Variety shares that AMC Global Media has resolved a lawsuit from The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman, and other producers of the TV show like Glen Mazzara, David Alpert, Charles Eglee, and Gale Anne Hurd, over profits from the series. AMC said it will pay $120 million to settle the lawsuit, which was set to go to trial this October, including $85 million this month, and the remaining $35 million by January 31, 2027.
Kirkman et al. originally filed suit over AMC allegedly cheating them out of profits from the original TV show and its first spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead, in 2017. While a judge had ruled this was not the case in 2022, the $200 million settlement of a similar lawsuit from Frank Darabont, the first season’s showrunner, spurred their lawyers to sue AMC again.
These aren’t the only lawsuits that have ensued over The Walking Dead‘s success, and one is still ongoing, as Fear the Walking Dead co-creator Dave Erickson filed his own lawsuit over alleged lost profits last year. AMC estimates the settlement with Kirkman and co. has already reduced this year’s predicted cash flow from $220 million, to $150 million.
In further Walking Dead news this week, AMC announced Jimmy Smits has joined the cast of the fourth and final season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. The West Wing and Star Wars veteran, 71, will play Captain Alejandro Perkins, a former navy officer and doctor “who [has] found a unique way to thrive during the apocalypse.” The final season, following Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) in Spain, will premiere next year.
In the meantime, the third season finale of Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)’s spin-off, The Walking Dead: Dead City, will premiere on Sunday, September 13.
