Cillian Murphy to Star in and Produce "Blood Runs Coal" Film Adaptation at Universal

Universal Pictures has landed a feature adaptation of Mark A. Bradley’s “Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America,” with Oscar-winning star Cillian Murphy attached to star and produce.

Jez Butterworth (“Spectre,” “Ford v Ferrari”) and John-Henry Butterworth (“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”) will adapt the screenplay. They previously collaborated on “Edge of Tomorrow.”

John Davis and Jordan Davis will produce through Davis Entertainment, while Murphy and Alan Moloney will produce through Big Things Films. Mark A. Bradley will executive produce. Universal’s Lexi Barta will oversee the project for the studio.

“Blood Runs Coal” takes place in the late 1960s in Pennsylvania’s coal mines, chronicling a shocking assassination that altered the history of American labor unions.

Murphy’s credits include movies such as “Oppenheimer,” “The Dark Knight,” “Red Eye, “Dunkirk” and “A Quiet Place Part II,” while he’s best-known on television as Tommy Shelby, the Birmingham gangster at the heart of “Peaky Blinders”. 

He is keeping busy following his recent Academy Award win, with upcoming projects including the historical drama “Small Things Like These,” Netflix’s “Steve” and a highly-anticipated “Peaky Blinders” movie. 

Murphy is also set to executive produce “28 Years Later,” which will likely see him reprise his role from “28 Days Later.”