 The 1997 film is about an assassin nicknamed "The Jackal" who wants to assassinate a highly significant target, but other than that, it has little in common with the original story.Frederick Forsyth refused to allow his name to be used in connection with it, and director Fred Zinnemann fought with the studio to ensure that the new film did not share the first film's title.In 1988, the same plot inspired the Malayalam movie "August 1".