If you were anticipating watching Kiefer Sutherland unleash his Jack Bauer power on the big screen in the film version of 24, you might want to find a book or something else to do as it looks like you’ll have to wait a bit longer for it: Entertainment Weekly reports that 20th Century Fox has rejected the latest script written by State of Play scribe Billy Ray.
But while it sounds like the film is currently in the sort of situation that, were it a problem for Jack on the show would usually end up with him attaching electrodes to somewhere sensitive on a henchman or villain, all is not necessarily lost.
"As far as I know, it is in suspended animation," veteran 24 producer Howard Gordon, tells the magazine’s site. "There is talk about re-approaching it. I understand Tony Scott is meeting with Kiefer to talk about ideas. People are still talking about it."
Everyone involved creatively still clearly wants to get the thing made and we doubt the studio would want to see a potential cash cow shuffle off to pasture before squeezing as much dosh as possible from it. So for now, we’re considering this a mere hiccup in the slow, inexorable ticking of the clock down towards 24 hitting our cinemas. And not a scenario that demands Bauer storm the Fox lot to start beating people up.