Barry Keoghan Calls 'Peaky Blinders' Script "Epic"
Barry Keoghan in "Sltburn"
(Photo: Courtesy of Prime Video)
The process of transferring a beloved TV show to a feature film is never easy, but there are two directions productions usually take. The first, like with Downton Abbey, is to bring everybody back—all for one, one for all, no replacements for Mrs. Patmore or Lord Merton. Everyone comes back, or the project doesn't happen. The other is to go the direction of Peaky Blinders, where so much of the cast has been jettisoned on the road to the finale, which is to bring The Lead (in this case, Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby) back and then surround them with A-listers playing new characters to interact with.
In the case of Peaky, the show already lost Helen McCrory, who passed away before the final season was finished, which also removed Aidan Gillan and Samuel Edward-Cook. The finale killed off Tommy Shelby's nemesis, Michael Grey (Finn Cole). And that's not even considering all the characters who died in previous seasons who couldn't return... or that Tommy Shelby fakes his death. The latter option of approaching a movie was evident for a series like this.
So far, the film has landed a pair of seriously topline actors, the kind it would ever have dreamed of landing when it was a period drama on BBC Two. Rebecca Ferguson (Dune) will step into a role almost certain to stand in for the same type of iron-willed woman McCrory played as Aunt Polly in the show's first five seasons. As for whom Murphy will find himself dealing with, that character (again, not revealed) will be played by Saltburn's Barry Keoghan.
Speaking to IndieWire at the premiere of Bird, Keoghan's newest film premiere to awards chatter, he was asked about joining the Peaky Blinders film and if he could tell them anything about the script and if he'd read it. Keoghan found that pretty funny. “I wouldn’t be attached to it if I didn’t [read the script],” Keoghan joked before turning serious. “But yeah, I read the script and loved it. I have chatted with Cillian about it, and it’s going to be epic.”
Steven Knight, who wrote all six seasons of the original series, wrote the screenplay for the feature film version. Director Tom Harper (War & Peace), who helmed the back half of the show's legendary first season. Knight and Murphy executive produce with Caryn Mandabach, Guy Heeley, David Kosse, Jamie Glazebrook, Andrew Warren, and David Mason.
The Peaky Blinders film is being filmed in the U.K., with an assumed release date of late 2025. Peaky Blinders Seasons 1 through 6 are streaming on Netflix.
