The Walking Dead’s latest fight is over, and it did not happen on screen. AMC has agreed to pay $120 million to settle the profit-participation lawsuit brought by comic creator Robert Kirkman and several producers connected to the franchise.
The agreement ends the remaining claims in a case filed in 2022. A trial had been scheduled to begin on October 27, but both sides reached a deal before a jury could hear it.
How will the $120 million be paid?
AMC disclosed two payments. The first is $85 million, due by September 18, 2026. Another $35 million is due by January 31, 2027.
The second payment will count as an advance against future modified adjusted gross receipts, the contract language used for the producers’ profit participation. In practical terms, AMC is paying $120 million now, but part of that amount is credited against money the participants could receive later.
The company expects to record an expense of about $85 million in the third quarter. It also lowered its 2026 free-cash-flow outlook from roughly $220 million to about $150 million.
What was the lawsuit about?
Kirkman filed the case with producers Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Glen Mazzara, Charles Eglee, and companies tied to their work. They argued that AMC had not correctly calculated or paid their contractual share of profits from The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead.
The dispute focused on how those shows were valued and how revenue was counted when AMC both produced the series and licensed them to its own network. The producers said the accounting reduced the pool used to calculate their payments. AMC denied wrongdoing before agreeing to settle.
Because the parties settled, the trial will not produce a verdict on those competing claims. The agreement resolves the litigation without asking a jury to decide whose reading of the contracts was right.
Why has AMC faced more than one Walking Dead profit case?
This was separate from the lawsuit filed by original series developer Frank Darabont and Creative Artists Agency. AMC settled that case for $200 million in 2021 after years of arguments over profit accounting and Darabont’s departure from the show.
The two cases involved different plaintiffs and legal claims, but both grew from the enormous value of The Walking Dead. The original series ran for 11 seasons, produced several spinoffs, and became one of AMC’s defining franchises. When a show grows that large, the formula used to divide its revenue can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
What happens to The Walking Dead now?
The settlement does not end the franchise. AMC is still developing and releasing spinoffs, while a new Netflix agreement keeps The Walking Dead universe in front of streaming audiences.
AMC is also expanding the world with projects such as Dead City: Genesis, which imagines a version of the story where the zombie apocalypse never began.
Kirkman and the other plaintiffs said they look forward to the franchise’s continued success. With the settlement signed, AMC can move ahead without an October trial hanging over one of its biggest properties.
