Saoirse Ronan joins World War II movie ‘Blitz’ from creator of ‘Small Axe’

AppleTV+ has announced details of a new Second World War film set in London.

Blitz is being written, directed and produced by British filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen.

The London-born director is best known for making 2013’s Oscar-winning hit 12 Years a Slave.

His new movie began filming this winter and follows a group of Londoners during the bombing of the capital during World War II between 1940 and 1941.

Blitz will star four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, who returned to our screens in 2022 with fun murder-mystery drama See How They Run.

The Irish actress is best known for her roles in Little Women, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Atonement.

She also starred alongside Kate Winslet a couple of years ago in romantic period drama Ammonite.

Ronan will be joined by newcomer Elliott Heffernan, alongside familiar faces like Harris Dickinson (The King’s Man), Kathy Burke (Absolutely Fabulous), and Stephen Graham (Peaky Blinders).

The cast also includes Erin Kellyman (Willow), Benjamin Clementine (Dune), Leigh Gill (Game of Thrones), Mica Ricketts (Here We Go), CJ Beckford (Small Island), Hayley Squires (The Essex Serpent), and Sally Messham (Aftersun).

The project’s biggest surprise name is musician turned actor Paul Weller, formerly the frontman of The Jam and The Style Council!

Blitz is expected get a cinema release in 2023, ahead of its premiere on AppleTV+ for streaming.

Steve McQueen most recently wrote and directed the BBC’s Small Axe anthology series in 2020.

Set from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s, the Small Axe films told five separate stories within London’s West Indian community.

The series starred John Boyega (Star Wars), Malachi Kirby (Black Mirror), Shaun Parkes (Lost In Space), Rochenda Sandall (Line of Duty), Alex Jennings (Victoria), Jack Lowden (The Long Song), and Letitia Wright (Black Panther).

Small Axe is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.