“Fear of the Walking Dead” creator Dave Erickson sued AMC Wednesday for a breach of contracts over profit payments on his show that wrapped in November 2023.
Erickson requested $10 million in monetary damages for the harm he has suffered and will continue to by not receiving his owed profit payments. He claimed that AMC owed him 5% of profits but has paid him nothing, according to a complaint reviewed by TheWrap.
The creator said that his latest profit statement showed the company posted a $185 million deficit, making it impossible for him to break even, as stated in the lawsuit filed in California state court Wednesday.
“This lawsuit, like Kirkman’s years ago, has no merit. We are confident it will fail, just like the last one,” AMC’s lawyer Orin Snyder of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher said in a statement to TheWrap. “The contracts here were negotiated by the most experienced and sophisticated legal talent in Hollywood, and AMC has fully paid what is owed. This is simply another crass money grab.”
Erickson added that AMC lied during negotiations, saying he would received the same backend deals as the series’ showrunner Robert Kirkman.
“Despite AMC’s assurances of equal treatment, at least $49 million in profit participation payments have already been paid to the other profit participants on the Series,” the suit read.
“Fear of the Walking Dead” was one of the first spinoff series of “The Walking Dead.” It ran for eight seasons and premiered to 10.1 million viewers when it aired in 2015. The three seasons with Erickson at the helm were the most-watched.
The creator also alleged that AMC did not provide his profit definition until 2022, six years after he signed a deal that required good-faith negotiation.
“Simply put, Erickson was being accounted to as if he had the worst possible definition for a hit show in the history of television,” the complaint read. A 2021 statement showed that $14 million had already been paid out to other executive producers, but Erickson was excluded.
Erickson, who brought claims for breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation and breach of the implied covenant of fair dealing, is represented by Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir.
