‘The Day Of The Jackal’ Renewed For Season 2 At Peacock & Sky

Peacock and Sky have a second season of The Day of the Jackal in their crosshairs.

The splashy 10-part adaptation starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch has been rating well on both sides of the pond and the renewal comes just over a week after premiere.

Adapted from the hit Frederick Forsyth novel by Ronan Bennett, Season 1 follows an unrivaled and highly elusive lone assassin, the Jackal (Redmayne), who 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 (Lynch) who starts to track down the Jackal in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake. Cast includes Úrsula Corberó, Charles Dance, Richard Dormer, Chukwudi Iwuji, Lia Williams, Khalid Abdalla, Eleanor Matsuura, Jonjo O’Neill and Sule Rimi.

The Day of the Jackal has been number one in Peacock’s top 10 most watched this week, according to Nielsen, and was Sky’s top-rated original of all time after seven days with 3 million viewers. It has sold to almost 200 territories globally, including SkyShowtime across Europe and Disney+ in Latin America.

EPs are Gareth Neame, Nigel Marchant, Sam Hoyle, Sue Naegle, Bennett, Brian Kirk, Redmayne, while co-EPs are Marianne Buckland and Lynch. Kirk, Anthony Philipson, Paul Wilmshurst and Anu Menon are directors. Universal International Studios-backed Carnival Films produces. NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution is the seller.

EPs Neame and Marchant recently spoke with us about how they wanted the show to be contemporary and eschew the political overtones present in the 1971 novel.