When it comes to surviving exceedingly harsh and ridiculous circumstances, Jack Bauer and the rest of his 24 compadres are basically the Wile E. Coyote of serialized television. So it would basically take the death of every actor to get Fox to completely remove any and all potential 24 comebacks from the conversation. As it stands, the network is apparently working on yet another series follow-up.
Earlier today, Fox took part in a conference call with journalists about their upcoming schedule as part of the network upfronts, and Fox exec Gary Walden revealed their plans to bring back the terrorist-filled real-time thriller.
We have been developing another version of 24, but it’s still fairly early in the development process, so there’s just really nothing that we can tell you at this time other than we are working on something.
Now, that’s admittedly about as vague a statement as a network suit is going to give, as “in development” could mean anything from having a conversation in a stopped elevator to someone writing down a scene on the back of a napkin. Either way, it possibly means more 24 in the future, but we’re not even sure in what capacity.
It doesn’t seem likely that an entire 24-episode season would get made, considering the success of the limited series format of 24: Live Another Day. A lot of that decision may come down to whether or not star Kiefer Sutherland will be involved, as he has previously shown little interest in returning. Fox extended that line of thought some months back, saying that they may choose to go on without Sutherland being involved. There’s only one Jack Bauer, but there are more people in fiction that can do the badassery that he does.
The way that Walden says “another version of 24” even seems to indicate that this will either be a possible spinoff of the original series or some other set-up entirely that could adhere to the 24-hour format. “Silence,” the additional short included on the 24: Live Another Day Blu-ray, brought Tony Almeida back to the story, so maybe he gets mixed up with a new renegade. Check it out below.
It’s hard to imagine a new 24 story being able to top everything that Jack Bauer has gone through over nine seasons. But maybe if Liam Neeson wants to get involved…
