The mind-boggling true story behind The Day of the Jackal as Sky’s ‘most expensive series ever’ finally hits screens

Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch’s highly anticipated new thriller series, The Day Of The Jackal, premiered on Sky on Thursday, much to the delight of fans – and it is reportedly the broadcaster’s ‘most expensive series ever’.

The Jackal (Eddie) is an elusive assassin who makes his living executing hits for the highest payday.

But he soon meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence recruit (Lashana), who tracks him down in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe.

Industry insiders say the budget for the series has been set at a whopping £100 million, with Oscar winner Eddie bagging a total of £10 million for his role as the titular character. The mirror.

However, most fans won’t know the partially true story behind the nail-biting reboot, based on Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 book of the same name.

It’s reportedly the broadcaster’s ‘most expensive series ever’, with a whopping £100 million budget

The book, the ten-part series, is based on commentary on the political climate at the time of writing.

Eddie’s character The Jackal is a professional assassin contracted by the OAS (Organisation armée secrete), which translates to ‘secret army organization’ and was actually a real group.

In the original novel, the dissident parliamentary group planned to assassinate the then President of France, Charles de Gaulle, which is also a real-life plot that unfolded.

The group’s motive was to prevent Algeria from gaining independence from French rule, something the president scheduled a referendum on in 1961.

In the book, their first attempts to kill him were based on real life, but everything that follows is fictional.

The series is being made by Carnival Films and has been commissioned by Sky Studios, which will then broadcast the expected series in the UK and much of Europe, as well as US streaming service Peacock.

The Mirror also reports that the huge wage Eddie earned was the ‘highest ever paid to a star’, but that is now becoming the ‘norm’ when big money companies like Netflix, Apple and in this case Peacock are involved.

A source said: ‘Many TV companies and broadcasters are struggling with tight budgets, but not with high-end drama for a global audience involving the streamers.

The Jackal (Eddie) is an elusive assassin who makes his living executing hits for the highest fee

Eddie’s character is contracted by the OAS (Organisation armée secrete), which translates to ‘secret army organization’ and was actually a real group

In the book, their first attempts to kill him were based on real life, but everything that follows is fictional

“If you can make a deal with any of them, you can absolutely break the bank.”

MailOnline has contacted Eddie’s representatives for comment.

Chukwudi Iwuji from Guardians Of The Galaxy, Charles Dance from Game Of Thrones and Ursula Corbero from Money Heist also appear.

It was adapted into a film by Ronan Bennett, the creator and writer of the critically acclaimed English crime drama Top Boy.

The Day Of The Jackal was directed by Brian Kirk, whose credits include Game Of Thrones and Luther.

The series is produced by Carnival Films, part of Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Eddie serves as executive producer, Lashana as co-executive producer and author Frederick as consulting producer.

Fellow executive producers Gareth Neame and Nigel Marchant, who both worked on Downton Abbey, spoke to GQ about the project.

Eddie serves as executive producer, Lashana as co-executive producer and author Frederick as consulting producer

Gareth said: ‘We both loved the book, and we saw the film when we were kids. I have seen the film many times in my life and have always had great respect for it.’

While they were initially cautious about tackling source material that carries so much appreciation, spreading the story on episodic TV seemed like too good an opportunity to turn down.

‘It’s such an iconic, gripping story, that we thought it would be really interesting to take this well-respected IP and develop it in this way to reimagine that in a contemporary context, with all the benefits of a multi-episode show.”

Nigel agreed: “I think so [this] The kind of title resonates with so many people… And yes, what is the advantage of telling this on a larger canvas?’

Gareth answered the main question of why the series is set in the 1920s and not the 1960s of the book and film: ‘If we had stayed in the past, why would we do that? You can’t make the movie better.’

The Day of the Jackal premieres on Thursday, November 7 on Sky Atlantic and Now TV