‘Walking Dead’ Producers to Collect $120 Million After 9-Year Legal Battle Over Show Profits

Nine years after first suing AMC Networks over unpaid profits, five producers of “The Walking Dead” have scored a $120 million settlement.

The producers — Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Charles Eglee, and Glen Mazzara — reached a deal with the cable network on Friday, avoiding a federal trial that was set to begin in October.

AMC disclosed the settlement in a securities filing, saying it expects to pay $85 million this month and another $35 million by Jan. 31, 2027. The settlement reduces the company’s expected cash flow for the year from $220 million to $150 million.

The two sides issued a joint statement on the agreement, saying they “are pleased to announce the amicable resolution of all their remaining claims and litigation related to ‘The Walking Dead’ television franchise.”

“The parties look forward to sharing in the continued success of the franchise for many years to come,” they added.

The producers first sued in 2017, alleging that AMC had used a definition of “modified adjusted gross receipts” that was designed to shortchange them — even though the show and its spinoffs generated billions for the company. The complaint tracked similar allegations raised earlier by show creator Frank Darabont and CAA.

The producers’ suit appeared to sputter out in 2022, when a judge ruled that they were not cheated out of profits and that AMC had sued a standard definition. But in the meantime, AMC had settled with Darabont and CAA for $200 million.

That opened up a fresh line of attack for the producers’ lawyers, who filed a new lawsuit alleging that the Darabont settlement should trigger a payout under the producers’ “most favored nation” clause.

AMC has continued to fight it out in court, arguing that the producers’ suit was little more than a cash grab, and noting that they had already been paid $70 million pursuant to their agreement.

The producers scored a significant win in 2024, when a federal judge refused to throw out their complaint. The two sides have since been preparing for a trial in front of Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha in Los Angeles. That trial has been repeatedly delayed, but was due to begin on Oct. 27.

A showrunner on the spinoff series “Fear the Walking Dead,” Dave Erickson, filed a similar lawsuit last year. AMC has sought to force that claim into arbitration, and the case remains pending.