DEADLINE: What about 24‘s comeback as an event series at Fox? How did that come about?
GRAZER: The way it came about was Howard (Gordon), Kiefer (Sutherland) and I had been working on making 24 into a movie. We stayed on it but it never materialized in a movie form over concerns about moving the character of Jack Bauer so far outside of the original concept because of how much we loved the series. Meanwhile, Howard had a conversation with (Fox’s) Peter Rice, then they spoke with Kiefer, and, with help from (Fox’s) Kevin Reilly and (20th’s) Dana Walden, the project materialized as a 12-part event series for Fox. A lot of it was the unified synergy that lives inside News Corp that made this happen. And we were lucky that Kiefer wanted to do it because he does the role so well; he is on top of his game playing that character, a character that does things we all would love to do too but rules prevent us from doing.DEADLINE: 24 introduced binge viewing before it even existed. What do you think about the changing viewing habits?
GRAZER: There is evidence that people do want to watch shows back to back — that’s why DVR use is so high. When you’re able to DVR something, people will watch more than one episode. This is natural for us as 24 was one of those shows where people waited for the DVD set to watch it. The spirit of the way people watched 24 seems to have caught on with the viewing habits on other shows. And serialized television is now more popular than it was when we launched 24.
14 Comments
Comments ClosedShady
June 3, 2013 at 5:08 amJack
June 3, 2013 at 9:11 amQuestion for people who would be clued in to this – when roughly should we start seeing more information being released? I’m aware that filming is to start in January, and if so, when would the first trailer be released?
I know it’s all estimates/predictions at the moment, but just curious!
24bauerfan
June 3, 2013 at 11:16 amTrevor
June 3, 2013 at 11:28 amGuest
June 3, 2013 at 8:49 pmGerry Mander
June 3, 2013 at 11:21 pmThe concerns over the movie straying too far from the format are justified, and were maybe the other reasons for the studio’s hesitation on the movie. I’m not worried either way now, I’ve moved on from the prospect of a ’24’ movie, it works better as a long-form storytelling device and that’s where it should stay… onward and upward to 2014!
Let’s hope they bring Mandy back for ‘Live Another Day’…
Guest
June 4, 2013 at 12:44 amGuest
June 4, 2013 at 12:46 amTJ
June 7, 2013 at 11:01 amI also recall from past Kiefer interviews that “24” was often filming episodes in July-August for a January telecast. So, if the series airs in May, I would think they’ll begin filming some scenes in early December.
Besides the visual ads, I’m hoping to read more details about how the new series will work the real-time format and some clues on what the plotline, characters/cast and locations will be by September/October, when the regular TV “fall season” arrives. One would expect that all of those elements have to be resolved before any filming begins.
Catherine
June 7, 2013 at 4:20 pmNow we know why the 24 movie didn’t happen..but is it true ???
Gerry Mander
June 7, 2013 at 8:39 pmBut everything happens for a reason, things change, and I believe they were pushing for a ’24’ movie because up until a few months ago, it was believed the only way for ’24’ to continue was via the big screen treatment… but the limited series format was clearly a game-changer in that regard, and they discovered a way to keep ’24’ going whilst maintaining the long-form storytelling format that is the saga’s natural state.
I’m okay with that seeming sea change in attitude and outlook, I’ve really come around to the notion proliferated by some that ’24’ isn’t really suited to a feature film medium, it’s a creature of television, and that’s where it should stay if it is to continue. I’m thoroughly stoked about ‘Live Another Day'(even moreso if Mandy makes a return), the movie idea seems antiquated and somewhat archaic now, a twelve-episode limited series has the very real potential to be all killer and no filler and with feature-quality prosuction values to boot… plus we’re getting over ten hours of Jack Bauer kickin’ butt as opposed to two hours had the movie happened, what’s not to get excited about right there!?
Gerry Mander
June 7, 2013 at 8:59 pmCatherine
June 9, 2013 at 2:57 pmAnd I hope for you the beautiful Mandy will be back…
TJ
June 9, 2013 at 8:13 pmAs for wish lists for ’24’ alumni appearances:
“YES” list is any of Chloe, Tony, Kate Warner, Ethan Kanin, Tim Woods, Aaron Pierce, Lynn Kresge, Noah Daniels and – if even possible – Logan.
“NO” list is none of Kim, Mike Novick, Wayne Palmer, Allison Taylor, Suvarov, Brian Hastings and Morris.