AMC can't stop getting sued for telling its Walking Dead showrunners they made no money

Erickson’s argument will be familiar to anyone who’s looked into those other suits: He claims that he was promised 5 percent of the modified adjusted gross receipts from Fear, an amount that has apparently added up to a whopping zero dollars. Indeed, AMC claims that, by its accounting, the show was apparently $185 million in the red—with said accounting, and AMC’s ability to allegedly manipulate it by being both the show’s producer and its distributor, serving as the crux of Erickson’s unhappiness. Or, to put it in legal-ese: “When a vertically integrated conglomerate like AMC both produces a series and licenses it to its various affiliates, domestic and international, cable and streaming, concerns about improper self-dealing abound. Erickson brings this action to rectify AMC’s egregious misconduct and to obtain the tens of millions of dollars in profits he is rightfully owed.” (Among other things, Erickson is claiming that AMC’s calculations for what count as “modified adjusted gross receipts” didn’t line up with industry standards, and were “the worst possible definition for a hit show in the history of television.”)

The network, meanwhile, has already fired back with the same ire (and, indeed, some of the same language) it’s been using to fight back against Kirkman’s multiple suits—and, before that, Darabont’s, which it fought for roughly a decade before ultimately relenting. “The contracts here were negotiated by the most experienced and sophisticated legal talent in Hollywood,” AMC’s lawyer said in a statement. “And AMC has fully paid what is owed. This is simply another crass money grab.”

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