Cillian Murphy Wants To Return To His Greatest Character
Cillian Murphy has gone on record that he’d be willing to reprise his role as Thomas “Tommy” Shelby, the leader of the Peaky Blinders crime gang, according to NME.
But the kicker is that there has to be a logical continuation to the series. Luckily, it’s been reported that Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has been busy penning a feature-length spin-off film, which would function as a continuation to the series if developed and fully realized.
Cillian Murphy In Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders had a six-series run from 2013 to 2022, and Tommy Shelby is considered by many to be one of Cillian Murphy’s greatest characters.
In a recent interview with Margot Robbie on the Variety Actors on Actors series, the Oppenheimer star suggested that although the series is finished, he’d be open to reprise the role if the storytelling made sense.
Though he’s happy with the ambiguous way that the popular historical crime drama concluded, it seems like there may be more ground to cover.
Peaky Blinders As Part Of History
The sixth series of Peaky Blinders saw Cillian Murphy’s Shelby at odds with British Union of Fascists leader Sir Oswald Mosley.
What’s more, the series’s timeline, which started just months after the end of the First World War, left us in 1933 as prohibition was repealed in the United States, The Nazi Party began its rise to power in Germany, and the Irish Republican Army was in full swing in their fight against the British-backed Irish Free State.
Peaky Blinders Series Ending
In other words, though all six series of Peaky Blinders left us with a satisfying, yet ambiguous conclusion, we were also left with a world of chaos as the Irish Mob also had a rise to prominence leading up to World War II.
Though nothing is set in stone as of this writing, director Otto Bathurst has mentioned in the past that Steven Knight was actively working on a spin-off movie for the Cillian Murphy-starring series.
But it’s worth noting that Bathurst made this statement in 2018, ahead of Peaky Blinder’s fifth series’ production run.
When Bathurst was asked if he’d be directing the movie, he mentioned at the time that he hadn’t been asked yet.
Peaky Blinders Spin-Off Movie
While there is currently no production date for a Peaky Blinders spin-off movie, Steven Knight confirmed during the 2022 National Television Awards Ceremony that production would begin in Spring 2023.
But as we all know, the Hollywood labor strikes halted production for countless projects. Since Cillian Murphy is a SAG-AFTRA member, production would have been at a standstill, even if the project was green-lit.
No Official Casting
It’s also worth mentioning that if the script for the Peaky Blinders spin-off is actually finished, official casting hasn’t yet been announced.
But given Cillian Murphy’s love for Tommy Shelby and the series as a whole, it doesn’t seem like he’d need a whole lot of convincing the reprise the iconic role.
He’s already expressed a willingness to continue Tommy Shelby’s story if the script was solid, so it seems like it’s only a matter of time before we hear an official announcement.
Definitely Going To Happen?
Though we’re speculating as to whether Cillian Murphy will be involved with a Peaky Blinders spin-off, it seems like it’s definitely going to materialize at some point; it’s just a matter of when. We’ll circle back with more updates as we pick up on further developments.
