It seems it will be some time before we see Kiefer Sutherland bring his most successful character to the big screen. When the hit show 24 was canceled somewhat abruptly due to rising production costs and lagging ratings, the silver lining was that fans could expect a movie that would make up for the networks decision not to renew the series. There was always talk of a 24 movie at the height of it’s popularity, but that never eventuated and the closest thing fan’s got was the less than compelling ‘Redemption’ story filler which took place over a 2 hour chunk of time.
When Season 8 ended, Billy Ray the acclaimed writer of ‘State of Play’ had been locked in to write the script which was said to be in it’s first draft in June 2010. The story was to pick up from the events of the finale, with Bauer on the run from both the US and Russian governments. The door was intentionally left open in the hopes that a feature film would conclude the rogue agent’s story. Star Kiefer Sutherland had this to say when he spoke to EW:
Something we’ve dealt with in the series is how the crisis always has to come to us because we don’t have time to move anywhere in a real time world. In a two-hour (movie) representation of the 24 world, planes, trains, and automobiles all of a sudden become a factor because you are not required to go scene by scene in real time. That’s something I can say I am very excited about.
The series redefined television with it’s unfolding conspiracy over the course of a single day in a real time format. Now comes word that 20th Century Fox has recently rejected the new script. Howard Gordon executive producer of the series and of the film adaptation had this to say:
I was disappointed [Fox] passed on the script but I’m certainly hopeful that the movie will get made at some point… As far as I know, it is in suspended animation. There is talk about re-approaching it. I understand (director/producer) Tony Scott is meeting with Kiefer to talk about ideas. People are still talking about it.
It’s likely that the script just didn’t capture the energy of the series or perhaps the concept was not fitting of the film format. Whilst logic would dictate the film version would merely condense the events of a similar terrorist threat / national emergency type day, this might loose some of the vibe. Whilst it would be good to see Jack return to doing what he does best, perhaps the series format doesn’t lend itself to the medium as the nature of film is to create the expanse of time within a story. If the film was called ‘Jack Bauer – The Next Mission’ for example, then his story and the intertwining conspiracies could evolve organically and the events unfold over a longer period, similar to a Bourne story. We can only wait and see if another script is commissioned or if the teaming with the reported Director has a fresh take on the concept. For now the clock is on hold.
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