Judge allows Crichton Estate to follow a lawsuit on ‘The Pitt’
A judge has allowed the estate of Michael Crichton his lawsuit on the Max show ‘The Pitt’, which, according to the estate, is an unauthorized reboot of ‘er’.
Crichton’s widow, Sherri, complained Warner Bros. In August, claiming that the show shows unmistakable similarities with “ER”, which Crichton created, and that the studio had taken her out of the deal in violation of his contract.
The defendants, who also include producer John Wells and actor Noah WYLE, have submitted a motion to throw the lawsuit away under the anti-slapp statute of California, which offers a mechanism to dismiss frivolous suits intended for the freedom of freedom expression to limit.
In a statement published on Monday, judge Wendy Chang denied the motion and discovered that the lawsuit of the estate has sufficient merit to continue.
“The court finds that the evidence that is submitted by the claimants meets the minimum merit -standard to show at least a good facie case that ‘the Pitt’ is derived from ‘er’, the judge wrote.
A spokeswoman for Sherri Crichton greeted the decision and called it “an important victory for Michael Crichton and the entire creative community.”
‘The court has Warner Bros. Rejected “try to prevent responsibility for violating her contract with Michael Crichton, and found that the claim of the Crichton Estate has and should continue,” said the spokesperson. “Sherri Crichton was very happy that the original team behind ‘there’ wanted to do a reboot and was shocked then Warner Bros. Abrupt negotiations broke out and ‘the Pitt’ announced – a copy of the ‘er’ reboot thrown at her. The Crichton estate is looking forward to presenting his case to a jury and is convinced that it will prevail. “
Warner Bros. Has argued that “The Pitt” is a very different show, and that Crichton’s contract does not allow its heirs to prevent it from making a TV program in a hospital. Wells, the executive producer of “The Pitt” and a showrunner on “Er”, argued that the supposed similarities between the shows are common for all medical dramas.
” The Pitt ‘was not based on’ er ‘, Wells wrote. “In fact, our goal was at (John Wells Productions), while working on the project produced a whole new medical drama – that viewers would differ from any other medical drama that has been on television to date. Our intention with ‘The Pitt’ is to investigate the public discussion about and contribute to the challenges that medical care providers are confronted with in the post-known world. ”
“The Pitt” debuted on Max in January and has been renewed for a second season.
