Peaky Blinders update: Cillian Murphy says he is ‘not sentimental’ about Tommy Shelby role after Oscars win

Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy spoke about the future of his iconic role as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders following his Oscars win this weekend. Murphy became the first Irish actor ever to win the Best Actor Oscar and gave an update that fans of the BBC and Netflix gangster series may not want to hear. 

He played Brummie gangster Tommy Shelby, who rises through the ranks of organised crime in 1920s and ‘30s Birmingham, taking on the police, the Mafia, and the IRA, and eventually ending up in Parliament. The series ran for a decade over six seasons and creator Steven Knight has voiced plans to create a film sequel set during the Second World War.

What has Cillian Murphy said about Peaky Blinders?

After the awards ceremony on Sunday night, Murphy was asked if he was content to retire the character of Tommy Shelby which helped to make him a household name.

The star said: “I loved playing him. He was exhausting and so wildly different for me that each time going back was kind of a journey. I’m really not sentimental about work. 

“I feel like the next thing is the most exciting thing. And I mean, it was a ten-year period in my life, so it is significant, but I always feel, like, let’s keep moving.”

However, Murphy has previously been hot and cold about returning to the role for a film spin-off - saying that he thought the six series run was perfect and that moving into the film format can be hard, but also sharing his willingness to return to the role and work with Steven Knight again.

He was seen at a meeting with Knight in Soho in February, and reportedly told the Irish Star “If Knight delivers a script that I know he can deliver, because he is such a phenomenal writer, I’ll be there”.

Is the Peaky Blinders film still happening?

The rumoured Peaky Blinders movie has been in various stages of development since the end of the TV series in 2022, and was supposed to begin filming last year, although that didn’t happen.

Knight has repeatedly suggested that the film is happening, and that stars Murphy and Paul Anderson, among others, would be returning for the spinoff sequel set during the Second World War.

It would follow the Shelbys, veterans of the First World War, as they come to terms with the country at the centre of an international conflict once more, but this time they will be civilians rather than soldiers. 

We have not heard recent updates on the status of the Peaky Blinders film, and it is not yet in production, so if it does go ahead it is unlikely that it will be released this year.