Kiefer Sutherland is one pissed off Jack Bauer after a dispute over budget and salaries caused 20th Century Fox to slam the brakes on the movie version of his hit television show, 24 , according to a report by TheWrap.
The conspiracy-terrorism-action film was in pre-production phase and scheduled to begin shooting next month. However; because Fox refused to greenlight a budget higher than $30 million, while Sutherland and producer Brian Grazer feels the low $40s is a more reasonable range, the project has come to a halt.
Although a Fox spokesman has confirmed the movie was on hold, they denied it was over a money dispute.
“We’re still working on a script, and hope to make [it] when Kiefer next has time,” the spokesman told the Wrap. “But this all came down to timing, and seven weeks is not enough time to prep a movie like this.”
However; some 24 movie insiders contradict that statement. They argue that Sutherland is absolutely furious that Fox offered him only $1 million upfront to do the movie and weighted the bulk of the compensation on the back-end . The actor, who is also producing the movie, initially demanded $5 million, according to a source.
Negotiations between the two sides reportedly broke down after differences could not be ironed out in a Wednesday afternoon meeting. As of now, the April date to begin production is up in the air.
Kiefer Sutherland is currently promoting his new Fox Television Network series, Touch.which debuts March 22. There is no word on how this conflict will have an effect on that situation.
