EXCLUSIVE : The widow of Michael Crichton – creator of ER, Jurassic Park, Westworld, Twister, The Andromeda Strain and many other hits that blended grounded science with propulsive pop culture narratives – filed a potentially explosive lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court this morning.
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Led by Crichton’s widow Sherri Crichton on behalf of John Michael Crichton Trust’s Roadrunner JMTC, the suit ( read it here ) names Warner Bros Television, John Wells, Noah Wyle, R. Scott Gemmill and others who are charged with breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and intentional interference with contractual relations. Repping Crichton is Hueston Hennigan LLP, which has demanded a jury trial. The lead attorney, Robert Klieger, repped Peter Jackson in the filmmaker’s suit against Warner Bros over profit participation, which was settled.
The lawsuit alleges that after walking away from a yearlong negotiation to make a new version of the billion-dollar hit series ER , WBTV, Wells, Wyle and Gemmill transplanted the concept to a hospital in urban Pittsburgh and called it The Pitt . The show got a straight-to-series 15-episode order and will air on the Warner Bros Discovery streamer Max.
The suit charges that it was audacious and illegal for WBTV, Wells, Wyle and Gemmill to engage in a protracted negotiation with the estate on an ER sequel, only to set up a show shortly after talks broke down, with similar concept and the same creative participants. There were three differences, basically: the location of the medical drama changed to Pittsburgh, Wyle’s character was no longer Dr. Carter, and the Crichton estate was excised from the mix.
Deadline obtained a copy of The Pitt pilot script, and the similarities to ER are striking. The shows share the chaotic formula of overworked doctors in an underfunded urban hospital, whose personal lives are explored in between patient crises. The original ER was based on Crichton’s experiences as a medical intern in the emergency room of an urban hospital while he matriculated at Harvard Medical School.
Wyle, whose wide-eyed ER doctor Carter character was the avatar for Crichton when the latter stepped into the emergency room chaos, stars in The Pitt as Dr Michael Robinavich. He is a seasoned ER doctor who has seen it all.
The suit bares ill feelings toward Wells, describing his actions as “a personal betrayal of a 30-year friendship” with the late ER creator, and Warner Bros. Television, which largely eliminated Crichton’s name from the HBO series Westworld . That series gave “created by” credit to showrunners Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, though its title and grounding concept came from the same-titled 1973 film written and directed by Crichton, about an Old West adult-themed fantasy camp where a malfunctioning robot (Yul Brynner) begins gunning down guests. Crichton was posthumously denied the “created by” credit and his name appeared in a “based on” credit that appeared in the tail end of the credit crawl at the close of episodes. The series, which ran on HBO from 2016-2022, expanded Crichton’s concept into a widespread robot revolt, but its basis was clear.
When it launched in 1994 alongside Friends, ER became a runaway hit for NBC, running 15 years in the 10 PM Thursday slot, and making a fortune in syndication for a total gross of $3.2 billion, per the lawsuit. ER ’s conceptual mix of medical chaos with the troubled personal lives of overworked doctors has been borrowed by other series like Grey’s Anatomy . The plaintiffs believe there is a big difference here because of steps Crichton took to protect his interests when he was alive.
“Before he relented to have his 1974 movie script Emergency Ward retooled as ER, the story revived at the request of Steven Spielberg following Jurrassic Park, Crichton insisted on and got a “frozen rights” provision from the studio. According to the suit, Crichton did that to ensure future productions would measure up to his meticulous standards, and that Crichton and his heirs would be fairly compensated. He and Spielberg share those blocking rights, and Crichton’s rights transferred to his heirs when died.
Per the suit, the frozen rights provision “prohibits WBTV from proceeding with any sequels, remakes, spinoffs, or other derivative productions based on ER without Crichton’s express consent. That provision ensured that Crichton would receive appropriate credit, and that he and his heirs would receive compensation commensurate with the ultimate success of ER , in connection with any future productions. Or, more accurately, it would have ensured that, had WBTV cared to honor its promises to Crichton.
“Following Crichton’s passing in 2008, WBTV undertook a disturbing pattern of conduct calculated not to celebrate Crichton and the riches he has bestowed upon WBTV, both credit (or any credit, for that matter) and to further profit from Crichton’s creation without paying his heirs a single penny.”
