14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this week, Fox and Kiefer Sutherland confirmed that the eighth season of the popular series “24” would be its last, as the time had come for producers to tie up all loose ends and call it a day. The good news for the fans was that the announcement also brought a confirmation that a feature film would be made, about which leading star Sutherland is positively ecstatic, as a Wenn report cited by Canoe-Jam says.
When Fox dropped the news (which, in all fairness, did not really come as a surprise as speculation about it had been making the rounds for some time), Sutherland said that fans should look forward for the feature film because it would bring a new perspective on the Jack Bauer-centered story. He says the same now, with the mention that the 2-hour format will also mean more freedom for screenwriters, allowing them to take the character abroad if that’s what they deem fit for the story.
“I’m very excited about the idea [of a movie]. I’m very excited about the opportunity, and singularly because it’s a two-hour representation of a 24-hour day. So for the first time, it will be very feasible in this 24 hours to go from England to Russia, or from China to Japan, depending on where they choose to set it,” Sutherland is quoted as saying. Moreover, making a silver screen adaptation of the series is also an excellent opportunity for the star to make a blockbuster – and he’s 100 percent up for the challenge.
“Before on the TV show, the crisis had to come to us, because the best we could do was get across town. And the two times we ever put Jack Bauer in a plane, it just didn’t work. So it alleviates a huge hurdle that real time writing presented for us,” Kiefer says. As for ending the show, the decision came just in the nick of time. “From a creative point, I think Howard [Gordon, executive producer] was feeling that as confident and as strong as he felt about season eight, he was feeling that it was going to be very hard to do [a season nine],” explains the actor.
Partly because both were seduced by the idea of making a project in which time would not be a hindrance and partly because they wanted to surprise fans, Sutherland and Gordon decided on making the feature film. As of now, details on this particular project are still being ironed out: the only two things that are a given as we speak is that Kiefer will resume his role as Jack Bauer and that executive producer and showrunner Gordon will also be involved in some capacity, though what that might be has not been determined yet.