A few weeks ago, I had been given a list of titles that Netflix had so far stamped as theatrical release this year. New films from Noah Baumbach, Kathryn Bigelow, Guillermo Del Toro, Rian Johnson, Edward Berger and Clint Bentley will all be getting two-week Oscar qualifying runs.
Also getting theatrical treatment, and quite the anomaly, is Steven Knight’s “Peaky Blinders” movie starring Cillian Murphy. Why would Netflix do this? Not quite sure. After all, this is a film based on Knight’s acclaimed TV series. Maybe the film is indeed great, and might itself be getting an Oscar qualifying run.
With Netflix usually being averse to theatrical runs, there’s got to be something more to this. Knight does tell The Playlist he’s seen an early cut of the film, tentatively titled “Immortal Man” and that it’s “mind blowingly good.” Given he’s speaking about his own film, I wouldn’t put much stock into it.
In “Immortal Man,” Murphy reprises his role as gangster Thomas Shelby. The rest of the cast includes Barry Keoghan, Tim Roth, Stephen Graham and Rebecca Ferguson. Tom Harper (“The Aeronauts”) has been confirmed as director — he had previously directed the second half of the first season of “Peaky Blinders.”
Set in 1919, in the aftermath of the Great War, “Peaky Blinders” tackled criminal gangs fighting for survival in a nation rocked by economic upheaval. The show focuses on one of the most powerful gangs of the time, Peaky Blinders, run by returning war hero Thomas Shelby and his family.
Having premiered in 2013, the show’s fanbase has grown at a slow but steady pace throughout its six year run, with many fans discovering ‘Peaky’ on Netflix. Knight has noted that the appeal in making a film out of the series came in wanting “Peaky Blinders” fans to watch it together in a theater. His wish seems to have been granted.
No plot details have been revealed for “Immortal Man,” but rumor is that Knight has set the film in the middle of WWII, a time when England was under the barrage of German bombings. Expect a fall 2025 release.
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.