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“ The Pitt is ER . It’s not like ER , it’s not kind of ER , it’s not sort of ER . It is ER complete with the same executive producer, writer, star, production companies, studio and network as the planned ER reboot,” per the suit.
That WBTV, Wells & Wyle tried to make an ER sequel series is not in dispute. Wyle said as much in a podcast, adding they could not come to a deal with the Crichton estate, which led them to pursue The Pitt . Along with Wells and Gemmill, Wyle was an ER fixture, part of the original cast along with Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, Eriq La Salle and Sherry Stringfield.
The ER sequel series conversations began in November, 2022, when his widow, Sherri Crichton, received a “courtesy call” from Wells, notifying her that a press release about the sequel series would be issued shortly. Ensuing talks with WBTV quickly snagged. The estate was told an ask for a “created by” credit for the late Crichton – he died in 2008 before the original ER finished its run – would not happen. The studio, per the lawsuit, then toughened its stance.
“When Plaintiff’s representatives balked, WBTV attempted to back away from its earlier, and unequivocal, acknowledgement of Plaintiff’s frozen rights, stating that “notwithstanding any casual references by the studio to the contrary or prior courtesies extended,’ WBTV was not ‘reaffirming’ those frozen rights. WBTV even went so far as to suggest that ER owed its success to ‘Mr. Wells own personal efforts,’ glossing over not only Crichton’s creative vision but also the fact it was Crichton who rescued Wells’ career in the aftermath of his plagiarism scandal [elsewhere in the lawsuit claims Wells had been sued and settled with Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets’ David Simon & Barry Levinson over passages in his short lived CBS series Angel Street ]. This,” the suit claims, “was a dramatic escalation of the indignities to Crichton and his legacy that WBTV had earlier displayed in connection with Westworld …”
Per the suit, both Wyle and Wells emailed Sherri Crichton to lambaste WBTV. Wells wrote in a February 11, 2023 email: “I didn’t know anything about Michael’s name being virtually erased from Westworld . And I think it was despicable. Not only would I have never done anything like that to another writer, it would have never occurred to me to do that to any other writer – much less one of Michael’s stature. It’s stupid, thoughtless and counterproductive – Michael’s name on any show is a plus. He has millions of fans who would have tuned in to a television adaptation of Michael Crichton’s work. Stupid, disrespectful and embarrassing.” Per the suit, Wells then boasted that ‘frankly, I made that money for [Crichton], and “Wells falsely assured Sherri that he had come to her at the very inception of discussions of a possible ER reboot and implored her to take WBTV’s deal. ‘We’d put Michael’s director’s chair back by the monitors…and [his son] could sit in it and watch us shoot…Show him what his father created. How he impacted so many lives. I loved Michael, Sherri, he was my friend. We shared many, many wonderful times., I miss him. The way this all went down has left me deeply saddened.”
Sherri Crichton’s response: “As you have rightfully acknowledged, the Crichton family history with Warner Brothers since Michael’s passing has been terrible and it is unfortunate that this treatment continued throughout the ER negotiation. I have read all the correspondence from [Warner Brothers Discovery executive] Brett Paul and I have to say that I was shocked by the way they were treating Michael’s legacy, me and our son. Am I right to assume that neither you or anyone from your company knew of this treatment, for surely you would have stood up and called this behavior out.
“The negotiations were fraught with bullying and veiled threats. This is the same type of behavior that allowed Warner Brothers to strip Michael of his ‘Created By’ credit on Westworld (a film he created, wrote, and directed) and to minimize and eliminate his contributions to a host of other successful projects. This is wrong. Michael would be appalled. And if the shoe were on the other foot John I feel confident you would be too.
“I want to be clear that I was excited about your vision for the new ER and I also want you to know that we tried very hard to make a deal with WB. You are in an extraordinarily powerful position at Warner Brothers and I would ask you to examine how Brett Paul spoke about me to my representatives, and to ask yourself if you are okay with that treatment. As a practical business matter, the proposal Warner Brothers made was below market and thus unacceptable. It also involved troubling self-dealing. If Warner Brothers were to attempt to restart a negotiation, it would need to be a fair one and I also would like to see you be directly involved.”
Bracing back and forth talks continued, some in back-channel capacities according to the suit. They cratered when WBTV refused to guarantee “Created By” credit. Shortly after, came the press release about The Pitt .
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