The Pitt Heads to Jury Trial Over Crichton Estate Suit — SkimNews
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- The Pitt and the Michael Crichton Estate are headed to a jury trial in L.A. Superior Court after an appellate panel affirmed the lower court’s ruling in the two-year-old case.
- Judge Wendy Chang denied Warner Bros.’ anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss the case, and the appellate panel affirmed that ruling two months after hearing arguments.
- WBTV and fellow appellants Noah Wylie, John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill said in an October 28, 2025 opening brief that there was no evidence The Pitt was made by copying from or using ER, or that it was derivative, even if the derivative-work test did not apply.
- Sherri Crichton, on behalf of John Michael Crichton Trust’s Roadrunner JMTC, brought the pre-launch breach-of-contract action in August 2024; discovery is still to come.
- Sherri Crichton and Warner Bros. remain in bitter conflict, with settlement viewed as very unlikely and a jury trial possible as early as next summer unless they settle.
- ER was the 15-season NBC series whose proposed reboot fell apart before John Wells, Warner Bros. and others developed The Pitt.
- The Pitt became a critical and commercial hit after its early-2025 HBO Max launch; its third season is scheduled for January 2027 and is already deep in production.
Why it matters: For Sherri Crichton’s estate, the ruling keeps the breach-of-contract case on a jury-trial track after Judge Wendy Chang rejected Warner Bros.’ anti-SLAPP motion. For Warner Bros., the two-year-old suit remains unresolved as discovery continues, extending the dispute alongside production of The Pitt’s third season, which is due in January 2027.
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