Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight shared a brand-new update about the current status of his upcoming movie spin-off, based on BBC’s acclaimed period crime drama. This comes after over two years since the Cillian Murphy-led series had officially concluded its six-season run.

During a recent interview with NME, Knight revealed that he’s currently finishing up some last-minute pre-production details for the Peaky Blinders movie, ahead of its scheduled production start this coming September. He also confirmed that the film is being developed as the final chapter in Tommy Shelby’s story, teasing that fans will be both "delighted and horrified" with what they got in store. "It’s gonna happen this September. I’m just doing the final polishes, which will continue up until the day before we start shooting," Knight said. "But we’re there. We’ve got everything sorted, we’ve got all the commitments we need, we are ready to go."

He continued, "I think the film is gonna be a step up again, and it’s gonna be great that Peaky fans can meet in one place and watch it. The budget will be bigger, but also because we know we’re ending this chapter, we’re all going to try to do our best." In addition, Knight also relayed Murphy’s excitement about his return in the Peaky Blinders movie, revealing that the Oscar-winning actor actually texted him each time he won an award for his performance in last year’s Oppenheimer. "Cillian is really up for it. So I can’t wait for it to start shooting," he added, "After every award that he won, he would text and say, ‘I really can’t wait to be doing Peaky.’ Confirming that none of this was going to change what we’re going to do next."

At the time of writing, further details about the sequel film’s plot, director and characters remained undisclosed. Peaky Blinders was written and created by Knight. The drama chronicles Thomas Shelby’s complicated journey to becoming one of the most influential crime bosses in Birmingham. Besides Murphy, the drama also starred Paul Anderson as Arthur, Sophie Rundle as Ada, Joe Cole as John, the late Helen McCrory as Polly, Finn Cole as Michael, Annabelle Wallis as Grace, Tom Hardy as Alfie, Natasha O’Keeffe as Lizzie, Anya Taylor-Joy as Gina, Sam Claflin as Mosley, Aidan Gillen as Aberama and more.

What’s Next for Cillian Murphy

Apart from the Peaky Blinders movie, Murphy will next be seen in the historical drama Small Things like These, based on Enda Walsh’s 2021 novel. Set to premiere sometime this year, the film will see Murphy playing coal merchant Bill Furlong, who discovers the dark secrets of his small town’s local convent. In addition, the Irish actor was also recently cast in another historical movie titled Blood Runs Coal. It will feature Murphy playing a lawyer named Chip Yablonski, whose mission in life is to seek justice for his father’s assassination. Following the official announcement of 28 Years Later, recent reports suggested that Murphy might be reprising his 28 Days Later role in the long-awaited sequel to the 2002 horror thriller. Should Murphy indeed end up joining the project, he would be starring alongside recently announced cast members Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes.

All six seasons of Peaky Blinders are available on Netflix.

Source: NME