Frank Darabont Sues Over 'Walking Dead' Profits

Photo of Darabont, courtesy IMDB
We all know that "The Walking Dead" is one of the most successful television shows today and its developer, Frank Darabont, wants his piece of the action. To this day, he has not received any money as a profit participant and he hopes this changes.

According to Deadline,"...Darabont and his agency CAA filed a lawsuit (click here to read) against AMC, accusing the network in 'self dealing' by setting an unrealistically low license fee for the zombie series it also produces and employing questionable accounting practices thus depriving profit participants of compensation."

Filed on Thursday, December 17,  the complaint also alleges that Darabont was wrongfully fired from the show and should still be credited as an executive producer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the suit "directly connects his ouster from the show to AMC's desire to save money." It claims that AMC "fired Darabont without cause shortly before Season 2 aired precisely in order to avoid its contractual obligation to pay him increased profits (which vested fully at the conclusion of Season 2) and to avoid its obligation to negotiate to hire him as showrunner for Season 3."

So what say you, AMC? They declined to comment on the litigation and the monetary damages (that may head into the tens of millions of dollars) will be determined by a jury trial.

Dale Kinsella, Darabont's lead lawyer told THR, “AMC’s conduct toward Frank to date has been nothing short of atrocious. Unfortunately, the fans of 'The Walking Dead' have suffered as well by being deprived of his creative talent."

What else is Darabont seeking from the lawsuit? He also wants a piece of "The Talking Dead" and the new scripted companion series AMC is developing. THR also reports that Darabont claims "AMC has hoarded for itself the fruits of a 30 percent production tax credit 'Walking Dead' receives for shooting in Georgia."

Deadline reported a "colorful" update on the case last night. Well, it was actually a tweet from "Sons of Anarchy" creator, Kurt Sutter. Sutter has also been vocal about the firing of Glen Mazzara, Frank Darabont‘s successor on "The Walking Dead." Sutter tweeted, “go frank. f*** those ghoulish, dead-eyed scumbags in their green-gobbed asses. i ain’t talking about the zombies.”

We'll keep you posted on any new developments.

-Larissa Mrykalo