After constant rumours of a film adaptation based on the award-winning television drama that is 24, Variety reports that a big-screen transfer is the next logical step for Twentieth Century Fox following eight years of the show.
According to US reports, the television network has picked up a pitch from established screenwriter Billy Ray, who penned the recent Russell Crowe thriller State of Play.
This new project has received a positive backing from the star of the real-time drama Kiefer Sutherland, who plays agent Jack Bauer.
Ray’s storyline would reportedly see Bauer travelling to Europe, although more precise details on what is going to happen have yet to made public. If the film is made, executives will seek to hold on to the creative team that worked on the series in order to maintain the same qualities, which made the show such a hit with fans and critics alike.
It will be fascinating to see how the show can be translated on to the big screen. The ‘real-time’ element must remain but obviously not over a 24-hour period, as that would be a very long film…
In addition, adapting television shows to films could lead to become a hit or a flop. In the case of The X-Files, a popular sci-fi show, two films were made during and after the series.
The first film entitled Fight The Future was a success back in 1998, taking in a box office around $84 million plus $105 million overseas giving a grand total of $189 million. A follow-up with The X Files: I Want To Believe in 2008 was less successful, no thanks for the show being off the air for six years. That film only grossed $68 million worldwide.
Hopefully the same group of writers and producers will maintain that 24 feel. Not to mention the period of filming the television show and making a film will have to be seamless (for continuity reason), although this will be difficult considering the production time in making the show.
Best of luck to Twentieth Century Fox and to writer Billy Ray. I would personally love to see Jack Bauer at my local cinema!
News articles on 24: The Movie. See the links below:
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=26967
http://www.totalfilm.com/news/jack-bauer-heads-to-the-big-screen
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/feb/09/24-film-kiefer-sutherland
Jack Bauer may finally hit the big screen. Though Fox has yet to decide whether to pick up a ninth season of 24, an insider confirmed that the film side is in talks with Billy Ray (State of Play) to write a screenplay for the franchise. Word is the scribe came in and pitched his version of the flick.
Any movement on a film may hinge upon the show’s future with the network; Fox toppers Peter Rice and Kevin Reilly will likely want to see how the show performs over the next few weeks before deciding whether to commit to another season of Bauer racing the clock. Through Jan. 31, 24 is down versus last year by 10% in total viewers (11.9 million versus 13.3 million) and by 15% in adults 18-49 (3.9 versus 4.6). The drama remains Fox’s third-most watched show behind American Idol and House.
A decision is needed soon; a source close to the show said the producers are preparing to write the 23rd and 24th episodes of the current season so they need to know whether to pen a series finale. Production on the drama is scheduled to wrap March 24.
In January, star Kiefer Sutherland told EW that he’d love to do a movie (“It would be a two-hour representation of a day”) and thinks the TV show can actually be done at the same time. ”I actually tried to convince a few people of this. In a media world that is changing unbelievably fast, a television series can either act as a great trailer for a film, or a film can act as a great trailer for a television series. And I think the first person who actually does that is going to change the way television interacts with feature films.
“I think the resistance to it is because, in my father’s generation, if you did films, you didn’t even think about television,” Sutherland continued. “That was a death knell. And if you did television, you wouldn’t be allowed to do films. That was when we had three networks. We have six hundred now, and if I want to see Paul Newman in a movie, I don’t have to go out. And so the game has changed. And I think we’re going to have to adjust with it.”
Source: Entertainment Weekly