Ranking Frederick Forsyth’s Adaptations Per IMDb Rating ( Photo Credit – Facebook )
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Frederick Forsyth, the acclaimed British author of The Day of the Jackal and other classics such as The Odessa File, The Dogs of War, and The Kill List, passed away on Monday, June 9, 2025. Born in 1938, Forsythe began his military career in his teens, becoming the youngest pilot in the Royal Air Force at 19.
His earliest writing experiences began as a military journalist. He joined Reuters in 1961 and moved on to the BBC four years later. During the Nigerian Civil War between the Biafran and Nigerian factions, Forsyth became a maverick when the BBC resisted his desire to continue covering the conflict.
Going freelance, he independently wrote his account of the war in 1969, which became his first published book titled The Biafra Story. Ranked below are six classic shows and films based on Forsythe’s work for you to watch out for.
Forsyth’s iconic The Day of the Jackal was also his debut fiction novel. In an Author’s Note on a reprinting of the novel, Forsyth revealed that he was pushed into a writing career for financial reasons, saying that he never had ambitions to be a writer, but went for it anyway because he was “skint, stony broke.”
Nonetheless, the novel, which incorporated the writing techniques he’d honed as a journalist, was released in 1971 to critical acclaim. The novel won the Edgar Allen Poe award, and would be adapted to both the big and small screens multiple times.
Forsythe’s legacy of writing acclaimed novels that became Hollywood darlings would continue with many of his following works, which are listed below in order of their IMDB ranking, along with details on where you can watch them:
6. The Dogs of War (1980 film)
Streaming On: Prime Video (Rent)
IMDB rating: 6.3
Director: John Irvin
Plot: This Hollywood film is an adaptation of Forsyth’s 1974 novel of the same name. The film stars Christopher Walken as the mercenary Jamie Shannon, who gets embroiled in a political conflict in the Central African nation of Zangaro.
The film explores themes of political corruption and the military-industrial complex, with various wealthy backers funding the proxy war in Zangaro, and Jamie being forced to decide where his loyalties lie.
5. The Fourth Protocol (1987 film)
Streaming On: Prime Video (Rent), Apple TV
IMDB rating: 6.5
Director: John Mackenzie
Plot: Based on Forsyth’s 1984 novel of the same name, the film stars Michael Caine as MI5 officer Edward Preston and Pierce Brosnan as KGB agent Valeri Alekseyevich Petrofsky. The story is a Cold War thriller that explores the aftermath of a 1968 East-West agreement to halt nuclear proliferation.
The film delves deep into the world of Cold War espionage, focusing on a false flag operation plotted by KGB agents to strain the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States.
4. Love Never Dies (2012 film)
Streaming On: Prime Video (Rent)
IMDB rating: 6.6
Director: Brett Sullivan and Simon Phillips
Plot: This musical film is written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and loosely based on Forsyth’s The Phantom of Manhattan. Both the film and Forsyth’s novel were written as sequels to the 1910 public domain novel The Phantom of the Opera, originally authored by Gaston Leroux.
The story picks up ten years after the original The Phantom of the Opera’s ending and follows the lives of Meg Giry and Christine Daae, who cross paths with the Phantom once again while chasing their dreams. Prior to adapting Forsyth’s novel, Andrew Lloyd Webber had also adapted the original Phantom of the Opera into a musical in 1986.
3. The Odessa File (1974 film)
Streaming On: Prime Video (Rent), Apple TV+
IMDB rating: 7.0
Director: Ronald Neame
Plot: The film is an adaptation of Forsyth’s second novel of the same name. The story follows Peter Miller, an intrepid reporter who uncovers the existence of the titular Odessa. This sinister secret society aims to protect former Nazis who’ve gone into hiding after Germany’s defeat in the second World War.
Peter’s crusade is kicked off after he comes across the diary of Salomon Tauber, a Jewish Holocaust survivor who died by suicide. Discovering that SS officer Eduard Roschmann was Tauber’s greatest tormentor, Peter resolves to hunt him down regardless of what Odessa does to stop him.
2. The Day of the Jackal (1973 film)
Streaming On: Prime Video (Rent)
IMDB rating: 7.8
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Plot: This is the first film adaptation of Forsyth’s iconic debut novel. The 1973 film and the original novel both follow a plot revolving around the infamous assassin known as “The Jackal,” who wants to kill the then-president of France, Charles de Gaulle. The Jackal is, in turn, pursued by French authorities led by detective Claude Lebel.
The opening premise of the story is based on true events, as the French far-right terrorist organization OAS really did attempt to murder Charles de Gaulle in 1962. However, the follow-up plotline featuring the Jackal’s second assassination attempt is fictional.
1. The Day of the Jackal (2024 TV series)
Streaming On: Peacock, JioHotstar
IMDB rating: 8.1
Created by: Ronan Bennett
Plot: This 2024 streaming series is the latest adaptation of Forsyth’s iconic debut novel. It has run for eight episodes and stars Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch in leading roles. The series focuses on the cat-and-mouse chase between the legendary assassin “The Jackal,” AKA Alex Duggan, and MI6 agent Bianca Pullman.
Unlike the original novel and film, the storyline is not based on the real-life assassination attempt of Charles de Gaulle in 1962 but is set in the modern era.
Frederick Forsyth Was A Remarkable Man In Real Life Too
Aside from his acclaimed work as a fiction writer, Forsyth was also notable for his fascinating real-life exploits. For instance, there had been longstanding speculation that Forsyth had been working with MI6 as an informant, which Forsyth would eventually confirm in his 2015 memoir, The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue.
Frederick Forsyth is survived by his two sons from his first marriage with Carole Cunningham, Frederick Stuart and Shane Richard. His legacy in Hollywood pop culture and spy fiction seems set to endure.
![The Dogs of War (1980) Original Trailer [FHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4W2rW4KVvMc/hqdefault.jpg)
![The Odessa File (1974) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1tpINADkyJg/hqdefault.jpg)
![The Day of the Jackal (1973) - HD Trailer [1080p]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CyBjYTnqomY/hqdefault.jpg)
