Sutherland gets $40M for 3 more seasons of '24'

Jack Bauer is ready to take on terrorism in three more round-the-clock sessions of 24.

Kiefer Sutherland has signed a new three-season deal to play the special agent, the Fox network announced. The Canadian actor will be paid $40 million US, according to Variety.

The series about a fictional counter-terrorism unit in Los Angeles battling terrorist plots that involve nuclear warheads, chemical weapons and killing the president has 24 episodes, each dealing with one hour in the day.

24 has resumed its ratings success in its fifth season, after a temporary dip in season four.

"The extraordinary support we have received ... has made a difficult show like 24 succeed on all levels, and for that I'm truly grateful," Sutherland said in a statement. "I am thrilled to extend my commitment to all my friends and colleagues at 24, and I'm looking forward to this expanded relationship with 20th Century Fox."

Sutherland, who calls 24 "one of the most creative and rewarding experiences of my career," will become executive producer of the show.

"In his years on 24, Kiefer has demonstrated an incredible understanding of what makes for a compelling story or character, and he brings a passion to the process of making television that extends well beyond his own performance," says Fox co-president Gary Newman.

Sutherland won a Golden Globe for the 2002 season of 24 and has been nominated for four Emmys.

He said he is considering a film version of the series, but does not yet have a script that equals the quality of the TV show.

This spring, he will star in The Sentinel, about a disgraced special agent trying to foil a plot to assassinate the president. His voice is also behind the lead lion in the Disney animated feature The Wild, to be released this weekend.