We’ve heard rumblings for some time that Fox was keen to take Jack Bauer’s white-knuckle adventures in the television series “24” to the big screen, but somehow it never happened. As recently as a few weeks ago here, “24” star Kiefer Sutherland gave voice to his own hopes for a movie. But now we have a sort of official confirmation that they’re at least shooting for making a movie happen.
“24” executive producer Howard Gordon spoke to TV Guide on the subject, and says 20th Century Fox will make a final decision on whether to do a 24 feature film soon. “It's something we really need to decide, or, I should say, [20th Century Fox] needs to decide within a month or so,” he says. “We'd like to shoot it sooner than later.”
Apparently, they’re in a bit of a time crunch. Rather than take a page from the X-Files or Star Trek and switch from television to film, they want to do both at the same time. If a movie is made, it won’t interrupt the next season of “24” on television. Gordon says their plan is to release a 24 feature film in theaters at the start of Season 6, which means that somehow, they’d have to frantically shoot the film between Season 5 and Season 6, before production begins on the sixth season. That’ll leave Kiefer Sutherland very little time for attacking Christmas trees, but maybe he’s better off being kept busy anyway.
But Gordon isn’t sure if it’s happening yet. He’s still waiting on a decision from Fox. He doesn’t even say if they have a script. Instead, he says, “I wouldn't put stock in anything just yet, but I think there will be news in short order."
Hopefully, if they do make a movie it’ll be structured in a way that’s watchable for non-24 viewers like me. I missed the first couple of seasons, and then sort of decided I was too late to the party to jump in now. Maybe a movie could be an entry point into the otherwise inaccessible show for us newbies.
Thanks to CB reader Brian Cleveland for the tip.
