It looks like the on again, off again 24 movie is back on again. Kiefer Sutherland threw fresh fuel on the 24 movie fire when he spoke to MTV about his new, huge contract for the television show.

Kiefer says the 24 movie is happening, and that the script is currently in development. When do they start shooting? “It's something that we would shoot for doing next summer, during the next break,” he says. That means there’s no reason to stop the show in order to transition to the big screen. They “actually believe that they can co-exist," Sutherland affirms. "The series can go and the films can go — or film — can go."

So what’s the movie about? How will they work in the show’s real time format into a feature film? Will they call the movie 90 Minutes, and give Jack an hour and a half to save the world? Sorry, no. The movie will be twenty-four hours edited down into two hours like every other pic. “That would be the first time that we would not do something in real time, but the characters would obviously all be derivative of the show." Same cast, same characters, same crazy, world saving plots. Completely different format.

You’ve got to admit, that makes sense. The real time format just won’t work as well in a one shot movie format. What may not make sense to some fans is when Kiefer says they’ll set it. The movie won’t take place between season timelines. Instead, Kiefer says there’s a chance the movie may go for one of the most dreaded cinematic cop-outs imaginable: the prequel. Whether it takes place before the show or during the ongoing timeline depends mostly on where they are whenever they get around to making it. It would probably help if they had a finished script. “The timing issue] is something the writers are working on right now," Sutherland said. "But the sky's the limit at that point for them, because we would not be restricted by the time element."

The good news is that if it’s a prequel, they may resurrect some fan favorite, now dead characters. Even better news for you “24” fans is that he’s hoping they’ll turn this into a whole series of features. Flush with fresh “24” money, Kiefer seems ready to spend pretty much the rest of his life playing Jack Bauer.