Warner Bros. is seeking to throw out a lawsuit filed by the estate of Michael Crichton, which argued that the forthcoming Max series “The Pitt” is an unauthorized reboot of “ER.”

Crichton was a creator of “ER,” having written the original pilot script based on his own experiences as a medical student. His widow, Sherri, sued in August, accusing John Wells, Noah Wyle and others of going behind her back to create “The Pitt,” which she alleged is “ER” in all but its title.

The studio filed a motion Monday arguing that the two shows are distinct and the lawsuit is doomed to fail.

“‘The Pitt’ is a completely different show from ‘ER,'” the motion states. “Plaintiff cannot use Mr. Crichton’s ‘ER’ contract as a speech-stifling weapon to prevent Defendants from ever making a show about emergency medicine.”

Warner Bros.’ lawyers argue that Crichton’s estate does not...

Max’s forthcoming medical drama The Pitt “is a completely different show from ER,” Warner Bros. Television said in a recent legal filing that contradicts claims made by the estate of ER creator Michael Crichton.

In August, Sherri Crichton, widow of Michael Crichton, filed a lawsuit against Noah Wyle, John Wells, R. Scott Gemmill and Warner Bros. Television for walking away from long-drawn-out negotiations to make a new version of ER — a concept that later morphed into Max medical drama The Pitt and does not credit Crichton as a creator.

More from TVLineNoah Wyle Reveals That an <em>ER</em> Revival Was...

When Dan Brown's museum-mystery thriller "The Da Vinci Code" was published in 2003, it quickly became the new King of the Airport Novels, present in the hands of every beach vacationer and long-distance commuter in the country. Brown essentially blended the religious esoterica of Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum," but ran it through a pulpy Michael Crichton machine, creating a historical potboiler to end all historical potboilers. 

The story involved a "symbologist" named Robert Langdon who is alerted to secret clues at a murder scene at the Louvre, called there because of his field of expertise. Langdon was altered by Sophie Neveu, a police cryptographer who has a secret connection to the victim, as she feels there is a deeper mystery afoot. The pair sneak away from the crime scene, and begin to uncover secret messages planted around the museum, eventually leading them to a string of increasingly oblique secrets...

Warner Bros. Television, the studio behind hit NBC medical drama ER and the upcoming Max medical drama The Pitt, has officially responded to the breach of contract lawsuit filed in August by Sherri Crichton, the widow of ER creator Michael Crichton, on behalf of John Michael Crichton Trust’s Roadrunner Jmtc.

“The Pitt is a completely different show from ER,” the redacted filing says. “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 motion to dismiss (you can read it here) was filed Nov. 4 by attorneys for the TV studio as well as the ER alums working on The Pitt named in Crichton’s suit, exec producer John Wells, star/exec producer Noah Wyle and writer/exec producer R. Scott Gemmill. It pushes back on the estate’s claims that “The Pitt is ER” and...

Spooky season has passed, and across the realm all the ghosts and goblins are returning to their slumber. October had a lot of great fantasy and science fiction book releases, so many that there's no way you, I, or anyone else has read them all. But time waits for no one and neither do book publishers, who are launching a whole new volley of titles at our bookshelves this November. After all, it is still pumpkin spice season, which means that it's perfect for curling up with a good story!

As we do most every month here at Winter Is Coming, we've rounded up a bunch of the hottest fantasy and science fiction books hitting shelves this month. And there are a lot of books coming out in November. From cozy fantasies to epic sagas, from sci-fi horror to space opera, from debut novels to highly-anticipated sequels, there's a wide...

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Peacock is ready with an entertainment-packed November this year. The upcoming month will see the return of some hilarious comedy shows like Night Court, and also new original series like The Day of the Jackal. Just like every month, Peacock is ready to overload you with great content. So, we’re here to tell you about the 5 new movies and TV shows coming to Peacock in November 2024.

St. Denis Medical Season 1 (November 13)

St. Denis Medical is an upcoming mockumentary-style medical comedy series created by Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin. The NBC series follows the dedicated doctors and nurses working at St. Denis Medical Centre who do everything they can to take care of their parents while trying to maintain their own sanity under extreme pressure from every side. St. Denis Medical stars Wendi McLendon-Covey, David Alan Grier, Allison Tolman,...

After sucking in over $370 million at the worldwide box office, Universal Pictures’ Twisters has been set to stream exclusively on Peacock beginning November 15.

