Cillian Murphy will reprise his role as gangster Tommy Shelby for the upcoming Peaky Blinders film, creator Steven Knight has confirmed.
The Oppenheimer star who filmed key Peaky Blinder scenes in Bolton in 2022, has 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.
Previously, Cillian was spotted in running down the former Bolton Magistrates Court and down the steps to the Crescent, which had been transformed into a period street scene with vintage cars parked up.
Filming in the town centre, people in Bolton tried their very best to catch a glimpse of the star, with some even standing on bins to make him out past the black sheets.
Now confirmation has been given on whether scenes for the film will be filmed in Bolton, but it could be on the location.
Discussing whether Cillian 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.”
He also said that series six of the BBC show brought in a “new generation” and they will feature in the film.
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.”
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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.
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