24 Showrunner/EP Updates Kiefer Sutherland-Starring Series Revival

Posted in: Fox, streaming, TV | Tagged: 24

24 Showrunner/EP Updates Kiefer Sutherland-Starring Series Revival

FOX's 24 Showrunner/EP Howard Gordon offered an update on where things stand with a revival of the Kiefer Sutherland-starring hit series.

Published Sun, 20 Sep 2026 10:37:09 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary

• Kiefer Sutherland says Howard Gordon has a strong new 24 revival idea and he wants to finish Jack Bauer’s story.
• A 24 revival faces Disney approval hurdles after the Fox sale, though Sutherland says meaningful progress has been made.
• Howard Gordon confirms a 24 pilot is in development, but says any Kiefer Sutherland return must be worthy of the series.
• The latest 24 update: the revival is in abeyance, not dead, and Jack Bauer’s fate may be explained before cameras roll.

To understand where things stand regarding a potential revival of FOX's 24, we have to take you back to 2025. In September 2025, Kiefer Sutherland shared some good news for fans of the Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran-created series. During an interview with Montreal Now host Aaron Rand (which you can check out below), Sutherland revealed that Showrunner/EP Howard Gordon had an idea on how to bring back Jack Bauer that he was a big fan of. "Howard Gordon has come up with an idea that I like. Before, the material had not been written, so I would have to say, 'I'm not the one that's in the way,'" Sutherland shared. "[But] something has been written. I think it's really good. I think it's really strong."

But before fans could start counting down the days, Sutherland noted that there were significant obstacles that would have to be cleared before Bauer's next mission. "'24' was originally with Fox. Now, it's owned by Disney because of what Fox has sold off, and so it has to go through different channels before it's either approved or disapproved," he explained. "Like everybody else, it's something I would really like to do. I would like to close that story. It was left kind of wide open. So, fingers crossed. There's a chance. We've taken some considerable steps forward."

During an interview with Deadline Hollywood in November 2025, Gordon confirmed Sutherland's comments while going into detail on both his interest and reservations about a return to the franchise."It's absolutely in process, there's something we are developing. They, meaning Disney [parent company of 20th TV] and such, have not committed to it, so it still is a process. Look, it's actually no secret, and this is worth saying. I, over the years, and obviously various iterations, not just with Jack, but, trying to spin it off with Corey [Hawkins], and with different people. I've also sat through dozens of pitches from other writers. I've developed a few. I even did a spin-off," Gordon shared. From there, Gordon noted that he viewed HBO Max's The Pitt as an example of a show that has successfully utilized the "real-time" approach but in a different genre.

"Anyway, back to the Kiefer of it all. I have such a nostalgia for that show, and I think Kiefer does too. One thing we couldn't figure out for a long time was a direction that ever held water, that sustained itself. This feels like it could be, but it's not formal, it's not done. And there's a part of me, Nellie, honestly, that also feels like, particularly at this point in my career and in my life, what I really don't want to happen is that it's not good because I don't think that's fair to the show. It's not fair to the fans, not fair to, frankly, to myself. So it has to be something that you connect to, or at least you tell yourself you're connected to. It may not turn out very well, but you have to at least believe that it's something," he added.

That brings us to the latest edition of Matt Webb Mitovich's Matt's Inside Line, with Mitovich sharing the latest on how things are looking directly from the source: Gordon. "Chip Johannessen and I wrote a pilot that [20th Television owner] Disney liked, and we really were in strong conversation about getting it going again," he said.Currently, though, "it's sort of in abeyance, that's the best way I can put it. I can't report it being alive yet, but it's not dead. I'd love to do [24] again, but only if it's the right show at the right time, and not just for the sake of doing it." Should the revival become a reality, it sounds like Jack's fate at the end of Season 9 may get addressed before the cameras roll. "You never know," Gordon teased, adding that in the "latest iteration" of the revival, Jack "may have gotten out off-screen. There are a couple of ideas kicking around, so we'll see."

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