Marking the sequel to Jan de Bont’s classic 1996 disaster pic, Twister, Twisters teamed lauded Minari helmer Lee Isaac Chung with stars Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing) and Glen Powell (Hit Man).

The story follows Kate (Edgar-Jones), who ever since a devastating tornado encounter, has given up chasing storms across the Oklahoma prairie to safely study them on screens in New York City. Lured back to the field by her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) and a once-in-a-lifetime scientific opportunity, Kate crosses paths with Tyler (Powell), a charming daredevil and self-proclaimed tornado wrangler whose thirst for tornado-tracking adventures made him a social media sensation. As storm season intensifies with terrifying phenomena unlike anything seen before, Kate and Tyler realize they may need to work together if they...

Peacock has announced that Universal’s summer hit Twisters will debut on the streaming service on November 15, 2024. Twisters is rated PG-13 for intense action and peril, some language and injury images.

Peacock’s exclusive streaming debut comes on the heels of a successful theatrical run for the film. The movie grossed $370.9 million worldwide, with $267.7 million coming from North American theaters and $103.2 million from international markets.

Twisters brings back the blockbuster disaster epic with a whirlwind of heart-stopping action and exhilarating thrills. Ever since a devastating tornado encounter, Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) gave up chasing storms across the Oklahoma prairie to safely study them on screens in New York City.

Lured back to the field by her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) and a once-in-a-lifetime scientific opportunity, Kate crosses paths with Tyler (Glen Powell), a charming daredevil and self-proclaimed tornado wrangler whose thirst for tornado-tracking adventures made him a social media sensation.

As...

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, the Oscar- winning wife and husband filmmaking team behind Free Solo, are set to make a film about the ill-fated 1924 ascent of Mount Everest by British climbers George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, with the question still unresolved of whether they reached the summit.

The film has been inspired by a National Geographic expedition to the Himalayas led by Chin that last month discovered Irvine’s boot, sock and severed foot on a glacier beneath Everest. This follows on from the discovery of Mallory’s remains in 1999.

The chance discovery of Irvine’s boot is...

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, the Oscar- winning wife and husband filmmaking team behind Free Solo, are set to make a film about the ill-fated 1924 ascent of Mount Everest by British climbers George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, with the question still unresolved of whether they reached the summit.

The film has been inspired by a National Geographic expedition to the Himalayas led by Chin that last month discovered Irvine’s boot, sock and severed foot on a glacier beneath Everest. This follows on from the discovery of Mallory’s remains in 1999

The chance discovery of Irvine’s boot is...

Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, the Oscar- winning wife and husband filmmaking team behind Free Solo, are set to make a film about the ill-fated 1924 ascent of Mount Everest by British climbers George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, with the question still unresolved of whether they reached the summit.

The film has been inspired by a National Geographic expedition to the Himalayas led by Chin that last month discovered Irvine’s boot, sock and severed foot on a glacier beneath Everest. This follows on from the discovery of Mallory’s remains in 1999

The chance discovery of Irvine’s boot is expected...

“More effort than it’s worth” possibly represents the harshest 5 words that can be strung together in the English language. For a film, that statement guarantees an immediate death sentence. In the case of Antonio Banderas’ The 13th Warrior, it spelled the extinction of an entire genre: the Muslim hero archetype.

Antonio Banderas (as Ahmad ibn Fadlan) and Vladimir Kulich (as Beowulf) in The 13th Warrior [Credit: Touchstone Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures]

In the film’s critical and commercial failure, Antonia Banderas finds a sense of comfort and familiarity with his daughter Dakota Johnson whose 2024 film, Madame Web went through somewhat of a similar treatment. Both films represent a central character destined for a greater purpose who is uprooted from their established life and thrown into a mission against a foreign enemy.

The similarity between the two films is more than skin-deep. Both films also burned millions of dollars...

Jurassic World 4, officially titled Jurassic World: Rebirth, has major stars attached and a plot featuring air, land and sea dinosaurs.

The next feature film in the tentpole franchise will build upon the five already existing films, kicked off with Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic Jurassic Park starring Laura Dern, Sam Neil, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough.

Find everything we know about Jurassic World: Rebirthbelow.

When will the next Jurassic World film come out?

Jurassic World: Rebirth is slated to arrive in theaters on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.

Who is in the Jurassic World 4 cast?

Jonathan Bailey and Scarlett Johansson will lead the fourth film alongside Mahershala Ali. Johansson will play covert operations expert Zora Bennett who is tasked with a top-secret mission key to the film’s plot. Bailey will play Dr. Henry Loomis, a paleontologist. Ali will play Duncan Kincaid, Zora’s most trusted team leader.

