Fans of hit Fox series 24 can now rejoice as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer is back on the small screen. The network announced a new installment of the thriller featuring veteran actor Kiefer Sutherland in the lead role, with a potential May 2014 launch date.
According to Deadline, Fox entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly confirmed the news this morning (May 13) in an upfront conference call. The show’s revival is part of a pair of “event series” that Fox intends to roll out, the other being M. Night Shyamalan’s Wayward Pines, which will follow 24.
Twelve new episodes of the real-time drama replace an earlier plan to make a feature film with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua rumored to be at the helm. After showrunner Howard Gordon expressed that a two-hour film goes against the 24-hour concept of the program, the movie idea was scratched. However, Gordon, who now serves as the executive producer for Showtime’s political suspense show Homeland, was receptive to an updated format.
“Jack’s back,” said Reilly during the call, according to Variety. “Howard [Gordon] always had the idea of doing a feature film [for 24]. But they all agreed, 24 being compressed to two hours is not 24.”
Reilly added that the bulk of the action in the imaginative series happened within a 12-hour period, so the show, now titled 24: Live Another Day, will skip hours on the program but keep the chronological order. The series will be executive produced by Gordon, Sutherland and Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer.
In 2006, 24 won five Emmys, including Best Drama and Best Actor for Sutherland.
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Photo: Fox
