Fox have held out an olive branch to get Kiefer Sutherland playing Jack Bauer again in a revival of hit real-time drama 24.
Earlier this month the US network announced at the annual TCA press tour that it was considering ordering a new limited run revolving around 24's supporting cast.
Sutherland has previously suggested that he is unlikely to return to 24 following last year's Live Another Day miniseries.
But Fox co-chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman have now stressed that Sutherland is more than welcome to return for 24's new run.
"If [Sutherland] wants to, he'll be in it and it will be built around him," Newman told TV Insider. "That would by far be our preference.
"I think the idea of real-time is a powerful franchise. Rebooting 24 in another way, with a different character, is actually an exciting re-imagining."
Walden added that Fox executives were impressed by a "great pitch" for a Jack Bauer-less version of 24, but emphasised that they will take the time to plan the revival's best route.
"We don't want to rush it," Walden said. "There's a point Jack Bauer can come in and fit very organically in their story, but they were prepared to do something that would be the one instalment without Jack Bauer."
