‘The Day of the Jackal’ Is Sky’s Biggest New Show Launch (Exclusive)

The Day of the Jackal is officially the biggest new series to ever launch on Sky, The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively reveal.

With the first episode reaching a U.K. audience of 4.5 million after 26 viewing days, it makes the thriller series — starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch — the most popular Sky Original launch ever, scripted or unscripted. A Sky panel made up of Phil Edgar-Jones, executive director of original unscripted; Jamie Morris, executive director of content strategy & performance; and Meghan Lyvers, executive director of original scripted, U.K. and Ireland, is set to go into more detail on the numbers at Content London on Wednesday.

The NBCUniversal-owned streamer renewed The Day of the Jackal for a second season last month. On Peacock, the show ranked among the top five original streaming series in the U.S. for its opening weekend, based on preliminary Nielsen data.

The series is based on a 1971 novel by Frederick Forsyth, which was previously adapted into a 1973 feature film. The series follows a cat-and-mouse game between a chameleonic assassin (Redmayne) and an MI6 agent (Lynch) who’s determined to catch him. The series has two episodes left to air, with the finale set to hit screens on Dec. 12.

According to Barb, seven of the top 10 Sky shows this year were Sky Originals productions. Sky Original drama, in 2024 in particular, has achieved its best performance in the broadcaster’s history with titles like The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Sweetpea and The Day of the Jackal all launching to audiences of over two million. 

This year also saw a number of other achievements for Sky Originals, including its highest-rated premium documentary series ever (The Body Next Door), its largest theatrical release to date (Lee), best comedy launch for three years (Mr Bigstuff), Sky Nature’s biggest audience for two years (Secret World of Sound with David Attenborough) and the biggest ever overnight audience for a Sky Arts show (Portrait Artist of the Year season 11).

“2024 has been an extraordinary year for Sky’s original programming across all genres. We’ve delivered an unmissable line up of shows, exemplifying our renewed strategic focus on creating premium content that we are truly proud of,” said Cécile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of Sky Studios CEO & Chief Content Officer for Sky. “This year marks our best performing year for Sky Original drama in our history, which is particularly gratifying at a time when audiences are spoiled for choice. It’s a privilege to bring Sky customers such compelling, high-calibre programming, and I’m excited to show our audiences what is coming next.”

See Sky’s top 10 show ranking for 2024, as of the time of writing and according to Barb’s 28-day series average, below.