Fox Is Returning 'Prison Break' -- and '24' Minus Jack Bauer
PASADENA, CA -- Even before the new X-Files reaches the air, Fox is dipping into its archives to revive two more well-remembered past hits: 24 and Prison Break.
Before 24 fans break into their happy dance, though, they should know one major caveat: The revived edition, called 24: Legacy, will have an entirely new cast. Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer is sitting this one out.
Prison Break, which will be an “event series” with a limited run, does have its stars back. Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell (top) will return to play Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows.
Neither of these shows has an air date yet, and 24: Legacy doesn’t even have a definite commitment, since Fox’s announcement Friday only said it was ordering a pilot.
But a pickup seems near-certain, since the original executive-production team of Howard Gordon, Manny Coto and Evan Katz is putting it together.
The original 24 ran from 2001 to 2010, with a 12-episode sequel in the summer of 2014.
Fox says the new 24 will have the same framework as the original show. Each episode will cover one hour in a day – though the series may run fewer than 24 episodes, so some hours will be compressed.
The lead character, who has not been cast, will be a returning military veteran named Eric Carter who gets involved with Bauer’s old CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) and must save America from a devastating potential terrorist attack.
“It will be a different CTU with a different cast of characters,” Fox Entertainment Co-CEO Dana Walden told TV writers Friday. “We never say never, but there are no plans to bring back any past cast. There may be some references or pictures in the pilot, but no ongoing characters. It will be a contemporary-feeling story. We don’t feel it will be fully replicating the original.”
Fox released no further details about the revived Prison Break, whose original edition aired 2005-09.
Walden said the idea for the new show came from Miller and producer Paul Scheuring, who will be joined by the show’s original production team.
Fox is also mining popular culture history next fall with a two-hour Rocky Horror Picture Show special, and it was announced Friday that one more of the stars from the original production, Tim Curry, will return as narrator.
Entertainment Co-CEO Gary Newman said a pilot for a series based on the Sylvester Stallone Rambo movies is still in development. Stallone, once reported to be a producer on the project, is no longer involved.