Warner Bros. TV, ‘ER’ Alums Sued By Michael Crichton Estate Over New Medical Drama

Warner Bros. Tv’s ER revival look-alike has sparked a lawsuit from the property of Michael Crichton, holder of the rights to the medical drama created by the prolific author of technological thrillers who spawned varied Hollywood blockbusters. 

Crichton’s property, in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court docket, accused Warners and a trio ER alums of repackaging plans for a collection reboot as The Pitt after they couldn’t safe the rights resulting from a dispute over a credit score acknowledging the author because the creator of the present. It alleges a “pattern of conduct” by the studio designed to bypass Crichton’s rights to franchises he spawned, together with Westworld.

Earlier this 12 months, Max issued a 15-episode, straight-to-series order for The Pitt, which stars Noah Wyle and comes from ER duo John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill — all of whom are named within the grievance. It described the collection as a “a realistic examination of the challenges facing health care workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the front-line heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh.”

Gemmill, who govt produced greater than half of ER’s 330 episodes throughout its 15 seasons, served as showrunner on the collection, which hails from John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. TV. The now-scrapped ER reboot and The Pitt share the identical govt producers, star, author, manufacturing corporations, studio and community.

In line with the grievance, Sherri Crichton, the author’s widow, acquired a proposal letter from WBTV in 2022 for resumption of the collection. She says that the studio refused to barter on a “created by” credit score for Crichton and was instructed that it was “simply not going to materialize.”

Crichton had secured a so-called “frozen rights” provision, which bars any productions derived from ER with out his consent, the lawsuit alleges. The property enforced these rights, resulting in an settlement from Wells to incorporate a credit score that acknowledges Crichton because the creator of the collection. This was backed by a $5 million private assure from him and his manufacturing firm within the occasion the present didn’t transfer ahead.

However when WBTV stepped again into negotiations, it reneged on the settlement and pressed for a take care of much less favorable monetary phrases for the property, the lawsuit says. 

WBTV’s “work on an ER reboot should have ended,” the grievance states.

As an alternative, The Pitt creators cast forward with the venture, the lawsuit alleges. And in a maneuver meant to undermine Crichton’s rights, they moved the setting from an city hospital to Chicago to 1 in Pittsburgh, based on the grievance.

Crichton’s property brings a number of claims in opposition to Warners, which didn’t reply to a request for remark, stemming from the alleged breach of contract. It seeks a courtroom order blocking violations of the author’s rights to ER.

Moreover, the property takes problem with WBTV refusing to provide Crichton a “created by” credit score on HBO’s Westworld, which was born from the 1973 movie of the identical title that he created, wrote and directed. He was as a substitute given a “based on” credit score that seems within the present’s finish credit. On that film, Crichton, who additionally wrote The Andromeda Pressure and Jurassic Park, didn’t have the identical authorized protections that he later secured in reference to ER.

In a 2023 e-mail to Wyle, Sherri Crichton described her dealings with Warners as “appalling and disrespectful.” She stated, in one other message to Wells, that the studio “minimize[d] and eliminate[d]” her late husband’s “contributions to a host of other successful projects.”

Wyle, Wells and Gemmill started exploring an ER reboot that may choose up the place the collection left off in 2020. Early plans had it depicting the collapse of the city hospital well being care system resulting from COVID-19, drug abuse and continual homelessness, with Wyle reprising his position as a now-seasoned doctor. NBCUniversal expressed curiosity in 2022, resulting in WBTV making a proper supply on “sweetheart terms for HBO Max” with out Crichton’s property being knowledgeable of the deal, based on the grievance.

Throughout its 331-episode run, ER was nominated for 124 Emmys and received 23. After premiering in September 1994, it was rapidly moved to the coveted Thursday night time time slot, the place it remained for 15 years, that belonged to LA Regulation on the time.