James Bond's 24th film 'Spectre' debuted last year. Jason Bourne's last film was titled 'The Bourne Legacy.'
But Jack Bauer won't return in '24: Legacy' for some reason.
Check out all of our ongoing coverage of the TCA 2016 Winter Press Tour here. (Not familiar with the TCAs? Read our handy explainer).
The 2014 12-episode limited series 24: Live Another Day put the heroic Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) back in action, finding him in London on the run from CIA agents. The newest chapter of the 24 saga was a solid ratings hit, while also being well received by critics and earning three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Success breeds success, so fans can now look forward to another installment of 24, dubbed 24: Legacy.
Fox announced their order of the pilot for the (potential) new series today at the TCA 2016 Winter Press Tour. While the real-time action device that has made 24 so popular will remain intact for 24: Legacy, the new series will feature an all-new cast and characters. That means no Jack Bauer. 24: Legacy sees a military hero returning to the U.S. after the events of 24: Live Another Day, but trouble soon follows him. He must work with the Counter Terrorist Unit in order to prevent one of the biggest terrorist attacks ever seen within the borders of America.
As EW reports, Fox hasn't cast the pilot yet, but will be looking for an African-American lead to star as that military hero at the center of things, essentially replacing Sutherland's Jack Bauer as the protagonist. And while I was hoping for another J.B. action hero, it looks like the new "Bauer" will actually be named Eric Carter. Further changing things up for the latest 24 chapter, the plot won't focus solely on Carter but will pair him up with a female co-lead, as Fox Television Chairman and CEO Dana Walden revealed:
“There’s also a female co-lead who is a former head of CTU. It doesn’t feel like it is fully replicating the original in terms of how much Jack Bauer carried by himself, but it’s a very prominently featured lead.
“It’s a new CTU, a new cast of characters. It’s a completely different story in terms of the special ops groups that we’re focusing on. It’s a very contemporary-feeling story about the potential to activate new sleeper cells in the United States and radicalizing Americans. It’s a whole new story. There are nods in the pilot to prior CTU agents, there are a couple photos that will feel reminiscent of the original, but no ongoing [returning] characters.”
Here's the full press release for 24: Legacy, courtesy of Fox:
FOX has ordered the pilot 24: LEGACY, a potential new series installment of the groundbreaking and Emmy Award-winning drama franchise most recently revived as the event series “24: Live Another Day,” it was announced today by Dana Walden and Gary Newman, Chairmen and CEOs, Fox Television Group.
Howard Gordon (“Homeland,” “24”), Manny Coto (“24”) and Evan Katz (“24”) will serve as executive producers. The project will be produced by 20th Century Fox Television, Imagine Television and Gordon’s Teakwood Lane Productions.
The pilot will feature an all-new cast of characters and retain the real-time, pulse-pounding, fast-paced format with split screens and complex interweaving storylines, with each episode representing one hour of an eventful day.
The project 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.
Originally premiering on November 6, 2001, “24” was nominated for a total of 73 Emmy Awards, winning for Outstanding Drama Series in 2006. Over eight seasons, Kiefer Sutherland garnered seven Emmy Award nominations and one win for Outstanding Lead Actor – Drama Series. While the series gained global recognition, Sutherland’s portrayal of the legendary character penetrated the American psyche like no other dramatic television character to become part of the cultural lexicon.
The most recent chapter in the franchise, “24: Live Another Day,” was a 12-episode event series that premiered in the summer of 2014 on FOX, reuniting series stars Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kim Raver and William Devane. The series was both a critical and ratings hit, garnering three Emmy Awards.
