Late last week it was reported by Variety that the 1981 hit film Das Boot, about a German U-boat in the second World War, was greenlit to be made into a TV series with a budget of roughly $28 million.
The series was approved by Rupert Murdoch’s pay-TV German platform Sky Deutschland and the German production company Bavarian Film. The series is a sequel to the 1981 film and is based off of the book series by author Lothar-Günther Buchheim.
The continuation of the series is set to play out over 8 hours worth of footage. The sequel is set to pick up straight after the original Das Boot concluded and will focus on the German perspectives of what happened during that time. Perspectives will shift at times however to focus on the French Resistance, as well as the Allied forces during the war.
Although the series will explore the action involved in the U-boat and the war, it will also be focused on the reasons why so many young men are driven to be involved in war.
In a statement from CEO of Bavaria Film, Christian Franckenstein said,
“Today, more than ever before, anti-war stories need to be told. The notions of war and terror are ubiquitous. The misguided actions of young men driven to commit acts of terror by false ideologies are obvious.
The 1981 film ‘Das Boot’ is unique, and we are approaching our work with the greatest of respect for this masterpiece. We want to build on the strong brand of ‘Das Boot’ and continue telling the story in a contemporary manner by making use of every filmmaking and storytelling technique available to us today.”
Although set to air across Sky territories in Germany, Austria, U.K, Ireland and Italy it is highly likely that a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon will also make a deal to claim rights to stream the series to customers.
The series is due to start airing in 2018.
What do you think, is a reboot of a 35 year old story something you’d be interested in watching?
Let us know in the comments.