Mahershala Ali is Duncan Kincaid in Jurassic World Rebirth,...

Jurassic Park (and later known as Jurassic World) is one of the most beloved film franchises in movie history.

The franchise was created by Michael Crichton, and is based on a failed attempt to launch a theme park made up of cloned dinosaurs. It all started in 1990 when Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment bought the rights to his novel Jurassic Park before it was published, leading to Steven Spielberg‘s 1993 original.

Michael‘s 1995 sequel novel, The Lost World, was followed by a 1997 film adaptation, also directed by Steven Spielberg. A film franchise was then born including Jurassic Park III.

In 2015, a second trilogy of films began with the fourth film in the series, Jurassic World, followed by Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022). Now, Jurassic World Rebirth, a new film set after the preceding trilogy, is set for release in 2025.

We’ve rounded up every Jurassic film in the franchise so far,...

The 90s was a great time for adaptations. Jurassic Park is the gold standard, of course, but there was so much more. That book’s author, Michael Crichton, also had Sphere and Congo get greenlit and released while we would see non-horror output like Forrest Gump and Shawshank Redemption, which account for the greatest film of all time… and Forrest Gump. On the horror side we would have Silence of the Lambs, the wonderful It TV miniseries, Exorcist III, and a fun little monster movie throwback called The Relic. At the time, I just thought it was a cool creature feature designed specifically for 12-year-olds like me but looking back all these years later I found out it was an adaptation of a book by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child in what would be the first of 22 separate stories for one of the chief protagonists. That’s all well and...

ER has reached the 30th anniversary of its pilot premiere on Sept. 19, 1994. The hospital procedural show won 23 Primetime Emmys over its 15-season run. Stars who came out of the series included Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Julianna Margulies and Maura Tierney.

Read on to see what these four and more have been up to since the end of ER.

Related: ‘ER’ At 30: Glimpse How Michael Crichton & John Wells Shaped Groundbreaking Medical Procedural...

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the premiere of ER, one of the most seminal and groundbreaking series in TV history. The drama ran on NBC for 15 seasons and 331 episodes from 1994-2009, and the show was nominated for 124 Emmys, winning 23 of them including for Outstanding Drama Series in 1996.

To commemorate the anniversary, Sherri Crichton, the widow of ER creator and executive producer Michael Crichton, has provided Deadline with exclusive photos of Crichton and his personal typewritten creative notes to John Wells on the first few episodes of the landmark series.

As you’ll read, these helped hammer the template that was followed by other dramas that mixed a medical procedural with the lives of overworked and fatigued emergency room doctors and young residents. Crichton was one of those, and the original ER was based on Crichton’s experiences as a medical intern in the emergency room of an urban...

After 30 years, Carol Hathaway and Doug Ross are still endgame.

Marking the milestone anniversary of ER‘s 1994 premiere on NBC, Julianna Margulies looked back on her and George Clooney‘s departure from the show and how the pair still keeps their characters’ bond alive off screen.

“It always had to be Carol and Doug, in the end,” the actress told the Television Academy. “George and I, to this day, still sign our personal emails to each other ‘Love, Carol’ or ‘Doug.'”

Margulies also recalled her character Carol’s sendoff in the 2000 episode ‘Such Sweet Sorrow’, which reunited her with Clooney’s Doug after his exit a season before. She revealed how they kept the reunion a secret from everyone, including their co-stars.

She recalled getting “very emotional” during her final table read after reading what she thought was her character’s ending, explaining that she “just cried” in the bathroom because she thought,...

There was a time where the best sci-fi shows on TV weren't on Apple TV+, but on HBO, and a big part of this was due to "Westworld." Based on the 1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton about a futuristic park filled with robots that eventually malfunction and start murdering the guests, the TV show would constantly throw out new sci-fi concepts, big-brain ideas, and wild plot twists that got fans talking — even if it did go off the rails every so often.

More than anything, "Westworld" was a gorgeous-looking series where the producers had clearly spared no expense (unlike the characters from that other famous Michael Crichton adaptation about a sci-fi theme park), with elaborate sets and exquisite production design. It was not an easy show to love, to quote /Film's own Danielle Ryan, but even in spite of the confusing timeline shenanigans and excess of plot twists,...

Demi Moore is getting her due thanks to Metrograph.

