24 Movie in the Works; Kiefer Sutherland’s Involvement Unknown

Movies

Reset the clock because Jack is back! Well, maybe. Variety has heard from its sources that a 24 movie is in “early development” at 20^th Century Studios, the former 20^th Century Fox, which is now owned by Disney. This is confirmation of something producer Brian Glazer said in an interview with CNBC on June 26, 2024, telling his interviewer that they were making a 24 film “in an interesting way.” (He also said they’re remaking Backdraft, which makes sense because Backdraft is a movie that exists and hasn’t been remade yet.)  If you’ve never seen or heard of it, 24 was an action show that ran from 2001-2010 and was revived with a miniseries in 2014, with Kiefer Sutherland starring as Jack Bauer, a federal agent working for the Counter Terrorist Unit, with each season playing out in real time over a 24-hour period as Jack fought terrorists and got caught up in massive government conspiracies, inevitably forcing him to go rogue. (And if you’ve never seen it, you should give it a try because it’s amazing; 24 single-handedly created the binge-watching phenomenon via DVD because its cliffhanger endings made waiting more than the time it took to change discs excruciating.) Variety is uncertain about whether Sutherland would return for the film.

Right off the bat, if Kiefer Sutherland is not in it as Jack Bauer, then it’s not 24. They tried to do a sort of sequel series without him (which I didn’t watch because I’m a good American), and it bombed because nobody wanted a 24 without Jack Bauer. The next most important character is Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), a socially maladjusted computer genius who is Jack’s unlikely friend and ally. It would suck if Chloe weren’t in it, but Jack is the whole ballgame. They also can’t wimp out on the darker stuff that 24 was known for, like torture or Jack doing other morally dubious things to save lives. This is a show that probably couldn’t be made right now, which is why I think people would flock to a movie where Jack Bauer got to be a throwback to… himself. If they do these things and get some of the old writers back, I think a 24 movie could be amazing. (They used to talk about doing this all the time when the show aired; fans used to joke that it would be called 2, since it obviously wouldn’t be 24 hours long.) As for other things I’d like to see, well, I’d be very happy to have the return of Aaron Pierce, a secret service agent played by Glenn Morshower. I’d also like to see Jack’s daughter Kim again so the two can reconcile; she’s not the most popular character (for good reason; she could be a miserable brat, and she got some really silly subplots, especially in season 2 when the writers couldn’t figure out what to do with her). And the director is a no-brainer: it’s got to be Jon Cassar, who helmed many outstanding episodes of the series, as well as some of the better episodes of The Orville. They also need Sean Callery doing the score; I want to hear the Jack Bauer theme loud and proud as he kills bad guys on the big screen. All of these things are big ifs; I don’t trust anything in the modern era until I see it, or at least enough of it to become hopeful. But if they can make this work, I’d love to see 24 rise again.