iWorld
Netflix, Dark Horse Entertainment extend its partnership
Mumbai: OTT platform Netflix and Dark Horse Entertainment have extended their partnership. Under this multi-year deal, Dark Horse will continue to give Netflix a first look at its IP for both film and TV.
Netflix and Dark Horse recently collaborated on the third season of The Umbrella Academy, which in its first four weeks reached the Netflix Global Top 10 in TV in 91 countries with 283.55 million hours viewed (as of July 17, 2022).
New projects in active development under the Dark Horse Entertainment banner include:
Bang! will star Idris Elba (The Harder They Fall, Concrete Cowboy, Luther) and will be directed by David Leitch (Bullet Train, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2).
Based on the comic series by Matt Kindt and Wilfredo Torres, the feature film adaptation of the spy thriller will be written by Kindt (Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe) and Zak Olkewicz (Bullet Train, Fear Street Part 2: 1978).
When a terrorist cult sets out to start the apocalypse with a series of novels meant to brainwash their readers, the world’s most celebrated spy is sent to track down and kill the author responsible.
Mind MGMT will see Curtis Gwinn (Stranger Things) executive produce this series adaptation of the comic book series by Matt Kindt. A young woman stumbles onto the top-secret Mind Management program. Her ensuing journey involves weaponised psychics, hypnotic advertising, talking dolphins, and seemingly immortal pursuers, as she attempts to find the man who was Mind MGMT’s greatest success—and its most devastating failure. But in a world where people can rewrite reality itself, can she trust anything she sees?
Additional Dark Horse projects in development with Netflix include Revenge Inc., a drama series focused on a secret, underground company that specialises in revenge with Matthew Arnold as showrunner/executive producer and executive producers Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg and Chris Tongue, as well as Lady Killer, an action thriller film about a 1950s housewife leading a secret life as a highly-trained killer for hire, with Blake Lively starring and producing, based on the comic series by Joelle Jones and Jamie S. Rich.
Previous Dark Horse Entertainment releases include the Netflix film Polar, starring Mads Mikkelsen; the Netflix animated series Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, returning later this year with a second season; and the animated film Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness, which recently spent four weeks in the Netflix Film (English) Top 10.
iWorld
Why Peaky Blinders is one of television’s biggest hits that still deserves more attention
Six seasons, multiple awards and the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man bring the Shelby saga back into the spotlight
In the crowded universe of streaming content, only a handful of shows manage to leave a lasting cultural footprint. Peaky Blinders is overwhelmingly considered one of the biggest global hits of the past decade. Yet many viewers still haven’t fully explored the dark, gripping world of the Shelby family.
Originally produced for the UK’s BBC and later finding a massive global audience through Netflix, the series quietly grew from a British period drama into a worldwide streaming phenomenon.
Created by Steven Knight, the show follows the rise of the Shelby crime family in post-First World War Birmingham. What begins as a gritty street-gang story gradually expands into a sweeping narrative about ambition, politics, power and survival.
At the centre of the saga is Thomas Shelby, portrayed with extraordinary depth by Cillian Murphy. The casting of Murphy is widely regarded as perfect for the role. With piercing eyes, restrained dialogue and an almost hypnotic screen presence, he transforms Shelby into one of the most unforgettable characters in modern screen storytelling.
Murphy’s brilliance lies in his restraint. He rarely shouts or performs theatrically. Instead, a quiet stare, a calculated pause or a subtle shift in expression conveys the emotional storms within the character. Beneath the ruthless gang leader is a war veteran carrying trauma, guilt and loneliness. Murphy captures this complexity with remarkable precision, making Thomas Shelby both terrifying and deeply human.
Beyond its central performance, Peaky Blinders stands out for its unfiltered portrayal of reality. The show does not romanticise crime. Instead, it exposes the harsh social conditions of early 20th-century Britain, from poverty and class struggle to political extremism and the psychological scars left by war.
The series also presents powerful female characters who hold their own within the Shelby empire. Polly Gray, played by Helen McCrory, is the strategic backbone of the family and one of the most formidable figures in the story. Women in the series shape decisions, influence power structures and challenge the rigid social norms of the time.
Across six seasons, the narrative grows dramatically in scale. What begins in the smoky streets of Birmingham evolves into a story involving political conspiracies, fascism and international criminal networks.
The series has also earned significant critical acclaim. It won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2018 and multiple National Television Awards for Best Drama, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated modern shows.
Another defining feature of the series is its iconic music. The show’s opening theme, Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, became instantly recognisable and widely associated with the Shelby universe. Combined with a powerful soundtrack featuring artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, the music helped shape the show’s dark, stylish identity and became hugely popular among fans.
And the Shelby story is not over yet.
In fact, its legacy is unfolding right now. The long-awaited feature-length continuation, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, was released on March 6, 2026, bringing the Shelby universe from streaming screens to cinemas and giving fans a new chapter in the saga.
For viewers who have not yet stepped into this world, the timing could not be better.
Six gripping seasons are ready to binge on Netflix. A new film has just arrived in theatres. And at the heart of it all stands one of the most magnetic performances in modern drama by Cillian Murphy.
So if Peaky Blinders has been sitting on your watchlist for years, this weekend is your moment.
So, by order of the Peaky fookin’ Blinders, consider this your cue to finally step into the ruthless world of Thomas Shelby. Pour yourself a drink, clear your schedule and press the play button. Because when the Peaky Blinders give an order, you listen.
