24 (TV series) creator Robert Cochran
Relation to other productions
Immediately prior to 24, series co-creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran executive-produced La Femme Nikita for its entire five-year run on USA Network. Both series deal with anti-terrorist operations, and the lead characters of both series are placed in situations in which they must make a tragic choice in order to serve the greater good. There are numerous on- and off-screen creative connections between 24 and La Femme Nikita. Several actors from La Femme Nikita have portrayed similar roles on 24, a number of story concepts from La Femme Nikita have been revisited on 24, and many of the creative personnel from La Femme Nikita worked on 24 in their same role.Similar to the 1997 film, Air Force One, 24 featured the president's personal jumbo-jet (Air Force One). Air Force One was featured in 24 seasons 2 and 4. Air Force Two (carrying the Vice President but not the President) was featured in season 6. Several actors featured in 24, such as Xander Berkeley, Glenn Morshower, Wendy Crewson, Timothy Carhart, Jürgen Prochnow, Tom Everett and Spencer Garrett also appeared in the film Air Force One. The 25th amendment, which deals with succession to the Presidency and establishes procedures for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President and responding to presidential disabilities, was also a shared theme between the film and the television series. 24 used the same Air Force One set from another television series, The West Wing.Feature film development
A feature film adaptation of 24 was originally planned for the hiatus between the sixth and seventh seasons. Series co-creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran were set to write the script with showrunner Howard Gordon working on story. Filming was going to take place in London, Prague, and Morocco. Plans for the film were later put on hold. Kiefer Sutherland explained, "It's impossible to ask writers to work on the show and then come up with an amazing film we can shoot in the break between seasons."It was later decided that the film would begin after the conclusion of the eighth and final season. It was to be set and shot on-location in Europe. Surnow, Cochran, Gordon, and Sutherland were going to be executive producers on the film, and Billy Ray was going to write the screenplay. Shooting was planned to start in late 2010 or early 2011.In April 2010, Sutherland said in an interview at a BAFTA event in London that the script was finished and he would be reading it upon his return to the United States. He also said that the film will be a two-hour representation of a twenty-four-hour time frame. Sutherland described the film production as "exciting" because, "It's going to be a two-hour representation of a 24 hour day, so we were not going to be restrained by the real time aspect of the TV show."In June 2010, it was reported that plans were made to create a film titled Die Hard 24/7, which would serve as a crossover between 24 and the Die Hard franchise, with Sutherland to reprise his role as Jack Bauer alongside Bruce Willis' John McClane. However, these plans never came to fruition, with the studio instead opting to create the film A Good Day to Die Hard.In November 2010, executive producer Gordon revealed that a "work in progress" screenplay was being read by Fox, but that the film did not yet have a green-light or fixed schedule. In December 2010, Gordon revealed that Fox turned down the script by Ray, stating, "It wasn't strong enough or compelling enough". By that time, Gordon was no longer involved with the project, but stated that director Tony Scott would pitch an idea to Sutherland, an involvement ending with Scott's death in August 2012.
Executive producer Brian Grazer tweeted in April 2011 that the film was planned for a 2012 release. At the 2011 Television Critics Association press tour, former showrunner Gordon stated that "conversations are definitely happening" about the film, and that they are just looking for the right script before moving forward. In September 2011, Sutherland indicated the script was almost complete. After some small script alterations by screenwriter Mark Bomback, filming was announced to begin in spring 2012, after Sutherland became available in April.In March 2012, 20th Century Fox stopped production before filming could begin. Budgetary issues remained unresolved and Sutherland's narrow time frame for filming were cited as reasons for halting production. However, in July 2012, Sutherland assured the film was still in plans and that they would begin filming in summer 2013. The film was eventually suspended in May 2013 after the announcement that the show would return as a limited series.Sutherland said in January 2014 that "the film is an ongoing situation." After Live Another Day received highly positive reception, a new idea for the feature film surfaced in September 2014, spearheaded by Grazer. In January 2016, Sutherland stated that he has "no idea if the 24 movie will ever happen, or Jack Bauer might end up finding his way into an episode one day and clarifying all of that, or ending all of that." This was in reference to concluding his character's story arc in a future iteration of the franchise.Other spin-offs
In July 2018, it was announced that Fox was in the early stages of developing a prequel series that would tell the origin story about Jack Bauer in his early days. Original creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran and executive producer Howard Gordon were set to write the script with. In August 2018, it was announced that Fox was also developing another potential spin-off, which would be a legal thriller. In February 2019, Fox passed on the legal thriller, but were continuing to develop the prequel. In January 2020, Fox confirmed that they had scrapped the potential prequel series as well.In September 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Fox was in "active creative talks" to bring the franchise back in a new form. Kiefer Sutherland later denied in January 2022 that such conversations were taking place, although he confirmed that he had been discussing the potential for future seasons of the show with Howard Gordon, the series' showrunner, and that he supports an idea of a series focusing on an entirely new cast tasked with rescuing Jack Bauer from a Russian prison. He later went on to tell Variety in April 2022 that he is open to new seasons of the show, as he views Jack Bauer's story as "unresolved".
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