'Peaky Blinders' Movie Confirmed With Cillian Murphy Locked in to Return

A little more than a year after leaving the streets of Birmingham, Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy will reprise his role as gangster Tommy Shelby in the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie. Speaking to Birmingham World at the premiere of his new BBC drama The Town on Tuesday, series creator Steven Knight confirmed that a follow-up film to the hit BBC/Netflix period drama is in the works, with the Oppenheimer star "definitely" set to return.

"He definitely is returning for it," Knight said of Murphy. "We're shooting it in September just down the road in Digbeth [England]."

The British period crime drama, which followed the Shelby crime family after World War I and their rise to prominence and power, aired for six seasons between 2013 and 2022 originally on BBC Two before moving to BBC One, and eventually to Netflix. Along with Murphy, it starred Paul Anderson, Joe Cole, Harry Kirton, Sophie Rundle, Finn Cole, Tom Hardy, Annabelle Wallis, and the late Helen McCrory.

News that a film is in the works has been around for years. Back in 2021, Knight told Deadline, "I can say that my plan from the beginning was to end Peaky with a movie. That is what is going to happen." Ahead of the series finale on BBC in April 2022, he told Esquire in February 2022, "The film, I know exactly what it's about. And I know what two stories it's going to tell. 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."

Murphy, meanwhile, has been vocal about his willingness to return for the film, telling Rolling Stone last year, "If there's more story there, I'd love to do it. 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." 

Just last month, the actor told the Irish Star, "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."

Details about the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie, including other returning cast members, are unclear at this time. The film does not have a premiere date. All six seasons of the series can be streamed on Netflix.