Munich - Filming is under way on set of the Bavaria Fernsehproduktion, Sky Deutschland and Sonar Entertainment’s co-production Das Boot. The eagerly anticipated TV series has added Tom Wlaschiha (Game of Thrones), Vincent Kartheiser (Mad Men), James D’Arcy (MARVEL’s Agent Carter) and Thierry Frémont (Juste un regard) to the line-up. The series is shooting in Prague, La Rochelle, Malta and Munich.
The four join the international cast to star alongside Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex), August Wittgenstein (The Crown), Rainer Bock (Inglourious Basterds), Rick Okon (Tatort), Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread), Leonard Scheicher (Finsterworld), Robert Stadlober (Summer Storm), Franz Dinda (The Cloud) and Stefan Konarske (The Young Karl Marx). The eagerly anticipated series is directed by Andreas Prochaska, one of the most renowned German-speaking filmmakers, credits include Das finstere Tal (The Dark Valley) and Das Wunder von Kärnten (A Day for a Miracle), which was awarded the International Emmy. Prochaska’s further accolades include the Deutsche Filmpreis (German Film Award), the Romy, and the Bayerische Fernsehpreis (Bavarian Television Award).
The eight-episode event series is inspired by the Oscar® and Golden Globe® nominated masterpiece by Wolfgang Petersen and Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s bestselling novel of the same name. Budgeted at approx. 26.5 million Euros, over US $31.5 million, Das Boot will premiere end of 2018 in Sky territories Germany, Austria, Italy, UK and Ireland. Co-production partner Sonar Entertainment will handle international distribution in the rest of the world.
Moritz Polter, Oliver Vogel and Jan S. Kaiser, Executive Producers for Bavaria Fernsehproduktion, commented, “We are thrilled to announce more stellar additions to the cast line-up. The production team have worked very hard to create a real and authentic take on 1942 to highlight the harsh truth of warfare and we feel that this will bring depth and complexity to their characters. We welcome Tom, Vincent, James and Thierry on set of Das Boot.”
Elke Walthelm, Executive Vice President Programming Sky Deutschland: “I am thrilled that we were able to commence shooting for our next Sky Original Production. In Tom Wlaschiha we see an amazing actor join the cast, who has achieved international acclaim and who is well-known to our Sky audience from his role on “Game of Thrones”.”
“These latest casting announcements strengthen even further the tremendous global appeal of Das Boot,” said Jenna Santoianni, EVP, Television Series, Sonar Entertainment. “The talented actors in this production come from a cross-section of nations and cultures and the immediacy and intensity they bring to their characters is genuine and unaffected. This experience will be hugely impactful on screen and will resonate deeply with audiences.”
Tony Saint (Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley, The Interceptor) and Johannes W. Betz (Der Tunnel, Die Spiegel-Affäre) are the head writers. Executive Producers are Moritz Polter (Spotless, Crossing Lines), Oliver Vogel (Dengler, SOKO Stuttgart) and Jan S. Kaiser (Hotel Lux, Brecht) for Bavaria Fernsehproduktion; Marcus Ammon and Frank Jastfelder for Sky; and Jenna Santoianni (Taboo, The Shannara Chronicles) for Sonar Entertainment.
A story of choices and survival, Das Boot starts in autumn 1942, as U-boat warfare becomes increasingly brutal. While a very young crew put out to sea on a dangerous combat patrol, the Résistance rises in the U-boat port of La Rochelle. The plot is enriched with the warfare of the Allies on land and at sea. Buchheim’s key message - blind fanaticism pushing young men into a pointless war - will be the overall focus, which, unfortunately, in these times of terrorism hasn’t lost any of its relevance.