The “Substance” actress and Hollywood icon is being honored by Metrograph with a five-film series of Moore’s most beloved features, as curated by the theater. Titled “We Want Moore,” the mini festival begins September 13.

“The rapturous reception of Demi Moore’s performance in Coralie Fargeat’s ‘The Substance’ at this year’s Cannes Film Festival seems to have reminded many people that the New Mexico-born actress is a bona fide movie star — not just in terms of box office receipts and magazine cover shoots, but in her seemingly effortless ability to command the screen every time she walks into frame,” the Metrograph press statement reads. “In ‘We Want Moore,’ we’ve brought together some other timely reminders.”

Selected films screening in 35mm include Moore’s iconic turns in “Ghost,” “Indecent Proposal,” and “Striptease,” which Moore recently told Variety was one of her most under-appreciated performances.

Breathless is a Spanish medical drama series created by Carlos Montero. The Netflix series is set in the Joaquín Sorolla public hospital in Valencia, Spain and it follows a group of doctors as they juggle their professional responsibilities, hectic work schedule, and secret affairs all while trying to give their patients the best medical care possible. So, if you loved the medical drama, romantic elements, and tense stories in Breathless here are some similar shows you should check out next.

The Night Shift (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – NBC

The Night Shift is a medical drama series created by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah. The NBC series revolves around a group of doctors associated with the US Army as they work the night shift in the ER at the San Antonio Medical Center. They face several issues in their personal and professional lives while trying to give their patients the best care possible.

For over 30 years dating back to Steven Spielberg's original blockbuster classic "Jurassic Park," these movies have been a force to be reckoned with. While it's generally accepted that nothing has come close to topping the 1993 adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel that started it all, these movies have been tremendously successful. To date, across six films, the "Jurassic" series has generated more than $6 billion at the global box office. That being the case, we're getting yet another entry next summer in the form of "Jurassic World Rebirth." That title seems a bit on the nose as this movie has a lot of heavy lifting to do to secure a meaningful future for the franchise.

Before digging into why the pressure is on, let's go over what we know about the upcoming installment. For one, it's not going to be a full-on reboot and will take place in the aftermath...

The Jurassic franchise refuses to go extinct. Mere years after Colin Trevorrow wrapped up his Jurassic World trilogy with the multi-generational cast of Dominion, cinema’s finest dino-saga is already roaring into new life – shooting is well underway on the next instalment, which we’ve been cobbling together information on here and there. We know that Gareth Edwards is behind the camera, with a cast led by Scarlett Johansson. We know original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp in on scripting duties. And… that’s about it. Until now. Universal has just lifted the lid on the raptor cage and details about the new film – Jurassic World: Rebirth, officially – are running loose, wild and free.

First up, here’s the official synopsis, explaining when exactly Rebirth is set, and how Johansson’s incoming hero Zora comes into play: “Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology...

A new era is born. Next summer, three years after the Jurassic World trilogy concluded with each film surpassing $1 billion at the global box office, the enduring Jurassic series evolves in an ingenious new direction with Jurassic World Rebirth. The new movie will open in theaters on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.

Anchored by iconic action superstar Scarlett Johansson, breakthrough talent Jonathan Bailey, and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, this action-packed new chapter sees an intrepid team racing to secure DNA samples from the three most colossal creatures across land, sea, and air.

Also starring acclaimed international stars Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, the film is directed by dynamic visualist Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.

Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial...

The new Jurassic World film from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment got an official title on Thursday morning, along with a pair of first-look photos.

Slated to open wide on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, the film is titled Jurassic World Rebirth. Check out the photos from the tentpole above and below.

Starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, Jurassic World Rebirth sees an intrepid team racing to secure DNA samples from the three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air. Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

Johansson plays Zora Bennett, a skilled covert operations expert contracted to...

We talk a lot about the top of the pile when discussing horror novels and novelists. Obviously, the top of that pile is a certain man by the name of Stephen King. However, if you were going to have a Mount Rushmore of authors with him, I’m throwing the great Michael Crichton up there with him in one of the other 3 spots. Yeah, I know he’s not known as a hardcore horror guy, or even really a horror guy at all, I know for a fact his most well-known work Jurassic Park scared the bejesus out of a whole generation of kids. For that matter, I showed that movie to my kids as their first entryway into horror. While I’ll probably tackle Jurassic Park at some point as it is vastly different from book to movie, let me know in the comments if you guys want that,...

