Fox Cancels ’24: Legacy,’ Will Explore Future Versions of Franchise

COURTESY OF FOX

Fox has canceled “24: Legacy,” the spinoff of the long-running espionage-action drama.

The network and studio 20th Century Fox Television are exploring future iterations of “24,” possibly as an anthology built around the real-time storytelling format of the original series. Fox said it was already at work with “24” producers on that model.

“24: Legacy” toplined by Corey Hawkins bowed with much fanfare after Fox’s Super Bowl telecast in February but the new version, which did not include original star Kiefer Sutherland, failed to catch fire with fans.

Fox has aggressively pursued revivals of several of its classic dramas in recent years. Although its recent “X-Files” event series ranked as one of the 2015-16 season’s most watched series, “24: Legacy” and Fox’s “Prison Break” revival fared poorly. In Nielsen live-plus-seven numbers, “24: Legacy” averaged a 2.1 live-plus-seven rating in the 18-49 demo, ranking it 34th among all broadcast series for the season.

In her review of “24: Legacy” for Variety, Maureen Ryan wrote, “24: Legacy” takes all those basics and executes them with rote diligence, without adding anything in the way of inspiration or relevance (unless you count the occasional appearance of drones). Many of the elements added or altered in this incarnation of the franchise are forgettable at best and questionable at worst. All in all, this generally clunky reboot serves as reminder of just how much “24” owes the gravelly voice and dependable charisma of Kiefer Sutherland, who serves as an executive producer but does not star.“

“24: Legacy” was executive produced by Howard Gordon, Brian Grazer, Evan Katz, Manny Coto, Stephen Hopkins, Robert Cochran, Jon Cassar, and Sutherland.