Real-life Day of the Jackal areas: How hit Sky TV present’s glamorous backdrops embrace Budapest, Vienna and the Croatian coast – and a VERY uncommon UK store
Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch‘s new thriller series The Day Of The Jackal has hit TV screens, described as the broadcaster’s ‘most expensive series ever’ – and its eye-catching locations across Europe have also intrigued both viewers and its stars.
The Jackal, played by Academy Award winner Redmayne, is an elusive assassin who makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee, in the latest adaptation of Frederick Forsyth‘s 1971 novel.
But he soon meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence offer, portrayed by Lynch, who tracks him down in a cat-and-mouse chase across Europe.
The cast and crew have spoken about just how widely across the continent the production sprawled for glamorous locations – including venues in Hungary, Croatia and Austria, some standing in for other countries such as Germany and Spain.
And the London scenes included not only iconic views across the Thames in the heart of the capital, but also a rather more unlikely shop setting south of the river.
Redmayne’s character The Jackal is professional assassin who gets contracted by the OAS (Organisation armée secrete), which translates to ‘secret army organisation’ and was actually a real group.
The series has been made by Carnival Films and was commissioned by Sky Studios, who are airing the series across the UK and much of Europe, alongside US streaming service Peacock.
Here, MailOnline looks at the real-life destinations grabbing attention on screen…
Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne stars in the new Sky adaptation of The Day of the Jackal
Stars of the new series are pictured at its UK premiere at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on October 22 – left to right: Hannah Bagshawe, Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch and Zackary Momoh
The Day of the Jackal. starring Eddie Redmayne, was released online earlier this month
The Jackal and Nuria’s Spanish villa
Úrsula Corberó and Eddie Redmayne are seen here as an on-screen couple whose home in The Day of the Jackal is said to be in Cadiz, Spain – though the scene was filmed instead in Croatia
Redmayne plays a paid assassin who keeps secrets about his professional life from his partner
The couple’s home villa featured in the series is seen here in the Croatian resort town Rabac
The property was among several locations in Croatia to play key roles in the 10-episode series
The idyllic home shared by Eddie Redmayne’s Jackal character and his girlfriend Nuria, played by Úrsula Corberó, is meant to be in Cadiz in southern Spain.
Yet the scenes were actually filmed at a villa in the Croatian resort town of Rabac.
That is in the coastal region of Istria and is just south-east of Labin, which also features prominently in the series with Redmayne spotted in its Old Town district.
Redmayne told Condé Nast Traveler this month how the show’s writer Ronan Bennett lives in Cadiz and his home’s design was an influence on the Croatian setting.
The actor said of Cadiz: ‘It’s so beautiful there, because it sort of feels like it’s the edge of Europe, and has influences from Africa, but you can wander around the streets and get lost and find beautiful little cafes.
‘It’s small enough that you can get a sense of it in a relatively short amount of time. There was this evening of flamenco. I’d never seen true flamenco like it—I found it profoundly stirring and moving.
‘We didn’t end up filming there, but in Croatia as well. There were some very beautiful villas that had been combined together with the art of production design. But a lot of influences were from Cadiz, like the architecture of Ronan’s house.
‘He let me take some photos and send them onto production design, so they could be woven into the fabric of the series.’
Norman the gunmaker’s house in Belarus
Gunmarker Norman Stone’s home in Belarus, as seen in the drama, in actually in Croatia
Eddie Redmayne filmed many of his Day of the Jackal scenes in Labin, Croatia
Filming for the new adaptation was seen taking place in Labin, Croatia, in September last year
Croatia’s Dalmatian coast also features strongly, including the island of Pag which stands in for Afghanistan in one of the later episodes in the series
The new The Day of the Jackal adaptation takes in settings including London and New York, Germany, Spain and Afghanistan among other global jaunts.
Yet Croatia was one of the most-used filming locations, with the cameras rolling in towns and cities such as not only the capital Zagreb but also Rijeka, Opatija, Lovran, Vrsi, Labin and the island of Pag.
Labin was used as a stand-in for Belarus, for a development in the second episode which sees a raid on a property used by weapon-maker Norman Stoke – played in the series by Richard Dormer.
Levente Leszák, a stunt co-ordinator on the production, praised Lynch’s performance in a clip shared by Sky on YouTube.
He said, on location during filming: ‘We have a shoot-out here, a couple of deaths – lots of firework explosions. It’s a really interesting and exciting scene.
‘Lashana has a very good martial arts background – she has been in a couple of really great action movies before, so she really knows how to move and handle the weapon.
‘It’s really different when you have an actor who can handle weapons like second nature.’
The German assassination site
Redmayne’s character was seen abseiling from a hotel balcony in the first episode’s opening
Although the storyline was set in the German city of Munich, it was actually filmed at the Strabag House building in the Donaustadt district of Austria’s capital Vienna
Eddie Redmayne’s Day of the Jackal character was also seen sitting on a bench in Vienna, which was standing in for Munich as part of the new series
The abseiling location in Vienna’s Donaustadt area, used in the new version of the 1971 novel
The dramatic opening to the first episode shows a mystery character, in his 60s, called Ralf by apparent colleagues at his office – only for it to emerge it is Eddie Redmayne’s ‘Jackal’ carrying out an attempted assassination.
