The estate of “ER” creator Michael Crichton is suing Warner Bros.

LOS ANGELES – The estate of Michael Crichton, who wrote the script for what would become the pilot episode of “ER,” has sued Warner Bros. Television over a dispute over an upcoming medical drama that it says is a renamed version of an unauthorized reboot.

After Crichton's estate, led by his widow Sherri, failed to reach an agreement with the television studio on a remake of the famous media series, the lawsuit now claims that Warner Bros. developed and produced a series based on the same basis without the studio's consent.

The upcoming series, titled “The Pitt,” is a medical drama set in Pittsburgh (as opposed to “ER,” which is set in Chicago) and stars Noah Wyle. Wyle is best known for his role as John Carter on “ER” in over 250 episodes.

“The Pitt” will also feature several former “ER” stars working behind the scenes, including John Wells as executive producer and R. Scott Gemmill as showrunner. Wyle, Wells and Gemmill are each named as defendants in the lawsuit.

“The Crichton estate's lawsuit is without merit because 'The Pitt' is a new and original show. Any claim to the contrary is false and Warner Bros. Television intends to vigorously defend itself against these baseless claims,” ​​the studio said in a statement.

Because of Crichton's success with projects like “Jurassic Park” and “Westworld” prior to developing “ER,” he secured a coveted “Frozen Rights” clause in his contract for the series. This clause prohibits Warner Bros. from producing sequels, remakes, spinoffs or other productions based on “ER” without Crichton's consent or the consent of his estate following 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 over the course of the partnership, then no creator is safe,” a spokesperson for Sherri 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 lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, is asking the judge to issue a temporary restraining order that would force the studio to stop production of the new series. 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 Sherri’s knowledge.

When Sherri Crichton was informed of the developing project in 2022, she and the estate began negotiations with the studio, promising that Crichton would be credited as “creator by,” backed by a $5 million guarantee to the estate if credit was not given. Ultimately, the agreement was revoked and negotiations canceled, which, according to the lawsuit, should have halted all development of the series.

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

“The Pitt is ER. It's not like ER, it's not kind of ER, it's not kind of ER. It's ER, complete with the same executive producer, writer, star, production companies, studio and network as the proposed ER reboot,” lawyers for Crichton's estate wrote in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also alleges that Warner Bros. previously attempted to “delete” Crichton from the derivative works by downgrading his credit in the 2016 series based on his film “Westworld” from “created by” to “based on,” which the suit says set in motion “a disturbing pattern.”