With the internet community and a few studio execs hinting that this current season of 24 may be the last, big news is now coming out of Twentieth Century Fox’s camp, as they have just announced a film adaptation of the series.
The studio was allegedly blown away by a pitch from screenwriter Billy Ray (State of Play, Flightplan), in which Jack Bauer goes to Europe, and they have already hired him to finish the script for production. From Variety:
Script is said to have come through “24” star Kiefer Sutherland, who’s also an exec producer on the series — and is said to be eager to turn the long-running TV skein into a feature franchise.
Feature would be produced by the TV show’s key exec producers, including Sutherland. Series was created by Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow, while exec producer Howard Gordon runs the show through his Real Time Prods. banner.
The studio, nor the sister side that runs the network, has announced their plans for a ninth season, or if this planned film will pick up the franchise where the televised series leaves off. Though the deals are for the same franchise, the series’ crew could decide to continue on with the show at another network.
This isn’t the first time this idea has been toyed with, as many of the executive producers of the show, such as Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, are best known for their work in film. This also wouldn’t be the first time that Fox took an established show to the big screen, after the major success (nearly $550 million worldwide) that The Simpsons Movie grossed since 2007.
Though things will have to move forward from here, the ink is still wet on the deal, so don’t expect to see too much movement until Twentieth TV decided what the plan is for another season.
Heart12
February 11, 2010 at 11:23 amI think “24” will make a great big screen movie. 24 Redemption was really good. I love Kiefer. I’ve enjoyed reading his biography, “Kiefer Sutherland: Living Dangerously” (check it out on amazon.com). I’m excited for “24: The Movie”