The widow of “ER” creator Michael Crichton is in a legal battle with Warner Bros. over Noah Wyle's new medical drama. The Pitt describes it as a “personal betrayal”

The widow of “ER” creator Michael Crichton has clashed with Hollywood studio Warner Bros. over an allegedly unauthorized reboot of the successful medical drama.

Sherri Crichton filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court in which she and her late husband's estate claim that Warner Bros. continued development and production of the upcoming Max series “The Pitt” despite failure to reach a final agreement on a reboot of “ER.”

ER ran from 1994 to 2009 and followed the lives of several doctors working at the fictional Cook County General Hospital in Chicago. It launched the careers of George Clooney and several other major actors, including John Leguizamo and Thandiwe Newton, who appeared in various phases of the show's 15 seasons.

Max's upcoming series, titled “The Pitt,” will be a medical drama set in Pittsburgh (as opposed to “ER,” which is set in Chicago) and will star 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 lawsuit directly accused Wells of “personal betrayal.” It continued: “'The Pitt' is 'HIM.' It's not like 'HIM.' It's not kind of 'HIM.' It's not kind of 'HIM.' It's 'HIM' with the exact same executive producer, writer, star, production companies, studio and network as the planned 'HIM' reboot.”

ER ran from 1994 to 2009 and followed the lives of several doctors who worked at the fictional Cook County General Hospital in Chicago (file image of the cast)

The estate is asking the judge to issue a temporary restraining order forcing the studio to stop production of the new series. In addition, the estate is seeking punitive and compensatory damages.

Because of his success with projects like “Jurassic Park” and “Westworld” before “ER” was developed, he secured a coveted “Frozen Rights” clause in his contract for the series.

The provision prohibits Warner Bros. from producing sequels, remakes, spin-offs or other productions based on “ER” without obtaining Crichton's consent or the consent of his estate after his death from cancer in 2008.

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.

Author Michael Crichton poses for a portrait at the Peninsula Hotel in New York on December 7, 2004.

George Clooney (pictured) played the lead role in the series between 1994 and 1999

John Leguizamo (pictured right) was on ER from 2005 to 2006

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

“If Warner Bros. can do this to Michael Crichton, one of the industry's most successful and prolific creatives who has earned the studio billions over the course of their collaboration, no creative 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 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.