‘Blood Runs Coal’: Cillian Murphy To Star In Universal’s Mining Union True Crime Drama

Following his Best Actor Oscar win at the 96th Academy Awards, Irish actor Cillian Murphy is reuniting with Universal Pictures, the distributor of Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture winner “Oppenheimer,” for another period drama, “Blood Runs Coal.” The starring vehicle for Murphy, reported on by Deadline, seemingly takes a page from the world of Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman,” “Killers of The Flower Moon”). The drama will explore a true crime murder when a moralistic political rival of a corrupt American union leader in 1960s Pennsylvania is assassinated with multiple members of his family.

The film will be an adaptation of the Mark A. Bradley novel “Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders & The Battle For The United Mine Workers of America,” which is being written by veteran screenwriters Jez Butterworth (“Spectre,” “Ford v Ferrari”) and John-Henry Butterworth (“Get On Up,” “Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny”).

READ MORE: ‘Peaky Blinders’: Stephen Knight Confirms Cillian Murphy For New Film Shooting In September

Murphy takes on the role of Chip Yablonski, the son of the slain Jock Yablonski, who is at the center of the story as he tries to find justice for his murdered family members. One of the other meaty roles will be Tony Boyle. This violent and criminal union president assassinates Jock before he has a chance to topple him in an election and could be an equally awards-worthy part for an actor.

Below is the official synopsis of the Bradley novel via Amazon:

In the early hours of New Year’s Eve 1969, in the small soft coal mining borough of Clarksville, Pennsylvania, longtime trade union insider Joseph “Jock” Yablonski and his wife and daughter were brutally murdered in their old stone farmhouse. Seven months earlier, Yablonski had announced his campaign to oust the corrupt president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), Tony Boyle, who had long embezzled UMWA funds, silenced intra-union dissent, and served the interests of Big Coal companies. 

Yablonski wanted to return the union to the coal miners it was supposed to represent and restore the organization to what it had once been: a powerful force for social good. Boyle was enraged about his opponent’s bid to take over—and would go to any lengths to maintain power. The most infamous crimes in the history of American labor unions, the Yablonski murders triggered one of the most intensive and successful manhunts in FBI history—and also led to the first successful rank-and-file takeover of a major labor union in modern U.S. history, one that inspired workers in other labor unions to rise up and challenge their own entrenched, out-of-touch leaders.

Other projects on the horizon for Murphy include a “Peaky Blinders” movie spinoff of the hit BBC gangster series. He’s also producing the next installment of the “28 Days Later” franchise, “28 Years Later,” at Sony Pictures, with Danny Boyle directing and Alex Garland tackling the script. There is a hope that Murphy will reprise the role of Jim, as his character, along with Megan Burns and Naomie Harris’, survived the first film’s events. So far, Murphy’s teased a maybe, so we’ll likely have to wait and see.