The '24' movie will be set six months after the end of the TV series.

The long-awaited big screen spin off is scheduled to begin shooting in the coming months and its star Kiefer Sutherland - who plays government agent Jack Bauer - believes it will be a "continuation" of the television storylines as it is set soon after the events depicted in the eighth and final series of the programme, which ended in May 2010.

He said: "The status on the movie is that, hopefully, we will be shooting the end of April, beginning of May.

"I see it as a continuation. The Script that we've got right now, which I'm very, very excited about, is relatively a direct continuation. It's within six months from the end of the last episode. We'll see where it goes from there."

Kiefer confirmed that, unlike in the TV show, events in the movie will not be played out in real time.

He said: "It's two hours, representing 24 hours. The movie is not in real time. It's a two-hour representation of a 24-hour day."

However, the actor refused to say which of his co-stars will be joining him in the film.

Asked if the rest of the cast will return, he said: "I can't say that."