By Travis Johnson
It’s sometimes hard to remember, but the blockbuster television hit, The Walking Dead, was noted director Frank Darabont’s (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) baby once upon a time. It was Darabont that shepherded the property from cult black and white comic book to world-conquering horror franchise, but he was unceremoniously and controversially fired in the middle of the second season, while the series continued to grow in popularity (and decrease in quality, but that’s an argument for another time).
Darabont and his agents, CAA, are seeking $280 million from AMC, which is a staggering number, but Darabont is alleging that AMC sold the rights to the show to their own cable affiliate at a discounted price, thus artificially lowering the profits. This is part, he says, of an overall plan to ensure that, for profit participants at least, the show never made a profit, despite its popularity.
As for AMC, they aver that “…plaintiffs’ damages claim has no basis in reality and we will continue to vigorously defend against this lawsuit.”
The case is not expected to be resolved until at least 2018, but so far is more engrossing than anything that has happened on the series in the past five years, which at least goes some way to demonstrate that Darabont’s participation is a good thing, even when he’s putting the bite on the producers.
