Kiefer Sutherland is officially heading to Paramount+! The 24 and Designated Survivor alum will executive produce and star in an espionage drama that’s been ordered straight to series at the streaming service, and it sounds like a spinoff of one of Sutherland’s former shows.
The new drama, which THR reports does not currently have a title, will revolve around James Weird, who is a private espionage operative who will be played by Kiefer Sutherland. Weird is battling for the preservation of democracy against the forces of misinformation, behavior manipulation, surveillance and interests controlling extraordinary powers. The plot sounds similar to Kiefer Sutherland’s 2001-10 series, 24, which followed his character, Jack Bauer, as he tried to subvert terrorist plots and save his nation from the ultimate disaster.
The untitled series comes from writer-directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, who will executive produce alongside Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Gogolak and Suzan Byme and is produced by ViacomCBS’ CBS Studios. The eight-episode drama is expected to debut on Paramount+ in 2022. The series will also reunite Sutherland with ViacomCBS executive David Nevins, who bought and developed 24 during his time at Fox.
Kiefer Sutherland is best known for his role as Jack Bauer on Fox’s 24, which ran for nine seasons and 204 episodes. He won an Emmy, Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite Awards for his role on the drama. In 2020, Sutherland starred in the Quibi action thriller The Fugitive. Due to Quibi getting the axe soon after, the series wasn't destined for a long life. Hopefully this new streaming show will prove to be a better success, especially since Paramount+ is already seeing numbers with the wide library it has.
Last year, Kiefer Sutherland had mentioned he wanted to bring Jack Bauer back and that he always “left the door slightly ajar” in regards to possibly returning to his iconic character. While this new untitled series isn’t 24, the project sounds familiar to a kind of show that he has starred in before. There’s hope that Sutherland will bring some of his Jack Bauer charm to James Weird so fans will have some feeling of 24 in the new Paramount+ show. And there’s so far no word on who will star in the show with him, so there is a possibility that there may be a 24 reunion in the future.
Kiefer Sutherland’s untitled series is the the latest Paramount+ Original to come to light, joining Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, the Rugrats reboot, musical docuseries From Cradle to Stage, The Real World Homecoming: New York, The Challenge: All Stars, and the seventh and final season of Younger. The streaming service has a wide library, expanding across CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, and plenty of movies and other originals, that also include the CBS All Access originals.
