Cillian Murphy to return for Peaky Blinders film, creator Steven Knight confirms

Cillian Murphy will reprise his role as gangster Tommy Shelby for the upcoming Peaky Blinders film, creator Steven Knight has confirmed.

The Oppenheimer star won legions of fans for his performance as a member of the notorious Shelby family in the BBC drama, which ran for six series from 2013 to 2022.

The movie follow-on, which will continue the story of the family, is due to start filming in Birmingham later this year.

Discussing whether Murphy will return for the film, Knight told Birmingham World on the red carpet for his new BBC show: “He definitely is returning for it.

“We’re shooting it in September just down the road in Digbeth.”

The original series followed the Shelby family, a gang rising to prominence in post-First World War Birmingham.

Knight previously shared some details of the film’s plot as the TV series was coming to a close.

He said: “I don’t see it (the last series) as the end of the (Peaky Blinders) world because I see it as the end of the beginning.

“Peaky – in this incarnation – comes to an end, but we’re doing a film which will also carry on the family and the stories into the Second World War.”

Discussing the film in a recent interview with Esquire magazine, Knight revealed: “The film, I know exactly what it’s about. And I know what two stories it’s going to tell.

“How the story will unfold, I don’t know. 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.”

He also said that series six of the BBC show brought in a “new generation” and they will feature in the film.

“I think it’s finding those actors that you just watch and you think, there you go. There’s the future,” he added.

It comes after Irish actor Murphy completed his sweep of awards season as he landed an Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer earlier this month.

The actor also won a Golden Globe, a Bafta and a Screen Actors Guild award for his starring turn as theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s biopic about the father of the atomic bomb.