ACTOR Eddie Redmayne looks set to bank an eye-watering seven figures per episode of his brand new Sky TV drama.
Sky is currently working on a re-telling of the 70s thriller The Day of the Jackal with Eddie already signed up to lead the cast of the programme in the title role of the Jackal.
The channel is working a 10 episode remake with the drama bagging its biggest budget yet with a cool £100 million devoted to the project, according to the Mirror.
This in turn means that Eddie, 42, has been guaranteed a £1million payout per episode meaning he will bag himself a colossal £10million for the show’s entire run.
Sources told the Mirror that Eddie’s insane fee was thought to be one of the highest ever handed out to the leading star of a British drama.
They revealed to the publication: “This is pretty normal now when you look at what the streaming giants are willing to pay for huge global dramas.”
It also eclipses Sky’s previous biggest show, Fortitude, which had a £30million budget across an 11-episode run.
Sky Atlantic will air the show across the UK and Europe with Peacock, a US-based streaming service, already bagging the rights to air the show Stateside.
The Day of the Jackal became a blockbuster hit when it was originally released in 1973 starring Edward Fox.
It was based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth released two years prior.
The premise of the re-telling will see a highly-educated Jackal, played by Redmayne, will finally meet his match against a notorious MI6 agent named Biance.
Teasing what was to come from the big-budget thriller, Sky revealed: “The Jackal makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee.
“But following his latest kill, he meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer who starts to track him down in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake.”
Ronan Bennett, the creator of the gritty Top Boy has adapted the show for screens as well as working with Game of Thrones director Brian Kirk on the project.
Eddie has established himself as one of Britain’s leading actors after notching up more than a few awards including an Academy Award, a Tony Award as well as a BAFTA.
He originally succeeded in theatre with top roles in various West End and Broadway roles before going on to find even further fame in blockbuster hits such as My Week with Marilyn and Les Misérables in the early 2010s.
