While speaking to journalists at the press day for Olympus Has Fallen, director Antoine Fuqua put to rest the rampant rumours surrounding the 24 movie, which fans have been hoping for ever since the Kiefer Sutherland-starring television show went off air. For a while, things looked hopeful that we’d be seeing a big screen adaptation of everyone’s favourite CTU agent. Unfortunately though, the project seems to be dead, at least for the time being.
“Yeah, that’s not happening. I don’t think it’s gonna happen at all, definitely not with me,” Fuqua said. “I met with Kiefer [Sutherland], Fox wanted to do it, it was a matter of his schedule before he went off to do his new show [’Touch‘]. I don’t think he was able to get a proper agreement with Fox. The time just passed, and I went off to go to what I was doing.”
So, while that’s not exactly to say that the project will never see the light of day, it’s not likely that we’ll be getting a 24 movie anytime soon. In addition to the scheduling issue, apparently budget disputes plagued the project and Sutherland wanted a lot more money than the studio was willing to offer.
Honestly, this surprises me. A 24 movie would be a slam dunk for the studio. Jack Bauer is a very iconic television character and the show has an enormous fanbase. Sure, it started to lose some of its quality in later seasons but most shows do. In its prime though, it brought it massive ratings and was incredibly popular. Even now, I still think there’s an audience out there for a 24 film and I know that I, for one, would be first in line to see it.
How about you? Do you want a 24 movie? Do you still hold out hope that Sutherland and Fox can reach a deal? Let us know in the comments below.