14 DAY TRIAL // Frank Darabont served as writer and director for the first series of the popular zombie apocalypse show “The Walking Dead.” Following his dismissal by the TV network, he has launched a lawsuit in which he wants part of the profit from the show.
After successfully completing the first season, Frank was already hard at work on producing the second season of the adaptation of the popular comic book series for the small screen. Just weeks after production on season two began, he was abruptly fired without a full explanation.
Now Frank and his talent agent Creative Artists Agency (CAA) are listed as plaintiffs in a suit against AMC for breach of contract and for never receiving their fair share of the earnings. In the court documents Darabont claims he was entitled to 12.5% of the profits.
AMC executives insist that “The Walking Dead” are currently running on a $49 million (£32.7 million) deficit, even though the fourth season's premiere on October 13 managed to draw in 16.1 million viewers. These numbers ensured that the show became the most watched drama series telecast in basic US cable history.
Darabont's lawyer is quoted as saying “AMC's conduct toward Frank to date has been nothing short of atrocious. Unfortunately, the fans of The Walking Dead have suffered as well by being deprived of his creative talent.”
The lawsuit comes after just last month Darabont made a verbal attack on the AMC bosses. In an interview in November, he pointed out that he refused to even watch the series anymore since his dismissal “There's a deep commitment and emotional investment that happens when you create something that is very near and dear to you, and when that is torn asunder by sociopaths who don't give a s[explicit]t about your feelings or the feelings of your cast and crew because they have their own reasons to [explicit] everybody, that doesn't feel good.”
Fans of the series have complained that the quality of the show has been decreasing steadily over the last seasons.