Desde Hollywood attended the global press conference for the new film PEAKY BLINDERS: The Immortal Man. Creator Steven Knight, director Tom Harper, and stars Cillian Murphy, Rebecca Ferguson, Barry Keoghan, and Tim Roth shared new details about this final chapter and why it demanded a cinematic scale.

The movie premieres exclusively on Netflix, Friday March 20.

Steven Knight: “I always wanted to end it this way”

For creator Steven Knight, the film isn’t an afterthought—it’s the payoff to a plan he’s had since the beginning.

“I did an interview after the first series where I said confidently, we’re going to end this in the Second World War, and it’s going to be a movie… and here we are.”

Knight confirmed that the story was always meant to close in wartime Birmingham:

“I always wanted to end in Birmingham as the bombs dropped… what we have done is ended this part of the story in a quite magnificent way.”

Tom Harper on returning: “It’s the same and it’s different”

Director Tom Harper, who worked on the first season, described coming back over a decade later as surreal:

“I don’t think there’s many people that are able to say that they worked on something 13 years ago and then came back and worked on it 13 years later.”

What changed most was the scale—and the expectations:

“We never realized what the thing would be… we knew there was some magic there, but we never knew or could have imagined the global phenomenon.”

On shifting to film, Harper emphasized a more focused storytelling approach:

“It’s a more singular approach… the focus is tighter. You have this shorter period of time, and you go into it believing you have people’s attention.”

Cillian Murphy: “We wanted to justify its existence”

For Cillian Murphy, returning to Tommy Shelby came with both familiarity and responsibility:

“The luxury of having played him for so long is that all the research is kind of done… you’ve lived it alongside him.”

But turning the series into a film required a clear purpose:

“We wanted to make something that would justify its existence… the TV show was so successful.”

Murphy said the film stays rooted in the show’s core theme:

“The main thematic drive has always been family… if we continued with that and made it a father and son story, then we knew we were on the right track.”

He also pointed to the emotional weight of revisiting the character:

“I just feel really, really lucky… and really proud of the work.”

Rebecca Ferguson: “It’s nerve wracking to walk into something established”

Joining the franchise brought both excitement and pressure for Rebecca Ferguson:

“Honor feels like such a boring word, but it is… to be asked by Cillian to bring something new to something that is already shaped.”

She described stepping into the world as intimidating:

“It’s nerve wracking to walk into environments that are established… you can smell it and taste it nearly.”

But the experience quickly became collaborative:

“You could sense straight away that these people are open… it felt very safe and fun. It’s a family.”

Barry Keoghan: “It’s iconic”

Barry Keoghan, who plays Tommy Shelby’s son, spoke about the pressure of stepping into such a legacy role:

“It’s a real thing, stepping in to play Tommy Shelby’s son.”

Seeing Murphy in character for the first time left an impression:

“I remember the screen test… seeing Cillian as Tommy Shelby and just thinking, it’s iconic.”

Keoghan approached the role through personal emotion:

“It was the relationship for me… the absence I leaned into… the kind of figure I made him to be.”

He added:

“There’s the cub looking for its dad… that’s what I brought it back to.”

Tim Roth: “It properly feels like you’re walking through a family door”

Tim Roth chose not to watch the series before joining:

“I’m not going to see it… I think I would have been more nervous if I’d seen it.”

Instead, he focused on the experience on set:

“You walk into this… it properly feels like you’re walking through a family door.”

What stood out most was the production itself:

“To do a real movie… more so than is quite often the case now… the only green screen you saw was to keep the skyscrapers out.”

A Bigger Canvas: “Blow it up!”

Knight and Harper made clear that the film embraces a larger cinematic scale.

Knight explained the need for a powerful opening:

“We begin this thing with a big bang… that explosion says to people, you know Peaky… this is huge.”

He added:

“You don’t just want to blow stuff up… you want to blow it up for a reason.”

Harper contrasted this with television storytelling:

“In the TV series… you’d have heard about it.”

Knight summed up the theatrical mindset simply:

“When you’re on the big screen and everybody’s sitting there waiting… blow it up.”

War, Trauma, and Tommy Shelby

Murphy highlighted how the wartime setting shapes the story:

“The whole show is predicated on these men’s collective trauma… and they’re all dealing with it in different ways.”

In the film, those themes intensify:

“His values are being tested all the time… what do you actually stand for?”

Final Take

As the cast described their process, the emphasis remained on collaboration and spontaneity.

Tim Roth said:

“We came at it collectively… we played around… came up with stuff on the fly.”

Barry Keoghan added:

“Being totally open for where it’s going… not having a set destination.”

Rebecca Ferguson summed up the approach:

“The more prepped you are, the more free you are.”

After more than a decade, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is positioned as a definitive closing chapter—one built on scale, character, and the legacy of Tommy Shelby.

 

“Amid the chaos of World War II, Tommy Shelby returns from a self-imposed exile to face his most destructive reckoning yet. With the future of his family and country at stake, Shelby must face his demons and choose whether to confront his legacy or burn it to the ground.“