Fox Brings '24' Out of 'Exile' With New Movie

16 Aug, 2008 By: John Latchem

24: Exile

In preparation for the delayed debut of the seventh season of ô24,ö producers have prepared a new TV movie, 24: Exile, leading into the new storyline.

"This is the return of '24,'" said Jyoti Sarda, executive director of TV DVD marketing for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

The feature-length event is slated to air Nov. 23, then makes its way to DVD Nov. 25 (prebook Oct. 29) at $26.98 from Fox.

The 24: Exile DVD will include an extended edition of the movie with more than 10 minutes of unaired footage, plus behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast and crew commentary, a recap of the sixth season and the first 16 minutes of the first episode of season seven, which premieres in January.

Filmed on location in South Africa, the movie finds anti-terrorist agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) involved in an African uprising on the day of the inauguration of a new American president, played by Cherry Jones.

"It is a standalone film, with a beginning, a middle and a very dramatic end," Sarda said. "It has the same real-time feel as the show, but it's a much bigger scale."

The DVD also includes a featurette about the use of children as soldiers in third-world countries, which is explored in a subplot in the movie.

Short prequels were produced for the DVD boxed sets of seasons three, four and five to tie into their respective subsequent seasons. The season-six boxed set did not include a prequel to season seven, but producers decided to make a feature-length ô24ö movie to whet fansÆ appetites after the writers strike forced Fox to delay the airing of season seven for a year.

ôWe want to reintroduce fans to the æ24Æ franchise,ö Sarda said. ôNew viewers could jump into the show with this particular feature. The storyline breaks from previous seasons.ö