Jack Bauer has overcome many obstacles in his time. But he’s never had to do battle with development hell…
It’s been six months now since the television adventures of Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer ground to a halt in 24. But there was always the olive branch of a movie, which was being talked up around the time. Furthermore, Billy Ray (Shattered Glass) had taken a stab at the script, and there seemed to be progress.
There isn’t any more.
According to Assignment X, who spoke to executive producer Howard Gordon, the brakes have been applied to the project. Gordon revealed that “There was a script, but ultimately it wasn't the right proposition. It wasn't strong enough or compelling enough to the studio obviously to move ahead with it”.
Oh dear.
There is one glimmer on the horizon, though, and it involves Tony Scott. According to Gordon, “Tony Scott has an idea that he is going to run it by or has run it by Kiefer Sutherland. I don't know what the status of it is.”
Scott has long been linked as a possible Bond director in the past, and this may be the closest he gets to it. He doesn't strike us as the finest choice for the movie, though.
Plus, given that Fox had its fingers burned with its last TV-inspired blockbuster, The A-Team, we wonder if it might just be tightening its purse strings in the foreseeable future, and whether there’s a place at all for Jack Bauer in its upcoming movie slate. Time will, of course, tell…
Assignment X
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