Following the death of The Walking Dead stuntman John Bernecker on set in July 2017, Bernecker’s parents, Susan and Hagen Bernecker, are taking the show’s network AMC to court.
According to Variety, the Berneckers are accusing the network of failing to meet safety standards, leading to the death of their son who fell 22 feet from a balcony onto a concrete floor.
- Read more: ‘The Walking Dead’ season 10: release date, trailer, plot, cast and everything else we know
AMC responded by describing Bernecker’s death as an “unforseeable accident”, avoiding responsibility by claiming both that Bernecker was an independent contractor, and that production had been contracted out to Stalwart Films.
The trial will begin next Tuesday in Georgia, and is expected to last 7-8 days. The case will argue that the supervising stunt coordinator, Monty Simons, used an inadequate set-up at the time of the accident, despite the danger being pointed out during a previous stunt.
It has also been said that actor Austin Amelio may be implicated, having touched Bernecker just before the stunt against warnings not to.
Season 10 of The Walking Dead is still soldiering on, as the second half returns in February 2020. It was recently confirmed that the long-running show will reportedly end after Season 12.
As well as the sixth season of the show’s first spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead, fans can also expect a new series in 2020 titled The Walking Dead: A World Beyond.