struck a $500 million streaming deal with Netflix covering The Walking Dead franchise.