What To Expect From The Day Of The Jackal

Perhaps Hollywood’s shiniest star of the 2010s – starring in the likes of My Week With Marilyn (2011), Les Misérables (2012), The Theory of Everything (2014) and The Danish Girl (2015) – Eddie Redmayne takes on a role unlike any of his others in The Day of the Jackal: an assassin. Here’s exactly what to expect from Sky’s brand new thriller.

Eddie Redmayne as The Jackal. (© 2023 Carnival Film & Television Limited)

The Day Of The Jackal: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

In the works since 2022, Sky’s flagship series this autumn is this star-studded series. Written by Ronan Bennett and directed by Brian Kirk, Eddie Redmayne has been attached to the project as an executive producer since the very beginning, with the actor describing the original book as ‘reconceived and contemporised with a new target’ for the series. In March 2023, it was confirmed Redmayne would star in the title role, too.

Lashana Lynch as Bianca. (© 2023 Carnival Film & Television Limited)

What Is The Day Of The Jackal About?

The Day of the Jackal is a political thriller centring on a ruthless British assassin and the intelligence officer tasked with capturing him. Sky’s synopsis reads: ‘An unrivalled and highly elusive lone assassin, the Jackal (Eddie Redmayne), makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. But following his latest kill, he meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer (Lashana Lynch) who starts to track down the Jackal in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake. The series also stars Úrsula Corberó as Nuria, someone at the heart of The Jackal’s personal life, unaware of who he truly is.’

Get a taste of the action in the trailer below.

Where Was It Filmed?

The Day of the Jackal was filmed across Europe in 2023, beginning in Budapest in June, before moving to Vienna in July. As autumn drew in, it was over to Croatia, with filming taking place in Rijeka, Pag, Dubrovnik and the Istrian region.

Eddie Redmayne as The Jackal. (© 2023 Carnival Film & Television Limited)

What Is It Based On?

The Day of the Jackal is based on Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel of the same name. Critically and commercially acclaimed, Forsyth’s plot whisks us back to 1962 and begins with paramilitary terrorist organisation OAS’s real conspiracy to assassinate Charles de Gaulle, the President of France. In the book, the Jackal is tasked with the job. Forsyth’s novel was an instant bestseller – perhaps because it was published less than a year after the real de Gaulle actually died (of an aneurysm; he wasn’t assassinated). Sky’s series, however, moves the action to contemporary Britain.

If you recognise the plot, that’s because this isn’t the first time The Day of the Jackal has been adapted for the screen: in 1973, Edward Fox portrayed the Jackal in the book’s first film treatment, before Bruce Willis took on the role in the 1997 remake which re-set the action in the US, with the First Lady the assassination target.

Úrsula Corberó as Nuria. (© 2023 Carnival Film & Television Limited)

The Cast

• Eddie Redmayne as The Jackal
• Lashana Lynch as Bianca
• Úrsula Corberó as Nuria
• Charles Dance as Timothy Winthorp
• Richard Dormer as Norman
• Chukwudi Iwuji as Osita Halcrow
• Lia Williams as Isabel Kirby
• Khalid Abdalla as Ulle Dag Charles
• Eleanor Matsuura as Zina Jansone
• Jonjo O’Neill as Edward Carver
• Sule Rimi as Paul Pullman

Eddie Redmayne as The Jackal. (© 2023 Carnival Film & Television Limited)

What Is A Jackal?

‘Jackal’ is the assassin’s codename in The Day of the Jackal. So what is a ‘jackal’? In the wild, a jackal is a canine mammal, smaller than a wolf but bigger than a fox. Found in Africa, the Middle East, Southeastern Europe and western and south Asia, jackals are opportunistic omnivores and predators of small to medium sized animals and, like foxes, typically hunt and scavenge at dawn and dusk. In conversation, however, to call someone a jackal is to describe them as cunning, dishonest and treacherous – and someone who performs base deeds for another.

How Many Episodes In The Day Of The Jackal?

The Day of the Jackal is a 10-part series, with each episode running for 60 minutes.

Úrsula Corberó as Nuria. (© 2023 Carnival Film & Television Limited)

Release Date

The first five episodes of The Day of the Jackal launched on Sky Atlantic and Now on Thursday 7 November 2024, and the following five episodes will air weekly on Thursdays. The release schedule is as follows:

• Episodes 1–5: 7 November 2024
• Episode 6: 14 November
• Episode 7: 21 November
• Episode 8: 28 November
• Episode 9: 5 December
• Episode 10: 12 December

Over in the US, The Day of the Jackal will launch with the first five episodes on Peacock on 14 November, followed by weekly episodes until a double finale on 12 December.