Carnival Films’ modern take on classic novel has swept up viewers across Europe and US 

Comcast stablemates Sky and Peacock have ordered a second series of The Day of the Jackal, following the soaring success of the updated adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s novel. 

The series pulled in 3m viewers in its first week since launching on 7 November to become the biggest Sky Original ever and the biggest launch on the pay-TV broadcaster in over two years. It has also become the biggest debut for a UK Sky Original across Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Ireland.

The 10-part series launched in the US on 14 November with weekly episodes and quickly claimed the top spot on Peacock’s top 10 shows, as well as being a top five streaming original in the US for its opening weekend, according to preliminary Nielsen data. In Australia, The Day of the Jackal is the highest rated new series launch of the year on Fox Showcase.

NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution has sold the programme to nearly 200 territories worldwide, including SkyShowtime across Europe, Disney+ in Latin America, Amazon Prime Video in France and Corus in Canada.  

The Day of the Jackal is produced by Carnival Films, part of Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group. It is a reimagined contemporary take on the events of Forsythe’s celebrated cat-and-mouse story and stars Eddie Redmayne as the elusive assassin known as The Jackal, with Lashana Lynch’s MI6 officer Bianca tasked with capturing him.  

The first series was written by Top Boy creator Ronan Bennett, who exec produced it alongside Redmayne, Gareth Neame, Nigel Merchant, Sam Hoyle, Sue Neagle and Brian Kirk, the latter of whom also directed it. Marianne Buckland co-executive produced it.  

Details of the recommission are yet to be released.