Academy, Tony, and BAFTA award winning actor Eddie Redmayne to star in and executive produce Sky & Peacock original series The Day of the Jackal

Produced by Carnival Films, which is part of Universal International Studios

Ronan Bennett (Top Boy, Public Enemies) will serve as writer and showrunner 

Brian Kirk (Game of Thrones, Luther) is attached to direct 

Sky and Peacock announced today that Academy, Tony and BAFTA award winning actor  Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse, Trial of The Chicago Seven and The Theory of Everything) will star in the new original television series The Day of the Jackal in the lead role of the Jackal. Redmayne will also serve as executive producer on the project. The series is based on the seminal Frederick Forsyth thriller and subsequent award-winning 1973 film adaptation of the same name from Universal Pictures. 

Redmayne most recently received critical acclaim leading to BAFTA, SAG and Golden Globe nominations for his chilling performance in Netflix's The Good Nurse, starring opposite Jessica Chastain. Redmayne gave his Academy Award winning performance in The Theory of Everything and has starred in award-winning projects including The Trial of The Chicago Seven, The Danish Girl  and Les Miserables. In 2022, Redmayne led the electrifying West End revival of Cabaret alongside Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley. The actor helped initiate the project and starred as The Emcee, for which he went on to win the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. The show won a record breaking seven Olivier awards total including Musical Revival. He has also graced the stage in The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, Now or Later, Richard II and Red, for which he also won Tony and Olivier Awards. 

The Day of the Jackal  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.

Irish screenwriter and novelist Ronan Bennett, creator and writer of the critically acclaimed global hit Top Boy, is attached as writer and showrunner. Bennett's writing credits also include the BBC One series Gunpowder starring Kit Harrington, as well as screenplays for films such as Face and Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Internationally award-winning Director Brian Kirk, whose television credits include Game of Thrones, Luther, Boardwalk Empire and feature film 21 Bridges is set to direct the series. 

The Day of the Jackal will be produced by Downton Abbey and The Last Kingdom producers Carnival Films, which is part of Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group and was commissioned by Sky Studios and Peacock. 

Gareth Neame, CEO & Executive Producer at Carnival Films said: "We are excited to bring to life Ronan Bennett's re-imagining of Forsyth's revered thriller in the complex world in which we live today and are incredibly fortunate to have an actor of Eddie's calibre as our Jackal. Paired with Ronan's screenplay and Brian Kirk's direction, this is a first-class creative team." 

Production on the series will commence this year. Gareth Neame and Nigel Marchant are Executive Producers for Carnival Films. Frederick Forsyth will serve as Consulting Producer and Christopher Hall is Producer. Sam Hoyle is Executive Producer for Sky Studios. 

The series will be available on Peacock in the US and on Sky in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. NBCUniversal Global Distribution will handle international sales of the series.