Cillian Murphy is big business – winning an Oscar will tend to do that for you, so it's not a massive surprise to see that he's been snapped up for a major new film by Netflix, titled Steve. Indeed, this is one that's coming around sooner than you might assume, and it'll hit the streaming service on 3 October this year, after a short run in cinemas during September.
We've got very little detail about the movie at this stage from Netflix, but it did just release the first teaser image from the film – Murphy looking extremely pensive in front of a chalkboard, as you can see at the top of this article. It's actually a pretty familiar image, bearing in mind that much of the action in Oppenheimer features Murphy in front of similar boards, albeit his hair is now a bit more restrained.
What we do know about the movie is that it's a "reimagining" of a best-selling novel by Max Porter, Shy. That book is about the darkest point in a teenage boy's life, as he tries to imagine a new future for himself while stuck in a dismal home for supposedly troubled youths.
Given that Murphy is far from a boy, it's perhaps a valid guess that the movie version might feature him remembering the tough early periods in his life, potentially with flashbacks to illustrate them.
Netflix has also confirmed some other cast members at this point: Tracey Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo and Emily Watson, among others. It singles out the young actor Jay Lycurgo, so it's implicit that he might play quite a major role. In fact, it's equally possible that he'll play the young boy at the centre of the story, and Murphy might play a father figure or teacher he encounters.
I haven't read Shy, so can't comment any more on likely plotting angles, but there's no doubt that Steve should generate plenty of interest when it arrives – and, indeed, when we get an actual teaser trailer, which I'd imagine should follow relatively soon. Murphy is now a gigantic household name, the sort that any of the best streaming services would doubtless be proud to nab.
