Michael Crichton’s estate is bringing a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Television. The lawsuit is brought against them as breach of contract and fair dealing, and interference with contractual relations.
Reportedly, John Wells, Noah Wyle, and R. Scott Gremmill, among others, were the individuals named by the suit.
The suit itself comes about due to allegations that WBTV conceptualized a television show set in a hospital after negotiations ran for a year to bring a new take on the tv show ER, which was created by Crichton, to air.
One of Crichton’s stipulations when ER was still getting off the ground was what’s called “frozen rights,” meaning that anything to come after the project, in this case, ER, would lead to Crichton’s heirs receiving proper compensation.
This would also result in any follow-up media needing a greenlight from Crichton to move forward in any way.
Deadline, who reported on the news of the suit, noted that it’s being brought against Warner Bros. by Crichton’s widow, Sherri Crichton. They also linked the complete PDF for the suit itself.
Deadline alleged as well that the show in question, The Pitt, has a pilot bearing immense similarities to ER, after they were able to get their hands on the script. The lawsuit itself even goes so far as to claim that it goes beyond similarities, claiming that “The Pitt is ER.”
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