Kaos is a fantasy dark comedy-drama series created by Charlie Covell. The Netflix series works as a contemporary reimagining of Greek mythology and it follows the story of six humans as they discover that they are a huge part of the prophecy that will destroy the Greek gods led by the king of the gods Zeus. Kaos stars Jeff Goldblum, Janet McTeer, Aurora Perrineau, Billie Piper, Nabhaan Rizwan, David Thewlis, Leila Farzad, Killian Scott, Cliff Curtis, Rakie Ayola, Debi Mazar, Misia Butler, and Fady Elsayed. So, if you loved the hilarious dark comedy, cruel and narcissistic gods, and a fantastical story in Kaos here are some similar shows you should check out next.

American Gods (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Starz

American Gods is a fantasy thriller drama series developed by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green. Based on a 2001 novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman, the Starz series follows the story of Shadow,...

The estate of author Michael Crichton has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Television, claiming that the upcoming medical drama The Pitt is a rip-off of the Crichton-created hit series ER.

The lawsuit, spearheaded by Crichton’s widow Sherri, alleges that when talks between the late author’s estate and Wbtv about rebooting ER hit a standstill, the studio instead rebranded the planned series as The Pitt and merely moved the hospital drama from ER’s Chicago to the titular Pittsburgh.

The similarities continue both in front of and behind the camera,...

Warner Bros. Television, the studio behind hit NBC medical drama ER and the upcoming Max medical drama The Pitt, has hit back at a lawsuit filed this morning by Sherri Crichton, the widow of ER creator Michael Crichton, on behalf of John Michael Crichton Trust’s Roadrunner Jmtc.

“The lawsuit filed by the Crichton Estate is baseless, as The Pitt is a new and original show,” the studio said in a statement. “Any suggestion otherwise is false, and Warner Bros. Television intends to vigorously defend against these meritless claims.”

The suit alleges that, after ending a year-long negotiation with the Crichton Estate for a sequel to ER with former ER executive producer John Wells, the studio went on to launch The Pitt with the same creative auspices, moving the setting from Chicago to Pittsburgh.

Wells, as well as Amblin TV, were the other key pieces Wbtv had to secure in...

Warner Bros. TV has responded to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by Michael Crichton‘s widow, calling the legal move “baseless” and arguing that the studio’s upcoming medical procedural “The Pitt” is very different from “ER.”

“The lawsuit filed by the Crichton Estate is baseless, as ‘The Pitt’ is a new and original show,” the studio said in a statement. “Any suggestion otherwise is false, and Warner Bros. Television intends to vigorously defend against these meritless claims.”

The swift Warner Bros. response comes after the Crichton estate accused exec producer John Wells of a “personal betrayal,” claiming that he and star Noah Wyle came up with “The Pitt” after the Crichton estate blocked their plans to reboot “ER.” “‘The Pitt’ is ‘ER,’” the lawsuit states. “It’s not like ‘ER.’ It’s not kind of ‘ER.’ It’s not sort of ‘ER.’ It is ‘ER’ with the exact same executive producer,...

Warner Bros. Television’s ER revival look-alike has sparked a lawsuit from the estate of Michael Crichton, holder of the rights to the medical drama created by the prolific writer of technological thrillers who spawned various Hollywood blockbusters.

Crichton’s estate, in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses Warners and a trio ER alums of repackaging plans for a series reboot as The Pitt after they couldn’t secure the rights due to a dispute over a credit acknowledging the writer as the creator of the show. It alleges a “pattern of conduct” by the studio designed to circumvent Crichton’s rights to franchises he spawned, including Westworld.

Earlier this year, Max issued a 15-episode, straight-to-series order for The Pitt, which stars Noah Wyle and comes from ER duo John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill — all of whom are named in the complaint. It described...

Noah Wyle played Dr. John Carter for over a decade on ER, the popular medical drama series created by the late Michael Crichton. Wyle is set to return to the medical genre for The Pitt, a new series set to debut on Max sometime next year. However, Deadline reports that Crichton’s widow, Sherri, has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Television, John Wells, Noah Wyle, R. Scott Gemmill, and others, alleging that The Pitt is nothing more than an unauthorized reboot of ER.

“‘The Pitt’ is ‘ER,’” states the lawsuit. “It’s not like ‘ER.’ It’s not kind of ‘ER.’ It’s not sort of ‘ER.’ It is ‘ER’ with the exact same executive producer, writer, star, production companies, studio and network as the planned ‘ER’ reboot.” There were reportedly plans for a proper ER reboot in 2020, with the studio in negotiations with Crichton’s estate for nearly...