Wearing heavy prosthetics, 41-year-old Redmayne is seen to have killed the person whose identity he assumes before launching an attack on Elias Fest, son of candidate Manfred Fest.
He is then shown abseiling from a high-rise building’s balcony as he makes his escape, in a scene set in the southern German city of Munich.
Yet it was actually filmed across the border in Austria, in the capital Vienna’s 22nd district of Donaustadt, at the city’s Strabag House property.
The 14-storey, glass-fronted building is home to construction firm Strabag as well as a contemporary art gallery.
Other scenes set in Munich but filmed in Vienna include Redmayne’s Jackal sitting on a bench and meeting one of his contacts, Zina Jansone as played by Eleanor Matsuura, who hires him for an assassination job.
Redmayne said: ‘One of the things I loved about the series when I read it is that it’s globe-trotting.
‘When I sit in on a rainy London November evening, I like to be transported to somewhere that’s aspirational, that’s beautiful.’
Railway station escapes
Eddie Redmayne was filmed leaving the iconic Keleti railway station in Hungary’s capital Budapest – portrayed in the new series as a train terminal in Spain’s Andalusia region instead
The Keleti stadium in Budapest is the country’s busiest – and the Hungarian capital features prominently in the new adaptation of The Day of the Jackal
Redmayne was also captured on screen in Budapest’s main Heroes’ Square
Heroes’ Square in Hungary’s capital Budapest features the Millennium Monument as well as hosting the Museum of Fine Arts which also appears in the new The Day of the Jackal series
Another transport venue included in the series is the Franjo Tudman International Airport in Croatia’s capital Zagreb
The airport in Croatia stand in, in the new drama series, for an equivalent location in Spain
The Hungarian capital Budapest is another seeming star of the series, perhaps most vividly its main Keleti railway station which Redmayne’s character is seen leaving.
He is then shown catching an underground train – before emerging up the stairs of another station, which was actually Gare de Lyon in the French capital Paris.
Other scenes set in Budapest include Redmayne strolling around the city’s historic Heroes’ Square, home to the Millennium Monument as well as the Museum of Fine Arts whose interiors are also featured.
Another transport terminal included in the series is the Franjo Tudman International Airport in Croatia’s capital, named after the country’s first president who ruled between 1990 and 1999 – though in the series, the venue is meant to be in Spain.
Redmayne has said of the diverse locations used for the series that he was struck by ‘the scope and scale of the project’, with ‘two things to be happening at once’.
He said: ‘We’re here shooting in this iconic square in Budapest, while simulatenously Lashana is in London with a whole other crew – I feel like the scope of it is pretty breathtaking.’
He recalled: ‘We spent a lot of time on the Dalmatian coast and we saw all sorts of different landscapes.
‘What I found extraordinary about Croatia was, there were so many beautiful beaches – then we were on this island called Pag that felt like we were on the moon.’
The Northern Irish contact meet-up
A key scene in The Day of the Jackal’s first episode involves Lashana Lynch’s MI6 weapons expert Bianca meeting a contact known as Sparrow (pictured, played by Kate Dickie) in London
The scene was filmed at the Sewing and Craft Superstore in Balham, south London
The company has shared an image of the shoot on its Instagram page
A key scene in the opening episode sees MI6 weapons expert Bianca, played by Lashana Lynch, meet her Belfast contact Alison Stoke – also known as ‘Sparrow’ – at a London location.
In contrast to some of the more glamorous continental shooting locations, this part of the plot took place in real life on Balham High Road in south London.
A store belonging to the firm Sewing and Craft Superstore was used – which involved shutting the door to customers in September last year.
The company lifted the lid on their role in the series when posting on Instagram last week, writing: ‘So, for those of you who remember us closing on September the 8th last year for secret reasons, it was because they were filming Day of the Jackal in our lovely store (which we let you all know about when we were allowed to).
‘The first episode aired last night (which is the one we are in, about three quarters of the way through) and is now available to stream, so check it out and see if you recognize the lovely fabric shop they are in and let us know in the comments if you do.’
Kate Dickie’s character was also screen walking alongside the Regent’s Canal in London
In the background was seen the Feng Shang Princess floating Chinese restaurant
Lynch’s character lives in Ladbroke Grove, north-west London, while the series also shows settings along the Regents Canal in the capital.
The backdrops include taking in the Feng Shang Princess floating Chinese restaurant along the waterway.
The show’s executive producer Gareth Neame said: ‘What we’re showing here is a British-led story but it’s all over Europe – and Europe is a sort of playground, if you like.’
He described their intentions as ‘building formidable sets’, in what he called ‘a very exciting, beautiful and visceral style’.
