'Das Boot': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and all you need to know about Hulu's adaptation of classic 1981 anti-war film
Legendary German director Wolfgang Petersen’s ‘Das Boot’ (1981) has long been considered one of the greatest German movies of all time. Based on a book by Lothar-Günther Buchheim, the film told the claustrophobic story of a World War II German submarine and its crew. The film is considered a masterpiece for its gripping portrayal of the futility of war.
Hulu is now all set to introduce a new TV series which serves as a sequel to the masterpiece. Here’s all you need to know about the show:
Release Date
News of the show’s production first surfaced in 2015 when Bavaria Studios, the company behind the original movie, announced that they were looking to relaunch the classic.
After completing filming in February 2018, the series was launched as an eight-episode series on the Sky Network on November 23, 2018.
‘Das Boot’ will arrive in the US on Hulu on June 17, 2019.
Plot
It is the autumn of 1942. The war is still raging on with no end in sight.
In the occupied French port of La Rochelle, submarine U-612 is ready for its maiden voyage with a crew of 40 young men led by the new captain Klaus Hoffmann. Thrust into a brutal and senseless war, the crew must face life in cramped and filthy quarters amidst rising tensions, all while struggling to survive.
A simultaneous story unfolds at the port of La Rochelle where interpreter Simone Strasser must negotiate her way in an increasingly dangerous world filled with betrayal and revolution.
Cast
Rick Okon plays the young Captain Klaus Hoffman. Okon is best known for his award-winning performance on 2011’s ‘Romeos’.
He is joined by an international cast including Lizzy Caplan (‘Masters of Sex’) as Carla Monroe, Robert Stadlober (‘Crazy’) as Hinrich Laudrup, Leonard Scheicher (‘Finsterworld’) as Frank Strasser, August Wittgenstein (‘The Crown’) as Karl Tennstedt, Tom Wlaschiha (‘Game of Thrones’) as Hagen Forster, Franz Dinda ('The Cloud') as Robert Ehrenberg and Rainer Bock (‘Inglourious Basterds’) as Gluck.
The show also features Vicky Krieps, who played the female lead on ‘Phantom Thread’ (2017), in the role of Simone Strasser, Frank’s sister who finds herself caught in the middle of a Resistance plot after he entrusts her with a mysterious package.
Creator
The series was directed by Andreas Prochaska, an Austrian film director and who is best remembered for his 2017 Western drama ‘The Dark Valley’.
“We’ve worked hard to entwine and differentiate the narratives of the upcoming Resistance in La Rochelle and the claustrophobic life aboard U-612. We believe that the energy created by cutting between the two storylines will keep audiences hooked and eager to know what is happening on the other side," he told Bavaria Fiction.
The submarine drama was created by writers Tony Saint and Johannes W. Betz based on the 1981 film with some material taken from Buchheim’s sequel to the novel version titled ‘Die Festung’.
Trailer
The show’s trailer gives a fast-paced peek at all the drama that is set to unfold on the show with the patrolled streets of La Rochelle providing a tense backdrop.
Trouble is shown brewing aboard the ill-prepared submarine while on shore, Simone Strasser is thrust into the world of conspiracies and treason by forces that make it clear that she is just a “little soldier” in a much larger war. The trailer ends with the message: “U-612 is missing”.
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