Michael Crichton’s widow filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that the upcoming Max series “The Pitt,” starring Noah Wyle, is an unauthorized reboot of “ER.”

The suit accuses producer John Wells of a “personal betrayal,” claiming that he and Wyle turned to “The Pitt” after the Crichton estate blocked their plans to reboot “ER,” and subsequent negotiations collapsed. Both are hospital shows, with “ER” set in Chicago and “The Pitt” set in Pittsburgh.

“‘The Pitt’ is ‘ER,'” the lawsuit states. “It’s not like ‘ER.’ It’s not kind of ‘ER.’ It’s not sort of ‘ER.’ It is ‘ER’ with the exact same executive producer, writer, star, production companies, studio and network as the planned ‘ER’ reboot.”

The pilot episode of “ER” was adapted from a script Crichton wrote in 1974, which was based on his own experiences as a medical student. He was credited as a creator of the show,...

The estate of Michael Crichton, the late author and screenwriter behind “Jurassic Park” and “ER,” is suing Warner Bros. Television as well as John Wells, Noah Wyle, R. Scott Gemmill and others over breach of contract, TheWrap has learned. The lawsuit revolves around a new version of “ER.”

The lawsuit alleges that after a lengthy years-long negotiation to make a reboot of “ER” that ultimately fell through, Wbtv, Wells, Wyle and Gemmill took the concept and reworked it to become “The Pitt,” a drama that follows frontline heroes working in a Pittsburgh hospital. The 15-episode Season 1 was given a straight-to-series order in March of this year and is set to air on the streaming service Max. Gemmill, who previously worked on “ER,” is set to be the showrunner of “The Pitt,” which comes from John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television. Wyle will star in and executive produce the series.

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.

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,...

(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)

1999 is widely considered to be one of the best years in cinema history. Truthfully, 25 years later, it's not remotely hard to see why. It saw the release of groundbreaking films like "The Matrix," which remains one of the most important sci-fi hits ever made. The likes of "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace," "Toy Story 2," "The Blair Witch Project," "American Pie," "Sleepy Hollow," "Deep Blue Sea," "Eyes Wide Shut," "Fight Club," "The Mummy," and so much more. It's an embarrassment of riches.

Unfortunately, even the best year is going to have its share of misfires. As far as 1999 goes, the biggest misfire of them all (at least by reputation) is unquestionably "The 13th Warrior." Directed by John McTiernan, of "Die Hard" and "Predator" fame,...

The Story: It is the future (like say – 1989). Robots are now commonplace, being used for everything from manual labor to childcare. But, robots go bad and when they do, the LAPD calls in Sgt. Jack R. Ramsay (Tom Selleck), an expert in so-called “Runaways”. When a madman (Gene Simmons) invents a microchip that turns all robots into runaways, Ramsay, and his new partner (Cynthia Rhodes) must put a stop to his evil plan – the fate of the world just may depend on it! Oh, and also Ramsay is afraid of heights. Trust me, that’s important.

The Players: Starring: Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes, Kirstie Alley, G. W. Bailey and Gene Simmons. Written and directed by Michael Crichton.

The History: While most famous for his novels, Michael Crichton actually had a decent Hollywood career as a director, having a couple of solid hits under his belt by the time 1984 rolled around.

Snowpiercer is a post-apocalyptic dystopian thriller film created by Josh Friedman and Graeme Manson. Based on a 2013 film of the same name by director Bong Joon-ho, the TNT and now AMC series is set in a frozen wasteland of a world with the only survivors living on a perpetually moving train, where class warfare runs rampant and the politics of survival is deadly to learn. Snowpiercer stars Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs in the lead roles with Rowan Blanchard, Sean Bean, Alison Wright, Annalise Basso, Mickey Sumner, Lena Hall, and Susan Park starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the post-apocalypse, intense drama, and complex characters in Snowpiercer here are some similar shows you should check out next.

The 100 (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – The CW

The 100 is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi action drama series created by Jason Rothenberg. Based on a series of young adult sci-fi novels by author Kass Morgan,...

When you think about adrenaline-pumping movies, action, and adventure films are the first that come to mind.

But there is no doubt you can get an adrenaline rush from thrillers, horror, and even some high-stakes drama films as well.

(Paramount Pictures / Screenshot)

When your heart beats faster out of fear because the monster is just behind the door, when you cheer with excitement after an epic fight scene, or when you sit on the edge of your seat waiting to see if the heroes can really outrun the bad guy, it makes for a thrilling movie experience.

