Cillian Murphy stars and produces Small Things Like This, backed by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity

EXCLUSIVE: Oppenheimer, a quiet place part II And Peaky Blinders Star Cillian Murphy begins his next project with the film adaptation of Claire Keegan’s critically acclaimed novel little things like this. Murphy will star in and produce the film, which has been greenlit by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity, which is financing the project. Principal photography is underway in Ireland.

Ciarán Hinds and Emily Watson also star in the drama, whose source material has been compared to a Dickensian story. The story takes place during Christmas 1985, when devoted father Bill Furlong (Murphy) discovers the surprising secrets of his town’s monastery, as well as some shocking truths about his own life.

The project reunites director Tim Mielants and Murphy, who previously collaborated on the BAFTA-winning film Peaky Blinders. Enda Walsh, an old collaborator of Murphy’s, wrote the screenplay. Murphy and producer Alan Moloney hired Walsh to write the script after taking an option last year and will produce through their production company Big Things Films; This is the first feature of the gravel.

Damon and Drew Vinton produce for Artists Equity; Affleck, Kevin Halloran and Michael Joe will serve as executive producers. Jeff Robinov will also produce. The film is an Irish production with additional funding from Screen Ireland and is co-produced with Wilder Films in Belgium.

Murphy said: “I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to bring Claire Keegan’s wonderful novel to the screen. We have assembled a phenomenal team of creative people to make this film, and we have found extraordinary partners in AE , a studio led by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck – actors and filmmakers I have admired for many years.”

Murphy played Tommy Shelby Peaky Blinders over the course of a decade. The popular series ended in 2022, and plans for a film sequel are still in the works. Murphy will next appear as Christopher Nolan’s leader, a frequent collaborator Oppenheimer which Universal released in July.

little things like this was published by Grove Press in 2021 and was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and Rathbones Folio Prize. It also won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, the Ambassador’s Prize for Best Irish Novel Published in France, and the Kerry Prize for Irish Novel of the Year. It is now nominated for the Dublin Literary Award, which is given annually for the best novel in the world written or translated in English.

Keegan’s previous novel was The quiet girl, the film adaptation of which became Ireland’s first film to be nominated for an international film Oscar. Her other works, including Antarctica And Walk along the blue fieldshas won numerous awards and has been translated into more than 30 languages.

Artists Equity was launched in November by Affleck, CEO and CCO Damon and co-founded by RedBird Capital Partners. His first video Heaven, starring Affleck and Damon, is in theaters worldwide on April 5 after premiering at SXSW over the weekend. It is currently in production The Instigators starring Damon and Casey Affleck and directed by Doug Liman, in association with Apple Original Films. This can also be done in recent conversations Unstoppablewith Jennifer Lopez.

Murphy is repped by CAA and Lou Coulson Associates. Mielants is repped by CAA and the Curtis Brown Group; Watson is repped by UTA and Independent Talent Group; Hinds is represented by CAA and 42; and Walsh is represented by Curtis Brown.