Yahoo News Everything we know about Sky’s Day of the Jackal remake
Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch star in the new mini-series
Iconic hit-man drama The Day of the Jackal has received the remake treatment, with the writer behind hit series Top Boy bringing this tense cat-and-mouse thriller to the small screen. Based on Frederick Forsyth’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name, The Day of the Jackal was famously adapted by Universal Pictures in 1973 in a movie starring British actor Edward Fox as the lead.
Cut to 2024 and Top Boy creator and screenwriter Ronan Bennett takes the reigns as showrunner, enlisting a crack ensemble cast to reimagine Forsyth’s story in a mini-series format. Read on to explore the exclusive case files for Bennett’s The Day of the Jackal remake.
When is The Day of the Jackal being released?
The Day of the Jackal remake will start airing on Thursday 7 November on Sky Atlantic. The mini-series will consist of 10 episodes, with Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire filmmaker Brian Kirk acting as its lead series director.
For those without a Sky package on their telly, Sky Atlantic can also be accessed via a NOW membership. Meanwhile, audiences in the United States can watch The Day of the Jackal on Peacock.
What is The Day of the Jackal about?
Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal centres on an assassin (Eddie Redmayne) known by the codename Jackal, who is hired by the Secret Armed Organisation (OAS) in a plot to kill French President Charles de Gaulle.
Sky’s interpretation of the story takes things in a new direction, in the reimagining the Jackal is still an assassin who carries out professional hits for the highest fee. Given the modern setting his target is not Charles De Gaulle, but neither is it any real contemporary figure.
The Jackal meets his match in Bianca (Lashana Lynch), a tenacious and determined British intelligence officer who gets onto his trail after a shocking assassination. As she draws closer to him the Jackal does all he can to avoid her grasp, creating a thrilling cat-and-mouse game that drives the story forward.
The new adaptation gives viewers a deeper look into the life of the Jackal too, with creator Ronan Bennett telling The Telegraph of the decision: “Edward Fox plays a very enigmatic character. You never see him at home — he’s a man of mystery. That can work over two hours of film but it won’t work over 10 hours of television, it’s just not feasible.
“So I thought, how can I retain the aura of mystery but at the same time give him a life that is consistent with his day job, which provides him with the opportunity to do what he does but also fleshes out the character a bit more?”
Is there a trailer for The Day of the Jackal?
Urban cityscapes, European backdrops and loaded weapons all feature in the first teaser trailer for The Day of the Jackal remake. At the centre of each of these elements is the Jackal himself — a slick and slippery hired killer chameleon who, according to the trailer’s narrator, “never looks the same way twice.”
Watch it below:
Is The Day of the Jackal worth watching?
TV critics have praised the small-screen adaptation of The Day of the Jackal ahead of its release.
The Telegraph said the Sky Atlantic thriller “begs for 10 episodes of your time", while Digital Spy called it a “hell of a thrill” and applauded the “spot-on performances” of Redmayne and Lynch. The Financial Times said the new show is “slick” and “contemporary”, but is “perhaps better thought of as a standalone” than a remake of the 1973 film.
The Irish Independent was less impressed by the “long” and “baggy” mini-series, saying it has “too many uninteresting characters” and “unbelievable shootouts and car chases”. Read the full reviews below:
The Telegraph: Eddie Redmayne is truly compelling in 21st-century reboot
Digital Spy: The Day of the Jackal is a compulsive but conventional watch
Financial Times: Eddie Redmayne is a steely hitman in gripping cat-and-mouse yarn
Irish Independent: No one wants to know about the assassin’s private life – the whole point is he’s an enigma
Who stars in The Day of the Jackal?
As mentioned above, Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne plays the Jackal, a brutal killer who has managed to survive his trigger-happy career by staying one step ahead of those out to get him. Unfortunately, things change for the Jackal when British intelligence officer Bianca, played by James Bond’s Lashana Lynch, decides to bring him to justice.
Money Heist’s Úrsula Corberó stars as Nuria, one of the few people that the Jackal allows into his personal life but somebody who remains in the dark about the true nature of his work.
Elsewhere, Game of Thrones actors Charles Dance and Richard Dormer appear as Timothy Winthrop and Norman respectively. Guardians of the Galaxy’s Chukwudi Iwuji plays Osita Halcrow, while The Crown’s Lia Williams plays Isabel Kirby and The Kite Runner’s Khalid Abdalla plays Ulle Dag Charles.
The cast also includes The Walking Dead actor Eleanor Matsuura, Andor’s Jonjo O’Neill, Slow Horses star Nick Blood as Vince, Classified’s Sule Rimi and EastEnders’ Florisa Kamara.
The Day of the Jackal will be released on Sky Atlantic, NOW and Peacock on 7 November.
