Frank Darabont filed a suit against AMC last year, claiming wrongful termination when he was fired as showrunner from the smash hit The Walking Dead back in 2011. As the lawsuit moves through the discovery process, AMC have responded, and, not shockingly, they are not pleased.
Frank Darabont Sues AMC Over The Walking Dead 01:50 AMC are alleging that Darabont sent a letter requesting "documents unrelated to the case." The network has countered with its own letter (which can be found in full here via Deadline), filed with Judge Eileen Bransten of the Supreme Court of New York.
“Doubling down on their ill-conceived theory of the case," AMC's attorney Marc Kasowitz wrote, "Plaintiffs now seek to use discovery to conduct a fishing expedition through the files of Defendants, a television network, two television studios, and a parent company, to obtain access to highly sensitive proprietary and confidential information that bears no relevance to Plaintiffs’ claims, including highly confidential and proprietary information relating to television shows other than the one at issue, ‘The Walking Dead.'”
In the December 17 suit, Darabont claimed that AMC bypassed the normal network practice of buying shows from outside production companies by producing The Walking Dead themselves and essentially "selling" the show to themselves in the process, thereby leading to “the improper and abusive practice of self-dealing” and denying Darabont the proceeds he is allegedly due.
Frank Darabont Talks The Walking Dead 01:20 AMC's letter reprimands the showrunner's claims by stating that allegations of "self-dealing" contradict the "plain language" of the initial agreement. "Contracts are not screenplays," Kasowitz writes. "The law does not permit them to be unilaterally rewritten simply because one party dislikes the ending. Yet, that is precisely what Plaintiffs seek in this action.”
The letter from Kasowitz also focuses on Darabont's claim that he is also owed money from Talking Dead, The Walking Dead aftershow that AMC airs. “Plaintiffs provide no support — not even a passing reference to the Agreements — for their conclusion that ‘they are contractually entitled to fair compensation from and/or credit on ‘Talking Dead.'”
Took that from an IGN article, here .
So what are your thoughts on this? Seems Darabont is going to lose.
In my opinion, Darabont doesn't deserve anything. He was fired. You can be fired for whatever. A reboot would be stupid. I'm sure the actors wouldn't want that, Kirkman wouldn't want that, and they'd have to fire Riggs. If he gets anything, give him some money. That's it.