FOX officially confirmed today that they’re developing two spin-off shows of the hit series 24. The first will be a prequel focusing on the origin story of Kiefer Sutherland‘s character, Jack Bauer, and the second a legal thriller that will be set in the 24 hours ticking down until a prisoner’s execution.
“We feel (the 24 format) still has a lot of power and a lot of legs,” Gary Newman, CEO of FOX, said at TCAs (Via Entertainment Weekly) “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.”
Regarding the legal thriller spin-off, a deviation from the series’ usual plots but keeping the same format, Newman said: “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 spinoffs. You have to look for an arena where the stakes are high and time matters. [The legal version of 24] 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.”
Last year, Fox cancelled 24: Legacy, the spin-off series which starred Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton), Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Anna Diop (The Messengers).
The original 24 had 24 episodes a season (sometimes showing in blocks of more than one hour), each representing an hour in the life of Jack Bauer. It won the award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards. After its eighth season, the show beat out Mission: Impossible to become the longest-running U.S. espionage/counterterrorism-themed television drama in history.
