The movie based on the conspiracy-terrorism-action show was in pre-production and set to start shooting next month, but has now ground to a halt because Fox will greenlight a budget no higher than $30 million, while Sutherland and producer Brian Grazer feel the budget needs to be in the low $40s at its tightest.
A Fox spokesman confirmed that the movie was on hold, and said it was related to timing.
"We're still working on a script, and hope to make [it] when Kiefer next has time," said the spokesman. "But this all came down to timing, and seven weeks is not enough time to prep a movie like this."
But insiders on the project refuted that version of the situation. According to them, the Fox television star feels insulted that Fox has offered him a relatively measly salary of $1 million to do the movie. Update: A Fox insider says that this fee was proposed, but it came in the context of negotiations over the fee, which is weighted toward a reward on the back end. In another round, the insider said, Fox offered $2 million.
Sutherland, who has helped Fox make hundreds of millions of dollars off the hit show and is represented by CAA, wanted $5 million. (He is also the producer.)
