It looks like we haven’t seen the last of gangster Tommy Shelby after all. Speaking to Birmingham World at the premiere of his new BBC drama “The Town,” “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight confirmed that recent Oscar winner Cillian Murphy will be reprising his beloved role in the upcoming film version of the British crime drama. Knight said Murphy is “definitely” coming back, and filming on the “Peaky Blinders” movie kicks off this September.
“He definitely is returning for it. We’re shooting it in September just down the road in Digbeth,” Knight confirmed.
Variety has reached out to Murphy’s representatives for additional comment.
Murphy’s apparent return as Tommy Shelby for the “Peaky Blinders” movie isn’t too much of a shock considering the “Oppenheimer” star has long been vocal about his interest in starring in a “Peaky Blinders” film as long as the script was worthy enough.
“If there’s more story there, I’d love to do it,” Murphy told Rolling Stone U.K. last year about a “Peaky” movie. “But it has to be right. Steve Knight wrote 36 hours of television, and we left on such a high. I’m really proud of that last series. So, it would have to feel legitimate and justified to do more.”
Murphy told the Irish Star just last month ahead of winning the Oscar: “I have always said that if Knight delivers a script that I know he can deliver, because he is such a phenomenal writer, I’ll be there. … If we want to watch 50-year-old Tommy Shelby, I will be there. Let’s do it.”
During a conversation for Variety‘s Actors on Actors between Murphy and “Peaky Blinders” superfan Margot Robbie last year, she mentioned the series, saying, “Can we please talk about Tommy fucking Shelby for just one minute?” She then asked him about a potential spinoff movie, begging him to do one, to which Murphy said: “I mean, I’m open to the idea. I’ve always thought that if there’s more story to tell.”
“Peaky Blinders” originally premiered on BBC Two overseas (its final two seasons moved to BBC One), but after the show arrived on Netflix its popularity exploded. The series finale aired in April 2022, but Knight never hid his intentions to continue the story in a movie.
“The film, I know exactly what it’s about. And I know what two stories it’s going to tell,” the creator told Esquire even before the series finale aired. “What will happen after that, I want that to depend on the film. For all we know somebody is going to pop out – I think I know who it’s going to be.”
