Actor Eddie Redmayne has been cast in 'The Day of the Jackal', an upcoming reimagining of Frederick Forsyth's novel and the film of the same name. He will also executive produce the thriller series.
Redmayne will play the Jackal, who is hired by the OAS, a French dissident organisation, to kill then-president of France Charles de Gaulle, reports 'Variety'. Redmayne recently starred opposite Jessica Chastain in Netflix's 'The Good Nurse'.
He is also known for playing Stephen Hawking in James Marsh's 2014 biopic 'The Theory of Everything', which earned him the Oscar for best actor. Redmayne's other prominent credits include 'The Trial of The Chicago Seven', 'The Danish Girl', 'Les Miserables' and the 'Fantastic Beasts' films.
Ronan Bennett serves as showrunner of 'The Day of the Jackal', which hails from Universal International's Carnival Films and was commissioned by Sky Studios and Peacock. The series will be directed by Brian Kirk.
Executive producers include Carnival CEO Gareth Neame alongside Nigel Marchant, as well as Sam Hoyle for Sky. Marianne Buckland serves as co-executive producer, Forsyth serves as consulting producer and Christopher Hall serves as producer.
Production of the series will begin this year. The series will stream on Peacock in the US and Sky in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
"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," said Neame.
"Paired with Ronan's screenplay and Brian Kirk's direction, this is a first-class creative team."