Almost a decade ago, AMC’s worst nightmare began. Back in 2017 the creators, producers, and writers of the acclaimed ‘The Walking Dead’ initiated a legal dispute against the television network with a clear objective: to claim their share of the profits stemming from the show’s triumph. It has been nine years of clashes in court, lawsuits back and forth, demands, and a brief pause to pay one of the creators while denying money to the others.
Now it seems that this lengthy legal saga is coming to an end. Variety reports that the network and the plaintiffs have reached a deal to pay a total of $120 million to the producers and Robert Kirkman, the original author of the graphic novel on which the entire universe is based. The compensation will be paid in two installments, with $85 million due immediately and the remaining $35 million to be distributed later, in 2027.
End of an era, the beginning of another
The announcement of the news arrived this Tuesday, with the trial definitively closed. “On one side, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Valhalla Entertainment, David Alpert, Circle of Confusion Productions LLC, New Circle of Confusion Productions, Charles Eglee, United Bongo Drum, Glen Mazzara and 44 Strong Productions; and on the other, AMC Global Media, are pleased to announce the amicable resolution of all their claims and pending litigation related to the television franchise ‘The Walking Dead’. The parties hope to share the franchise’s continued success for many more years to come.”
The key part of this statement lies in that last sentence, for the franchise is at a peak in terms of the number of productions. The fourth and final season of ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ is nearing its premiere, and after it comes the third installment of ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’. AMC’s plan is not to slow down anytime soon with the universe of the walking dead.
Road to the Future
The roadmap for the future of ‘The Walking Dead’ is hard to predict at the moment, but its series are set to generate even more money after a multimillion-dollar deal with Netflix. It will not only benefit the series side, but in other fields its influence will grow with new additions such as the reissued The Walking Dead video game collection from Telltale Games for the market after years of petitions for their return to sale.
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