Award-winning actor Kiefer Sutherland (“24,” “Designated Survivor,” “The Lost Boys,” “A Few Good Men”) has signed on for Clint Eastwood’s next film, “Juror No. 2,” per The Hollywood Reporter. Sutherland will star in the movie opposite Nicholas Hoult, who leads the upcoming legal thriller, slated for a Summer 2023 shoot.
Kiefer Sutherland Joins Growing Cast For Clint Eastwood’s ‘Juror No. 2’
Sutherland joins the cast along with the Oscar-nominated Toni Collette (“The Sixth Sense,” “United States of Tara,” “About A Boy”) and Zoey Deutch (“Zombieland: Double Tap,” “Something From Tiffany’s”). The story follows a family man, Justin Kemp (Hoult), serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial. He then faces a grave moral dilemma, which he could use to either sway the jury verdict and potentially convict the wrong killer or help the innocently accused person go free.
THR reports that Sutherland will portray Hoult’s Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor in the film. Collette is depicting the murder trial prosecuting attorney, and Deutch will play the wife of Hoult’s character.
Eastwood is directing a script from Jonathan Abrams. The hand had reportedly been going around Tinseltown for 15 years before Eastwood picked the project as his follow-up to his 2021 film, “Cry Macho.” The Academy Award-winning filmmaker is also producing the movie with Adam Goodman under Goodman’s Dichotomy banner, Tim Moore, Matt Skiena, and Jessica Meier.
While Sutherland has not worked with Eastwood before, his father, actor Donald Sutherland, starred along with Eastwood in the comedic World War II movie, “Kelly’s Heroes,” released in 1970. The younger Sutherland recently starred in the Paramount+ original series, “Rabbit Hole,” which concluded its first season earlier this month on the streamer.
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While film and television productions have not yet reached a complete halt, there is an ongoing labor strike with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Meanwhile, the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, recently called for a strike authorization vote on June 7. The current SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP contract is slated to end on June 30. If the union does not reach a new agreement with the AMPTP before June 30, the actors could join the writers on the strike picket lines this summer.
On top of that, the Directors Guild of America’s (DGA) contract with the AMPTP also expires on June 30. That could also stop directors working on union productions and a potentially widespread shutdown of the entertainment industry. However, the DGA and SAG-AFTRA both have until June 30. SAG-AFTRA is scheduled to begin negotiations with the AMPTP on June 7. The DGA has already started its talks. If the actors vote yes for strike authorization, they give their National Board the power to call a strike against the AMPTP if a new deal is not reached.
During a recent interview with ET Online, Sutherland revealed he was open to a possible return as Jack Bauer for the “24” franchise. Sutherland starred in the show throughout nine seasons from 2002 to 2014. A spinoff, “24: Legacy,” debuted in 2017 and ran for 12 episodes. The show was later canceled.
“Juror No. 2” is slated to go in front of the cameras later this year. Warner Bros. is expected to release the film in theaters later on.
