Cinematical

24 is ridiculous, repetitive, and morally suspect -- and I love it with all my heart. I'm a card-carrying liberal, but I've offered to surrender my card if it means that I can jump up and down with glee as Jack Bauer yells "There's no time!" and shoots another terrorist in the kneecap. Close friend of Rush Limbaugh or not, then, co-creator Joel Surnow is one of my favorite people in Hollywood (he left the show earlier this year). And that means I'm excited about this announcement that Surnow and 24 co-producer Michael Loceff are collaborating to write and produce a new "contemporary spy thriller" for United Artists.

Surnow and UA have enlisted Casino Royale's Martin Campbell to direct the movie after he finishes the newly announced Mel Gibson thriller Edge of Darkness. The Hollywood Reporter speculates that this project might constitute an attempt by UA to find a viable franchise for part-owner Tom Cruise, though there's no official word that Cruise is going to star in the film.

The bad news, I guess, is that this probably means it'll be a while before we see that 24 movie that's been rumored for years now. (I still fantasize about it being called 2.) But maybe that's an opportunity for the show to get back into everyone's good graces after an unpopular sixth season and a writer's-strike-related delay of season 7. Meanwhile, as Jack Bauer would say, "tell me where the bomb is or I will kill your son." Wait, what? Never mind.