Fox Orders Pilot For New '24' Series With Young Black Hero To Succeed Jack Bauer

Deadline

Updated 15 January 2016 at 12:58 pm

After the 24: Live Another Day event series, which extended the original series with another chapter featuring Jack Bauer & Co., Fox is going for a full reboot with 24: Legacy, a new ongoing series with all-new characters. Fox has given a pilot order to the project, from the 24 trio of Howard Gordon, Manny Coto and Evan Katz, which has Brian Grazer as executive producer. Original star Kiefer Sutherland is not expected to reprise his role as Bauer or be creatively involved in the project.

The new 24 series will revolve around a military hero’s return to the U.S. and the trouble that follows him back – compelling him to ask CTU for help in saving his life, and stopping what potentially could be one of the largest-scale terror attacks on American soil. I hear the twentysomething man, Eric Carter, was conceived as an African American, and the actors considered and approached for the part so far all have been black. Depending on how the casting process goes, I hear the character’s ethnicity could change but he will remain diverse. The female lead is a woman with a long history at the agency, a former head of CTU. 24: Legacy which retains the original’s real-time format with split screens and complex interweaving storylines, each episode representing one hour of an eventful day. Stephen Hopkins, who directed the original 24 pilots, is on board to direct the 24: Legacy.

There will likely be mentions of former CTU members from the original 24 series, including with photos, but there are no plans for any to have ongoing presence on the new series.

The pilot order comes after Gordon, Coto and Katz delivered a script, written by Coto and Katz, in December, which was very enthusiastically received at Fox.

24: Legacy is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, Imagine Television and Gordon’s Teakwood Lane Productions. Howard Gordon, Brian Grazer, Manny Coto, Evan Katz and Kiefer Sutherland are executive producers.

The original series, which ran for 8 seasons, was created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran. It won an Emmy for best drama series when Sutherland won for best actor in a drama series.