Warner Bros. Tv, the studio behind hit NBC medical drama ER and the upcoming Max medical drama The Pitt, has hit again at a lawsuit filed this morning by Sherri Crichton, the widow of ER creator Michael Crichton, on behalf of John Michael Crichton Belief’s Roadrunner JMTC.
“The lawsuit filed by the Crichton Property is baseless, as The Pitt is a brand new and authentic present,” the studio stated in a press release. “Any suggestion in any other case is fake, and Warner Bros. Tv intends to vigorously defend in opposition to these meritless claims.”
The go well with alleges that, after strolling away from a year-long negotiation with the Crichton Property for a sequel to ER with former ER government producer John Wells, the studio went on to launch The Pitt with the identical inventive auspices, shifting the setting from Chicago to Pittsburgh.
Wells, in addition to Amblin TV had been the opposite three key items WBTV needed to safe along with the Crichton Property to make an ER followup attainable. Their offers had been by no means made because the negotiations with the property got here to an unsuccessful finish in April 2023.
Whereas these talks had been occurring, Wells had been in conversations with ER star Noah Wyle and showrunner R. Scott Gemmill in regards to the potential ER reboot. These are the identical auspices who’re concerned in The Pitt.
“The Pitt is ER. It’s not like ER, it’s not type of ER, it’s not type of ER. It’s ER full with the identical government producer, author, star, manufacturing corporations, studio and community because the deliberate ER reboot,” alleges the lawsuit, which names WBTV, John Wells, Wyle and Gemmill, amongst different, accusing them of Breach of Contract, Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Religion and Honest Dealing, and Intentional Interference With Contractual Relations. Amblin TV is conscious of The Pitt and isn’t believed to have claims over any alleged connections to ER.
There had been chatter about Wells and Wyle reteaming for a medical present, which gained momentum after the pandemic put healthcare again within the highlight. With the ER negotiations abruptly ending every week or so earlier than the WGA strike, there was no motion for months. Wells and Gemmill, with Wyle onboard, pitched The Pitt to the studio in late 2023 or early 2024.
Per the official logline, The Pitt, which has a 15-episode straight-to-series order, is a practical examination of the challenges going through healthcare employees in right now’s America as seen by means of the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh.
