Italian
Eddie Redmayne has confirmed he is returning for “The Day of the Jackal” Season 2.
The series, in which Redmayne plays mysterious mercenary the Jackal, was renewed last month.
For fans who haven’t seen the Sky and Peacock adaptation of the 1972 book and 1973 feature film starring Edward Fox as cold-blooded assassin the Jackal, the news is sure to be confusing.
The original sees the Jackal hotly pursued across Europe in a high-stakes cat and mouse chase by a dogged detective — played by Lashana Lynch in the new adaptation — before one of them must perish when they eventually meet face to face.
Those who have watched the Sky/Peacock version — including it’s expectation-defying season finale — will know there is more story for Redmayne to tell.
Popular on Variety “If there’s one thing that the Jackal can’t stand, it’s a loose end. So we will see you soon for Season 2,” Redmayne told fans in a video message on Instagram.
The show’s producer Gareth Neame recently admitted he was not keen to reboot the property, having been a huge fan of the original film. “I think eventually the business imperative took over, and I said, ‘Well, alright, we need some business, so we’ll [do it].’”
Lead director Brian Kirk told Variety earlier this month that the decision to upend audience’s expectations about who dies was baked into the reboot from the beginning. “I think that that there’d been such an intense investment in the character of the Jackal, and so much excitement about how much further he could be taken, and that’s been validated by the fact that there’s a second season,” Kirk said. “It’s about growing the IP… and it is ‘The Day of the Jackal’ it’s not ‘The Day of the Person Who Kills the Jackal.’ So it felt appropriate.”
