Sky Germany Orders Second Season of 'Das Boot' Series

The TV sequel to Wolfgang Petersen's classic submarine drama, starring Vicky Krieps, Tom Wlaschiha and Thierry Fremont, was a ratings hit on Sky in Germany.

Sky Germany has greenlit a second season of Das Boot, its TV sequel to Wolfgang Petersen's classic submarine drama.

The first season of the WW2 drama, which is set after the events of Petersen's 1981 film, was a ratings hit for Sky, with more than 1.13 million viewers catching the limited series on TV and a further 1.89 million watching the eight-episode series on demand.

Sky announced Thursday that it has commissioned a second season of Das Boot, together with co-producers Bavaria Fiction and Sonar Entertainment. The second season is set to begin production next year.

The plot of the Das Boot series picks up the story in the fall of 1942, after the British have cracked the German navy's Enigma code and have turned the tide in the submarine war. Fatalities among German submarine crews has shot up, making every mission akin to suicide. The series follows the U-612, which launches from occupied France on its Maiden voyage. The series follows both the crew on board, under command of Captain Klaus Hoffmann (Rick Okon), and the lives of those left behind, including Simone Strasser (Vicky Krieps), a woman caught between loyalty to the Germans and to the French resistance, who is hiding a dangerous, and forbidden, love affair.

Budgeted at just over $30 million, Das Boot co-stars Tom Wlaschiha (Game of Thrones), August Wittgenstein (The Crown) and Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex). Andreas Prochaska (The Dark Valley) directed.

The Das Boot series has been sold to more than 100 countries worldwide, with Hulu taking the series in the U.S., Starzplay picking up rights in France and across South America, and SBS acquiring Australian rights, among others. Sky bowed the series across its European network in Germany, Austria, Italy and the U.K.

