Stephen Knight makes bold claim about Cillian Murphy’s role in Peaky Blinders film

Exclusive: The hit BBC show’s creator has teased what to expect from the ‘phenomenal’ movie version

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has teased what to expect from the new movie spin-off, which stars Cillian Murphy in the wake of his first Oscar win for Oppenheimer.

The show, which starred Murphy as gangster and businessman Tommy Shelby, came to an end in 2022 after six seasons and will wrap up with a follow-up film, The Immortal Man, as opposed to a seventh series.

Netflix is releasing the film, which wrapped production in December, following its successful acquisition by the streaming service in territories outside the UK. On Netflix, it gained global popularity, making it one of the BBC’s biggest hits of the last 20 years.

Speaking to The Independent, Knight revealed he’s set to watch the first completed cut of the movie in the next fortnight, but said he’s delighted by the footage he’s seen so far.

“What fans can expect is something completely phenomenal,” he said. “I know, I would say that – but we’ve got the best actors and the best British cast you could possibly get in one place.”

New cast members Barry Keoghan, Tim Roth and Rebecca Ferguson “all excel” in their roles, and according to Knight, Murphy, who won Best Actor for his role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, “is at his best”.

He described his performance as “remarkable”.

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has shared what fans can expect from forthcoming film (Getty Images)

The new Peaky Blinders film will see Thomas Shelby come up against Nazis during the Second World War in the period where Britain stood alone against Germany and its allies before the US joined the fight.

Knight revealed he isn’t at all nervous about fan reception to the film, despite heavy anticipation among the devoted fan community.

“I think if you write things to second guess what an audience wants, you’ve already probably failed,” he said of the stresses fan anticipation might bring.

Barry Keoghan and Cillian Murphy in the untitled Peaky Blinders movie (Netflix/Robert Viglasky/PA Wire)

“So, what I try to do is write whatever comes to me when I’m on the keyboard and let the fingers be in charge.”

“I put the script in the hands of the best possible people,” Knight reflected. “When you watch it back, very quickly, you sort of think ‘OK this is working, or it’s not’ and it is so working.”

Of his decision to release a film rather than a seventh season of the show, the writer added: “I just like the idea that Peaky fans, who have always related to each other virtually online, will be able to go into a building and watch something together and be able to relate to each other in person.”

A release date forThe Immortal Man is yet to be announced by Netflix.

It’s been a busy year for Knight, who wrote Disney+ hit A Thousand Blows as well as Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas biopic, Maria, which is being released on DVD and Blu-ray on 31 March.

Read The Independent’s chat with Knight about Angelina Jolie’s Oscar snub for Maria here.