'Walking Dead' Creator to AMC I'll Cremate You In Court
The creator of "The Walking Dead" -- one of the most popular shows on TV -- wants his pound of flesh from AMC -- to the tune of TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
Frank Darabont was the mastermind who adapted the popular comic book into a series back in 2009. He claims in his suit he would get 12.5% of the profits, but he claims AMC unceremoniously fired him in 2011 and he hasn't received a penny.
Here's what he says is especially galling. The show is a juggernaut, sometimes even beating Sunday Night Football. Yet AMC tells him the show is operating at a deficit. Darabont says AMC has outright defrauded him by producing and distributing the show to itself and essentially cooking the books to screw him out of his share.
What really pisses him off ... Darabont says the creator of "Mad Men" -- which also airs on AMC -- gets a huge cut of a $3 million fee PER EPISODE, even though "Mad Men" gets less than 1/4 of the viewership of "The Walking Dead."
Darabont wants 10s of millions of dollars. And this is kinda funny. He also wants a cut of "The Talking Dead," the talk show that follows each episode.
'Zombie Vine' Kid I'm One Step Closer to Terrorizing the World on 'Walking Dead'
The New Jersey high school kid who turned his disability into a hilarious "Zombie Prank" Vine account says he's one giant step closer to his dream -- starring on "The Walking Dead" -- but he's waiting on one important phone call.
17-year-old Nick Santonastasso -- who was born with only one arm and no legs -- Skyped in to "TMZ Live," telling us there's a petition gaining a LOT of momentum online, begging "Walking Dead" producers to get Nick on the show.
The petition has more than 1,500 signatures ... nonetheless Nick says he hasn't gotten a phone call from showrunners to make it all official. But he's optimistic.
For all his followers, however, Nick's still taking a lot of heat from people who say he's reducing his disability to an object of mockery ... check the clip to hear his thoughts. Pretty profound.
See also
'Walking Dead' Star Sorry Seinfeld You'd Probably Die in Zombie Apocalypse
Jerry Seinfeld would probably not survive a zombie apocalypse ... neither would Jennifer Aniston or even Bill Cosby ... this according to "Walking Dead" star Norman Reedus.
The slayer of the undead was leaving LAX this week, when we asked the single most important question we may have ever asked any celebrity ... ever:
Which sitcom cast is best equipped to survive a zombie invasion ... Seinfeld, Friends or Cosby?
Reedus answered the question -- but he didn't pick one of our options. He put his money on a cast that's way more aggressive ... a cast that once got violent over Palestinian chicken.
Pretty, prettty, prettttty good choice.