Here are some of what I think are the best adrenaline-pumping movies and franchises of all time.

Jurassic Park (1993) (Universal Pictures / Amblin Entertainment / Screenshot)

I’m always surprised when someone I know tells me they’ve never seen the original Jurassic Park. It’s one of the best adrenaline-pumping movies ever.

It’s...

Noah Wyle made his name in a hospital drama when he starred in ER as Dr. John Carter. Now, 15 years after leaving that popular drama series, Wyle is heading back into the world of hospital dramas. This time around, he isn’t joining an existing drama but a new one called The Pitt.

Here is what you need to know about the new TV show.

Noah Wyle Heading Back To Hospital Dramas With The Pitt

Noah Wyle was one of the top stars on ER, the hospital drama that ruined the airwaves before Grey’s Anatomy took its top spot. In that series, Wyle starred as John Carter, a third-year medical student who became an attending physician. He was one of the headliners until Season 11 when he left the series.

Noah Wyle on ER | YouTube

He did return occasionally and was in the series finale. However, he branched out after that and worked in other genres,...

George Schenck, who served as a writer, producer and/or co-showrunner on NCIS during the CBS drama’s first 15 seasons, died Saturday at his home in Los Angeles, a network spokesperson announced. He was 82.

He and Frank Cardea shared a creative partnership for 40 years. In addition to collaborating on NCIS, they created the 1982-83 CBS adventure series Bring ‘Em Back Alive, starring Bruce Boxleitner; the 1984-86 CBS crime show Crazy Like a Fox, starring Jack Warden and John Rubinstein; and the 1991-92 ABC drama Pros and Cons, starring James Earl Jones and Richard Crenna.

After writing nearly 50 episodes of NCIS starting with show’s inaugural season in 2003, the pair were elevated to co-showrunners in November 2016 following the sudden death of Gary Glasberg two months earlier. “It’s with heavy hearts that we assume his duties,” they said at the time.

“So sorry to hear the news on George,” NCIS star...

The billion-dollar franchise of Jurassic Park started as a ’90s classic regaling fans with the adventurous theme park of genetically engineered dinosaurs, sprouting six feature-length films in its wake. And long before you knew it, the Steven Spielberg creation became a pop culture phenomenon.

Jurassic Park (1993) | Universal Pictures

But the dangerously thrilling world of dinosaurs may never have existed had it not been for this industry mogul who saved Spielberg (and his breakthrough movie).

Steven Spielberg’s Breakthrough Film Set the Pace For Jurassic Park

Steven Spielberg has sired many a blockbuster during an illustrious tenure spanning five decades in the film industry, and the Jurassic Park film series is a prime example of the same.

Adapted from Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name, Jurassic Park was such an exponential hit that it became the highest-grossing film of all time (before Titanic dethroned it), amassing over a whopping...

Steven Spielberg’s ‘new original event film,’ set for release in May 2026, is called The Dish.

Steven Spielberg’s next film – his first since 2022’s The Fabelmans – is due out in May 2026, and it now looks as though it has a title. During a recent IMAX presentation for investors, a slide showed a string of upcoming releases from various Hollywood studios, and there, sandwiched between the next Avengers film and The Mandalorian And Grogu is a film called The Dish.

As first noted by World Of Reel, this is undoubtedly Spielberg’s previously untitled project, vaguely billed by Universal Pictures as a “new original event film.”

The Dish title also sounds of a piece with the report going around that Spielberg’s cooking up some sort of UFO-themed movie with screenwriter David Koepp. Certainly, the title brings to mind his friend Robert Zemeckis’ terrific 1997 sci-fi film Contact, in which Jodie Foster...

Updated Monday Am: Universal/Warner Bros/Amblin’s Twisters is higher this morning after a $21.57M Sunday, which puts the Lee Isaac Chung-directed, Mark L. Smith-penned tentpole at an opening of $81.2M. That’s close to double what the first movie opened to back in 1996, at $41M.

The question now is whether the movie can be sequelized. What’s gonna happen? More tornadoes? One has to take the setting to some fresh locale where there aren’t tornadoes, i.e. New York City.

Universal does it again: Twisters opening is just $1.1M shy of what Oppenheimer opened to a year ago. Counting the third weekend of Despicable Me 4, Universal made $105.55M between the top two films at the box office.

Updated Sunday Am: Universal has called the domestic opening for the Lee Isaac Chung-directed Twisters at $80.5M, as we told you last night. That’s 60% ahead of...

