csaIf you can’t get enough of Kiefer Sutherland racing the clock on TV, you may very well be in luck – there’s talk of a big screen version of 24 heading to theaters in the next couple of years.

Of course, a movie that followed the exact structure of the show – one exciting day shown in (something resembling) real time – would be an excruciating pain to sit through. God knows I have been to enough movies that felt like they were 24 hours long. So they won’t be going that route.

Says the show’s Canadian director/producer Jon Cassar: "The last I heard, the first hour will not be in real-time, but then something big will happen and real time will kick in. It still has to be worked out — it’s at a stage where they need to write it."

And as for what the story is, Cassar is keeping mum. Actually, he’s keeping dumb – the film probably won’t get started for two years, and he doesn’t really know what the storylines on the show will be and what will need to be reflected in the film. You can bet that it will involve terrorists, though, and that a number of characters will get into dumb predicaments on occasion. And that heroic Jack will be able to get from one part of LA to any other within about four minutes.

I am wondering if this means that 24 is only being planned to last 2 more years. It’s almost unheard of for a TV show to spawn a theatrical feature while it’s still on the air – The X-Files did it and it was a mixed result. The movie made some money but never seemed to break out of the show’s fan ghetto. Standard thought says that there needs to be some time between the ending of a show and its revival as a film for people to really feel that it’s special.