Das Boot will hit the high seas for a second season after Sky Deutschland renewed the big-budget wartime drama series, which was inspired by the 1981 Oscar-nominated movie of the same name.
The freshman season of the show premiered Nov. 23 on the Sky pay-TV platform in Germany. It has netted 1.13 million TV viewers and a further 1.9 million on Sky catchup and non-linear services during the first 10 days it was available, the company said.
Two episodes of the series run back-to-back on Sky on Fridays, with all eight installments available on-demand and on Sky’s streaming service. The sophomore season will enter production next year.
“From the beginning, we were convinced that we could create something extraordinary together with our partners, featuring a multilayered yet entertaining story and an outstanding cast,” said Marcus Ammon, SVP of original production for Sky Deutschland. “Now we’re looking forward to working on a second season.”
The series is produced by German studio Bavaria Fiction and Sonar Entertainment, which sells it internationally. The cast includes Rick Okon (“Tatort”) and Lizzy Caplan (“Masters of Sex”).
Inspired by Wolfgang Petersen’s movie and Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s novel, the series was filmed in multiple European locations. The first season opens in 1942 in occupied France and follows the journey of German submarine U-612 on its maiden voyage. It also follows events on land and the efforts of the French Resistance.
Bavaria’s Moritz Polter and Oliver Vogel highlighted the contemporary relevance of the war series. “’Das Boot’ symbolizes the futility of war by revealing its horrors at sea and ashore in an accessible way in order to reach new generations of viewers,” they said in a joint statement. “In this day and age, we mustn’t lose sight of the past so that we can continue to appreciate peace in Europe and not assume it as a given.”
The series had a $33 million budget but, with sales into over 100 territories, is generating an international return on that hefty investment. Hulu has acquired it for the U.S.
