The estate of Michael Crichton, who wrote the screenplay for what became the pilot episode of ER, has sued Warner Bros. Television over a dispute about an upcoming medical drama it says is a rebranded version of an unauthorized reboot. After Crichton's estate, led by his widow, Sherri, couldn't reach an agreement with the television studio to produce a reboot of the famed medical procedural, the lawsuit alleges Warner Bros. proceeded to develop and produce a series based on the same premise without consent. The upcoming series, titled The Pitt, will be a medical drama set in Pittsburgh, as opposed to ER's Chicago setting, and will feature Noah Wyle in a starring role, per the AP. Wyle is best known for playing John Carter on ER in more than 250 episodes.
The Pitt is also set to include several ER alums behind the scenes, including John Wells as the executive producer and R. Scott Gemmill as the showrunner. Wyle, Wells, and Gemmill are each named as defendants in the suit. "The lawsuit filed by the Crichton Estate is baseless, as The Pitt is a new and original show. Any suggestion otherwise is false, and Warner Bros. Television intends to vigorously defend against these meritless claims," the studio said in a statement. Because of Crichton's success with projects, including Jurassic Park and Westworld, before ER was developed, he secured a coveted "frozen rights" provision in his contract for the series. The provision prohibits Warner Bros. from proceeding with any sequels, remakes, spinoffs, or other productions derived from ER without Crichton's consent, or his estate's consent after his death from cancer in 2008.
"If Warner Bros. can do this to Michael Crichton, one of the industry's most successful and prolific creators who made the studio billions over the course of their partnership, no creator is safe," a rep for Sherri Crichton said in a statement. "While litigation is never the preferred course of action, contracts must be enforced, and Michael Crichton's legacy must be protected." The estate, which filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, is asking the judge to issue an injunction that would force the studio to stop production on the new series. It's also seeking punitive and compensatory damages. "The Pitt is ER," lawyers representing Crichton's estate wrote in the lawsuit. "It's not like ER, it's not kind of ER, it's not sort of ER. It is ER, complete with the same executive producer, writer, star, production companies, studio, and network as the planned ER reboot." More here.
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