Warner Bros. Television has responded to a lawsuit filed by Sherri Crichton alleging that the upcoming medical drama The Pitt is essentially the same series as the famous drama ER.
In a motion to dismiss the case filed on November 4, Warner Bros. Television said that The Pitt is “a completely different show from ER,” and that there was no breach of contract made in the development and creation of the show.
What did Warner Bros. Television say about the lawsuit?
“The Pitt is a completely different show from ER,” the redacted filing said (via Deadline). “Plaintiff cannot use Mr. Crichton’s ER contract as a speech-stifling weapon to prevent Defendants from ever making a show about emergency medicine.”
The statement stems from a lawsuit filed by Sherri Crichton, the widow of ER creator Michael Crichton. According to the lawsuit, The Pitt was created after negotiations for an ER reboot broke down, and that the series — which centers around a hospital set in downtown Pittsburgh — is infringing on the Crichton estate’s contractual right to approve or deny any work that might be derivative.
“The Pitt is not a “derivative work” of ER,” the motion to dismiss also says. “And it would be absurd to interpret the ER Agreement as prohibiting WBTV from ever again making a medical drama about emergency medicine (and Wyle, who was not even a party to the Agreement, from ever starring in one) without Mr. Crichton’s consent.”
In a response to the motion to dismiss, a representative for Crichton said that the move was “meritless” and just “a transparent attempt to dodge discovery and prevent the true facts from coming out,” and the filing’s timing on the anniversary of Michael Crichton’s death “emblematic of the studio’s callousness and utter disregard for Crichton’s legacy.”
“The defendants’ motion is a transparent attempt to dodge discovery and prevent the true facts from coming out. That the defendants filed their meritless motion on the anniversary of Michael Crichton’s death is emblematic of the studio’s callousness and utter disregard for Crichton’s legacy,” said Crichton’s spokesperson. “Warner Bros. negotiated with the estate for nearly a year, knowing it could not proceed with its ER reboot without the estate’s permission. When those discussions failed, Warner Bros. slapped a new name on the series, changed its location, and proceeded anyway in clear violation of Crichton’s contract. The defendants’ last-minute attempt to rebrand their ER reboot as The Pitt is not fooling anyone. The estate looks forward to presenting its case to a jury and is confident it will prevail.”
(Source: Deadline)