When Jan de Bont's "Twister" was released in 1996, it was warmly but not enthusiastically greeted by critics. Some praised its atmosphere and colorful characters, and most were impressed with the film's expensive digital VFX, the extensive use of which was considered novel at the time. However, just as many critics pointed out that the script (by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin) was a little generic and the plot was unbearably simple. Audiences flocked to "Twister," though, and the film ultimately made over $495 million worldwide. "Twister" is not a great work of cinema, but it bears a lot of goodwill. 

Fast-forward to 2024, and all the criticisms of "Twister" might also be applied to Lee Isaac Chung's "Twisters," the new quasi-sequel to the first film. "Twisters" offers no dramatically new spin on de Bont's original, playing lightly with a similar tone of lightweight meaninglessness. The characters are equally empty, but...

The reviews are in for the new movie “Twisters“, and it looks like the sequel will be better received than the original film from 1996. But can it make as much money at the box office? That might be tougher!

The first “Twister” was written by Michael Crichton, the author behind “Jurassic Park”. It did a great job of making tornadoes feel super scary with special effects. The story of storm chasers was exciting too. While the plot hasn’t aged that well, the tornado scenes are still awesome.

This new “Twisters” has a different cast, like Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell as storm chasers. But it brings back elements like following scientists tracking dangerous storms. Some reviews say the twisters look even cooler thanks to improvements in CGI over 25 years.

Back in 1996, “Twister” was the second highest grossing movie of the year, making nearly $500 million worldwide! That’s huge for...

This week sees the release of Twisters, the second entry in the Twister saga that no one really wanted or needed. I mean, the first movie came out so long ago that audiences were positively blown away at the sight of a CGI cow flying through the air, as if it were something from Avatar or a train pulling into a train station.

While the co-writer of Twister, the late Michael Crichton, may have gone to great lengths to create the plot lines for novels like Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain and The Great Train Robbery, for the tornado-based blockbuster he admitted that he borrowed heavily from a TV documentary and a classic screwball comedy.

Reportedly, Crichton became “fascinated” with tornadoes after seeing them discussed in an episode of Nova, the long-running PBS science show. But while he and his wife Anne-Marie Martin, who co-wrote Twister, discussed the possibility of...

We’re midway through the month of July with only a few more weeks to the summer, and it’s time to get into the next potential mega-blockbuster, “Twisters.” Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

Summer blockbusters have existed for as long as Steven Spielberg has been making movies, but it was only in the mid-’90s when studios realized that they could create movies considered “event viewing” that moviegoers would want to rush out to see opening weekend. The Jan De Bont-directed “Twister,” co-written by Michael Crichton (and actually executive produced by Spielberg through his Amblin company), was one of these back in 1996. Starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, as well as an ensemble cast that included Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cary Elwes, and even future filmmaker, Todd Field, it opened with $41 million in its early May 1996 release, which was good for that time. It went...

In a moment of great American tension and yearning for comity, Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters doesn’t exactly arrive like a gift from the heavens, but it sure does its damndest to take you back to the “simpler” times of ‘90s high-concept popcorn thrills and goofy grins. And the high-concept at play here is very goofy too.

Take the film’s lead characters: she’s a transplant city girl who for years has chosen to observe tornadoes from the safety of a Manhattan high-rise; he’s a rough and tumble cowboy, or “tornado wrangler,” who might have studied meteorology at some point, but insists nowadays he doesn’t need fancy degrees or big-city book-learning to catch a twister. She intends to prove there is a way to scientifically blunt and stop a tornado before it reaches a major population center; he is out less for research than he is...

Twisters, a new chapter in the Amblin-produced, Michael Crichton co-written franchise, will hit U.S. and Canada with a force of $50M from Friday-Sunday. That number will easily outstrip the start of the original 1996 movie which posted $41M.

Already, Twisters counts $12.5M from 38 international box office markets since yesterday. Universal has domestic and Warner Bros offshore on Twisters, which is the reverse of the original which saw Warners releasing in U.S./Canada and Universal abroad. There are 38 more markets swirling in this week, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and China. It’s currently estimated that through Sunday, the offshore cume will be in the $45M-$50M range, $100M+ WW running cume. Notably still to release are Japan and Korea. All-in-all, a great appetizer before moviegoers en masse feast on Deadpool & Wolverine, which is bound to be the biggest opening for an R-rated movie ever on July 26, besting Deadpool‘s $132.4M 3-day.