Just a month ago, Reuters reported that a movie based on the popular Fox television show “24” wasn’t going forward as stated by Kiefer Sutherland in interviews with a representative of 20th Century Fox saying that the project had been shelved based on the script they received last year. Even so, actor Kiefer Sutherland still seems confident that a movie might happen, which makes us think maybe they’ll try to do it at another studio?
On ABC’s “Good Morning America” where Sutherland was promoting his appearance on Broadway in “That Championship Season,” he was asked directly by the show’s co-host George Stephanopoulos whether there will be a movie, and Sutherland’s response was a flat-out:
“Yes, there will be a 24 movie.”
Later on Live with Regis and Kelly, Sutherland expressed that he still feels they haven’t finished and it’s “still a presence” in his life. When asked by the co-hosts of that show the same question, he added to his earlier comment,
“We hopefully will start next January and I think Tony Scott is one of the directors that has expressed great interest in doing it and he would be fantastic, so I’m very excited about that.”
Maybe Sutherland is being overly optimistic, similar to David Duchovny, who for years was asked by reporters about a second “X-Files” movie. That eventually did happen (for better or worse) as did Joss Whedon’s Serenity, a movie spin-off from his cancelled Fox show “Firefly” that was released by Universal. Also, progress is moving forward on an Arrested Development movie based on Mitch Hurwitz’s popular star-studded show (also cancelled by Fox) which Universal was going to produce before Fox Searchlight became involved.
Meanwhile, Sutherland is committed to starring in “That Championship Season” on Broadway, which should keep him busy, while giving the producers of the show time to keep working on a stronger script or to possibly find another studio if the only option is to make a movie without 20th Century Fox. (UPDATE: Oddly, less than an hour after we posted this story, it’s been confirmed that Sutherland would star in the pilot for Tim Kring’s new Fox show “Touch,” although the actor has often done other movies in the off-season while making “24.”)
