The '24' movie will begin shooting in spring.

20th Century Fox have given the go-ahead to the big screen spin-off of the popular US TV series - which came to an end after eight series earlier this year - with a proposed schedule hinged on when renowned writer Mark Bomback delivers a new version of Billy Ray's original screen play.

Mark is expected to submit his script early in the new year, meaning filming on the movie - which will see Kiefer Sutherland return to the role of Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) agent Jack Bauer - can begin a few months later.

According to Deadline.com, the studio currently has around five directors in mind to helm the project, which has been in the pipeline for several years.

Kiefer has previously spoken of his "excitement" about the film, which will see '24' change from its usual real-time format in order to cope with the limitations of cinema.

He has said: "It is going to be a two-hour representation of a 24 hour day, so we were not going to be restrained by the real time aspect of the TV show. With the TV show we always had to have the crisis come to us because we couldn't move. Twice we put Jack on a plane and it was a disaster.

"This will be different - it will be very feasible to get from Eastern Europe to England in the course of 24 hours! And the crisis can be more personal - it doesn't have to be a huge bomb, it doesn't have to take out the rest of the world. It's very exciting."