It’s usually not a wise idea to cut someone out of something that they brought to your attention, as AMC has found out in the case with Frank Darabont and CAA. Imagine being told that you’ve won a $200 million dollar lawsuit. Apparently, the original amount was meant to be $300 million, but this type of settlement is bound to be seen as something extraordinary since it’s the kind of sum that might be commonplace to industry giants, but it’s something that many of us won’t ever touch in our lifetime. For Frank Darabont, who didn’t write the comic that inspired the show, but did adapt the comic to the live-action TV show, this is a huge victory since he was the showrunner for the first season but was fired in a controversial manner by the second season. Strange things happen when one attempts to go up against the network that’s attempting to run the show that you’re pushing. Of course, there are proper channels to use and ways to go about things that won’t cause as many problems. Sadly, AMC didn’t take that route.
This costly mistake will probably be a hit that AMC won’t soon forget, but at the very least it sounds as though things are at an end for this bit of drama. It’s a bit hard to imagine suing a company for this much, but the reason behind it is simple enough to figure out. Helping to bring a story like The Walking Dead to TV as a live-action show that managed to capture the attention of millions isn’t a small feat, nor was the decision of AMC to worry over their budget a smart move, since it resulted in a clash with Frank that ended up causing his termination. It does sound as though the reason behind his firing boiled down to his inability to keep up with the business, but later reports would make that sound like a smokescreen that was meant to hide away the fact that Frank and AMC weren’t seeing eye to eye on the matter of how to run the show.
One can just imagine how hot under the collar this made Frank and the price tag that’s been revealed makes it even more apparent that he was ready to take a serious bite out of AMC’s collective hide for the treatment he’d received. Given the success of TWD and the fact that it’s spawned a few spinoffs and a movie yet to come, worrying over their finances, in the beginning, sounds kind of silly. Granted, no one could have predicted that TWD would blow up as it has over the years, and while people can debate that it’s become more of a soap opera and less of a horror series, the truth is that for a while it was without a doubt one of the hottest shows on TV since, kind of like GoT, it was all that many people were talking about. Over the years the quality of the show has gone down, that’s hard to deny, but the idea of thinking that anyone can be cut out of their due share in a manner that’s less than savory, yeah, that’s not about to happen.
The hope is that things will move forward in an amicable fashion, and barring that, it’s a hope that things will simply move forward. There’s not much doubt that the final season of TWD will bring a sigh of relief to some folks, while others will start wondering what to expect next. While Fear The Walking Dead has been doing well, while World Beyond stumbled in a big way. It would appear that the idea is still to go the spinoff route, but how well it’s going to work is up for debate. There’s plenty of hope that the characters from the original show might be able to continue to entertain the fans in the years to come, but for now, the main show will be wrapping up after the next season, and with this issue being taken care of, it does feel as though The Walking Dead saga will continue, but in a manner that might lose a few fans and keep many around to see what will come.
One can’t help but think that TWD has been a rollercoaster ride that has had its fair share of glitches along the way, but it’s easy to think that things will even out each and every time. There are simply too many ways to alleviate the situation as they come, meaning that AMC has been able to pull its own hide out of whatever fire it’s fallen into time after time. While the payout this time was definitely enough to widen a few eyes, it’s very likely that the continued revenue from their many programs will be enough to bolster their continued push forward.
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