Eddie Redmayne is set to lead Peacock and Sky’s adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s classic thriller The Day of the Jackal.
The Day of the Jackal will be written by Ronan Bennett (Top Boy), while Game of Thrones‘ season one alumni Brian Kirk is attached to direct. The series will mark Eddie Redmayne’s return to the small-screen for the first time since 2012 war-drama Birdsong.
The official logline for the show states “The series is a bold, modern reimagining of the beloved and respected novel and film. While staying true to the DNA of the original story, this contemporary drama will delve deeper into the chameleon-like ‘anti-hero’ at the heart of the story in a high octane, cinematic, globetrotting ‘cat and mouse’ thriller, set amidst the turbulent geo-political landscape of our time.”
This will be the third time Frederick Forsyth’s thriller has been adapted from page-to-screen, with the 84-year old author set as a consulting producer on the series. The first was with Fred Zinnemann’s 1973 film The Day of the Jackal, which starred Edward Fox (Gandhi) and Michael Lonsdale (Moonraker) in the story of a professional assassin who is hired to target French president Charles de Gaulle. It was critically acclaimed and made a then-impressive $16 million at the U.S. box-office. Richard Gere and Bruce Willis starred in a 1997 remake directed by Michael Caton-Jones that was simply titled The Jackal, and while this wasn’t nearly as well received as the original film, it still grossed $160 million at the worldwide box-office.
Production is set to get underway later this year.
