‘ER’ creator Michael Crichton’s estate sues Warner Bros over upcoming hospital drama ‘The Pit’

LOS ANGELES — The estate of Michael Crichton, who wrote the screenplay for the pilot episode of “ER,” has sued Warner Bros. Television over a dispute about the upcoming medical drama, saying it is a rebranded version of an unauthorized reboot.

Crichton’s estate, led by his widow Sherry, was unable to reach an agreement with the television studio to produce a reboot of the famous medical procedural, leading to a lawsuit alleging that Warner Bros. developed and produced a series based on the same premise without consent.

The upcoming series, titled “The Pit,” will be a medical drama set in Pittsburgh, a contrast to the Chicago setting of “ER,” and will star Noah Wyle. Wyle is best known for playing John Carter in more than 250 episodes on “ER.”

“The Pit” will also feature several “ER” alumni behind the scenes, including John Wells as executive producer and R. Scott Gemmill as show runner. Wyle, Wells and Gemmill are named defendants in the suit.

“The lawsuit filed by the Crichton estate is baseless, as ‘The Pit’ is a new and original show. Any suggestion otherwise is false, and Warner Bros. Television intends to vigorously defend itself against these baseless claims,” ​​the studio said in a statement.

Due to 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 prevents Warner Bros. from proceeding with any sequel, remake, spinoff or other production derived from “ER” without Crichton’s consent, or the consent of his estate 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 has earned the studio billions of dollars during their partnership, then no creator is safe,” a spokesperson for Sheri Crichton said in a statement to the Associated Press. “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 suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, has asked the judge to issue an injunction that would force the studio to stop production of the new series, and they are also seeking punitive and compensatory damages.

According to the lawsuit, Warner Bros. began developing a reboot of “ER” for HBO’s streaming service Max in 2020 without Sherry’s knowledge.

In 2022, when Sherri Crichton was informed of the developing project, she and the estate engaged in negotiations with the studio, through which she says she was promised Crichton would receive a “produced by” credit, backed by a $5 million guarantee to the estate in case credit was not given.

Eventually, this condition was rescinded and negotiations were halted, which the lawsuit states should have halted all development of the series.

Development continued and “The Pit” was announced in March. A release date has not yet been announced.

“Pitt is ER. It is not like ER, it is not like ER, it is not like ER. It is the full ER, complete with executive producers, writers, stars, production companies, studios and networks, just like the ER reboot,” lawyers representing Crichton’s estate wrote in the lawsuit.

The suit also alleges that Warner Bros. previously tried to “erase” Crichton from derivatives of his work, downgrading his credit on the 2016 series based on his film “Westworld” from “created by” to “based on,” which they say began “a disturbing pattern.”