Kiefer Sutherland on 24 movie: “the film is going to happen”

By 24 Spoilers , June 27th, 2012 · 15 comments

"24: Redemption" Press Conference with Kiefer Sutherland — Kiefer at 24 Redemption press conference

News on the 24 movie has been a little sparse lately, but Kiefer has again confirmed it will happen and that he’s “very anxious to get it done”. Just like I’m sure us 24 fans are very anxious to watch!

Q: Are you still hoping to start work on the movie version of ’24’?
I’ve been working very hard to make that happen. The process has taken us so long because it’s such a complicated script to write. Normally, we have ’24’ hours to tell a story. Trying to condense it into two hours involves a lot of hard choices: What kind of story do you want to tell? How political do you want to make it? How character-driven do you want to make it? But now we have a good script. The problem is my work on ‘Touch’ now and whether we can find a big enough window to shoot the film. The film will pick up with Jack Bauer six months after the end of the final TV episode. The action will unfold in the course of a single 24-hour day. We still need to find a director and see which actors from the series would be available to return to do the film with me. The film is going to happen – I’m very anxious to get it done.

Q: Do you worry that audiences will forget about Jack Bauer the more time that goes by?
No. I think audiences still remember the series and have a huge interest in seeing what a film version would be like. People still tell me how much they loved Jack Bauer and I think audiences appreciated that he wasn’t a typical hero-type and had many flaws and contradictions. We’ll also have a lot more creative freedom and possibilities doing the film as opposed to the kinds of limitations you have when doing a TV series in real time.

Source Cover Media thanks Rob

Related Topics · Feature Film, Interview, Kiefer Sutherland

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15 Comments

Comments Closed

Gerry Mander

June 27, 2012 at 11:41 pm

If the ’24’ movie is as good as they seem to think the current script is, it’ll not matter if the movie is released four years after the series ended, quality speaks for itself. However, the main worry I have presently is that FOX won’t give them a decent budget to do the film right, and if they nickle-and-dime the movie, it’ll look like a bigger-budgeted, theatrically-released extended episode of the series, and will not do as well as hoped for when put up against other films.

I’ve said it here before, but I think both sides should show some leeway over the budget – Imagine accept they’re not going to get the budget they want whilst FOX accept the fact they’ll have to put up more money than they’d like to – with both sides crunching the numbers again and getting the budget down to an even $40m (or a little over), which is a totally respectable budget for an action movie set and shot in Europe, especially if you shoot on digital, have a tight shoot (about thirteen weeks), and have a solid pre-production time to get everything planned and prepped in advance of production commencing…

BMAN

June 28, 2012 at 6:18 am

It’s curious how FOX is willing to spend millions to make “Prometheus” and “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter”, which turned out to be box office disappointments, and yet FOX won’t give the 24 film a reasonable budget. The fan base alone will make this movie a hit, plus I’m sure the movie will do well in foreign markets like the film “Taken” did.

Trevor

June 28, 2012 at 9:04 pm

@Gerry Mander 24 was one of the last shows to shoot in film, I really don’t want them to shoot the movie digitally. So I hope they don’t give in on that issue.

Gerry Mander

June 28, 2012 at 11:47 pm

Neither do I, Trevor dude, I’m a 35mm die-hard, but if it helps reduce the budget for the ’24’ movie to a number that FOX are willing to greenlight – like $40m – then that’s not a choice I would have to think about, besides, the image quality on digital cameras, especially the Arriflex Alexa (which the new James Bond movie ‘Skyfall’ is shot on, and that looks fantastic judging by the teaser trailer), is light years ahead of what it was a decade ago… given the choice between a ’24’ movie shot digitally and done right, versus a ’24’ movie shot on 35mm but compromised because of severe budget restrictions by FOX, I’ll take the former option.

James Lee

June 29, 2012 at 12:42 pm

Great movies don’t come around often,i choose not to watch any other show until the new 24 comes back.

RorshachLives!

June 30, 2012 at 12:38 am

Interesting interview with William Friedkin – director of ‘The French Connection’ and ‘The Exorcist’ – promoting his new film, and was asked if there is any television shows he particularly likes, his answer was surprising;

“There are only two or three series that I’ve seen that I really like. I love The Sopranos and 24.”

I’m genuinely surprised to hear that, I would’ve thought Friedkin might consider ’24’ as disposable television nonsense or something, but having hear him endorse Jack Bauer has lifted Friedkin up a few notches in my respect for the man, and it made me think something highly intriguing; what about William Friedkin for director on the ’24’ movie, he may be 76 years old, but he’s still got it, and if it was a hit at the box-office, it would maybe help him get his Jack the Ripper movie off the ground (which Kiefer Sutherland would be perfect casting for)…

Gerry Mander

July 1, 2012 at 2:03 am

Friedkin has directed a couple of action-heavy movies in the last ten or twelve years, namely ‘Rules of Engagement’ in 2000 and ‘The Hunted’ in 2002, so he can certainly handle action as well as drama and character. It would certainly be a ballsy and unexpected move were he to do the ’24’ movie, instead of FOX hiring just another cookie-cutter action movie director (which they’re likely to do unfortunately), and Friedkin would certainly bring a substantial dramatic credibility to the action already present in the script. The truth is that the ’24’ movie needs to be as edgy, inventive, and out-of-the-box as the series was when it first began, not just another action pic, and Billy Friedkin would or could certainly do that, I’m up for it if FOX and Imagine are…

Northern Star

July 3, 2012 at 2:08 am

“It’s curious how FOX is willing to spend millions to make “Prometheus” and “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter”, which turned out to be box office disappointments, and yet FOX won’t give the 24 film a reasonable budget.”

I cannot believe 20th Century Fox spent nearly $70m on ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ which has basically flopped big-time at the box office worldwide but they won’t put out a measly $45m for the ’24’ movie… anybody care to explain that logic, ‘cos I sure can’t…!?

mugisha paul

July 5, 2012 at 4:29 pm

how i wish we have another season of 24

Gerry Mander

July 5, 2012 at 11:10 pm

I think it’s appropriate that the series is over, it had run it’s natural course and went out on a high note with Season 8, but if FOX don’t want to give the movie the $45m budget that the Kief’ and Brian Grazer feel they need to do it right, then let Luc Besson’s Europa Corp (the company behind the ‘Taken’ and ‘The Transporter’ films among others) production company fund it and FOX can merely distribute it…

RorshachLives!

July 6, 2012 at 1:59 am

Or Fox could put up the $30million they only want to spend on the ’24’ movie, with Europa Corp putting up the remaining $15million, a more likely agreement I think… unless Fox come to their senses and actually give the ’24’ movie people the minimum $45million amount they’re asking for, then again pigs might fly!

X

July 9, 2012 at 8:46 am

If Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was a 69 million budget, its possible, since they shot it in Louisiana, that it only costs them about 49 million because of the huge tax cuts they get from Louisiana. Just saying that it allows them more freedom with the budget.

I’m not saying 24 should shoot there. It should shoot wherever looks appropriate for the setting.

Gerry Mander

July 9, 2012 at 10:38 pm

Judging by what both Kiefer Sutherland and Howard Gordon have said about the script for the ’24’ movie, it’s likely it will be shot in both Prague and London; with the former location being where the Eastern European-set scenes in the script will be filmed, and the latter location being where the U.K.-based scenes in the script will be filmed, with Barrandov Studios in Prague the likeliest place where the set-based scenes will be shot. As both locations are quite cost-effective to film in, I seen no reason why FOX could not put up the minimum $45m budget that Imagine are looking for, I would’ve thought that to be quite a bargain for a potential new movie franchise opener…