|
 FOX
was working on two spin-offs based on 24 but those plans have changed. One would
have been a prequel dealing with the younger days of Kiefer Sutherland‘s Jack
Bauer character. The other would have been a legal thriller set across the 24
hours ticking down until a prisoner’s execution. According to FOX CEO Gary
Newman: “We feel the 24 format still has a lot of power and a lot of legs. Times
are fraught now, these are emotional times. Security continues to be a big
issue. In terms of the prequel, people love Jack Bauer and we would tell a story
that I think the audience would very much connect with – of how he became that
character. It would be set in the same world of security.” It wasn’t clear just
how young the new Jack Bauer would be but that was up to creators Joel Surnow
and Robert Cochran. As for the legal thriller: “The idea of moving the franchise
from terrorism and security into the legal world is something we talked about as
far back as season 3 or 4 of 24 where, from time to time, there would be
discussions of spin-offs. You have to look for an arena where the stakes are
high and time matters. The legal spin-off deals with an execution of a prisoner
and there are just 24 hours left until the execution is supposed to take place.
So the stakes are high and it potentially has a lot of the same values of the
original 24. Regardless of the political climate, the times always right for a
show of that type.” It wasn’t made clear why the network passed on the projects
but there will be another version of 24 at some point. A Japanese TV remake of
the property is still going to happen. |
