The estate of Michael Crichton, who penned the script for the eventual “ER” pilot episode, has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Television in relation to an impending medical drama that it claims is merely an unapproved reboot under a different name.
Warner Bros. allegedly developed and produced a series based on the same premise without permission, according to the lawsuit, after Crichton’s estate, represented by his widow, Sherri, was unable to come to an arrangement with the television studio to produce a relaunch of the renowned medical procedural.
Instead of taking place in Chicago like “ER,” the upcoming series “The Pitt” will take place in Pittsburgh and star Noah Wyle in a medical drama role. Wyle is well recognized for his more than 250 episodes as John Carter on “ER.”
A number of “ER” alumni will also be working behind the scenes on “The Pitt,” including John Wells as executive producer and R. Scott Gemmill as showrunner. The lawsuit names Wyle, Wells, and Gemmill as defendants.
“The Crichton Estate’s case is without merit because ‘The Pitt’ is a brand-new, original program. Warner Bros. Television plans to forcefully defend against these baseless charges, and any indication to the contrary is untrue, the company stated in a statement.
Prior to the development of “ER,” Crichton’s work on successful projects like “Jurassic Park” and “Westworld” allowed him to obtain a highly sought-after “frozen rights” clause in his contract for the television series. This clause forbids Warner Bros. from developing any “ER” spinoffs, sequels, remakes, or other projects without the approval of Crichton or his estate following his 2008 death from cancer.
A representative for Sherri Crichton sent a statement to The Associated Press stating, “No creator is safe if Warner Bros. can do this to Michael Crichton, one of the most successful and prolific writers in the business who brought the studio billions of dollars throughout their collaboration.” “Although going to court is never the best option, contracts must be upheld, and Michael Crichton’s legacy must be preserved.”
The estate filed the case in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday. In addition to requesting compensatory and punitive damages, the estate is requesting that the judge provide an injunction that would compel the studio to halt production of the new series.
According to the lawsuit, Warner Bros. started working on an “ER” revival for HBO’s streaming service, Max, in 2020 without telling Sherri.
Sherri Crichton claims that during talks with the studio in 2022, after learning about the project in development, she was assured that Crichton would receive a “created by” credit, with the estate guaranteed $5 million should the credit not be granted. The lawsuit claims that when the term was eventually withdrawn and talks came to an end, the series’ development should have come to an end.
As development proceeded, “The Pitt” was revealed in March. There is no word on when it will be released.
“ER is the Pitt. It is not an emergency room (ER), nor is it a form of ER. The lawsuit filed on behalf of Crichton’s estate stated, “The executive producer, writer, star, production firms, studio, network, and other cast members are all the same as in the upcoming ER reboot.”
Additionally, according to the lawsuit, Warner Bros. attempted to “erase” Crichton from derivative works based on his work in the past by changing his credit from “created by” to “based on” in the 2016 television series based on his film “Westworld,” which they claim began “a disturbing pattern.”