Sullivan & Triggs Clients Settle The Walking Dead Profit Participation Litigation With AMC for $120 Million

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — On September 17, 2026, Plaintiffs filed a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice in Kirkman et al. v. AMC Film Holdings LLC et al. (C.D. Cal. No. 2:22-cv-09101-FLA-AJR), following a settlement with AMC. The plaintiffs are writers, producers, and key members of the creative team behind The Walking Dead.

As described in AMC's Form 8-K, the settlement provides "total consideration of $120 million … consisting of (i) a cash payment of $85 million by September 18, 2026 and (ii) $35 million to be paid no later than January 31, 2027, which $35 million payment will be treated as an advance against Modified Adjusted Gross Receipts participation amounts that will accrue to the Plaintiffs under contractual arrangements relating to The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead." According to the filing, the plaintiffs "will continue to receive ordinary course Modified Adjusted Gross Receipts participation on a go-forward basis, offset by the advance." The settlement also includes mutual releases.

The plaintiffs' agreements with AMC entitled them to profit participation. The agreements also contained most-favored-nation (MFN) provisions. In November 2022, the plaintiffs sued alleging that AMC's 2021 settlement with former showrunner Frank Darabont and Creative Artists Agency triggered those MFN provisions. AMC disputed that the settlement had that effect.

In March 2024, Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha denied AMC's motion to dismiss. He found that the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged that the Darabont settlement was a more favorable computation of MAGR, and he rejected the argument that applying the MFN provisions to a settlement would be commercially unreasonable.

The settlement was reached seven weeks before the scheduled October 27 jury trial, and before AMC's motion for summary judgment was decided. Plaintiffs previously won $7.8 million in an arbitration with AMC.

The plaintiffs were represented by Sullivan & Triggs partners Courtney Elgart and Sheldon Eisenberg, who led the case, as well as Jean Ralph Fleurmont and Stephanie Command.

See More Coverage

• Variety — 'Walking Dead' Producers Get $120 Million After 9-Year Profits Battle
• Los Angeles Times — AMC to Pay $120 Million in Lawsuit Over 'Walking Dead' Profits
• Deadline — AMC Global Media Settles Lawsuit with Walking Dead Producers
• Variety — Walking Dead AMC Lawsuit Ruling (2024)
• Deadline — Walking Dead Robert Kirkman Lawsuit Not Dismissed (2024)
• SEC.gov — AMC Networks Form 8-K

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