Cillian Murphy is to star in and produce Steve, a film based on the Max Porter novel Shy, with Netflix giving the project the green light and distributing it around the world.
US entertainment publication Deadline reports that Steve will begin production this Spring and will be produced by Oppenheimer star Murphy and his production partner Alan Moloney's company Big Things Films.
Steve, Deadline says, "is a reimagining of Porter's Shy and traces a pivotal 24 hours in the life of its eponymous character, a headteacher (Murphy) of a last-chance reform school who struggles to keep his students in line, while also grappling with his spiraling mental health".
It will be directed by Tim Mielants, who has also worked with Oscar nominee Murphy on Peaky Blinders and their upcoming adaptation of the Claire Keegan bestseller Small Things Like These, which receives its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival next week.
Author Porter has written the script for Steve. He and Murphy previously collaborated on the stage adaptation of Porter's Grief is the Thing with Feathers and the short film All of This Unreal Time.
"I just adore Max's writing and the thing his writing does for me, which Claire Keegan's writing does as well - and it's something I've always chased down in writing - is something that has an actual visceral effect on you, an emotional effect," the Cork actor told Deadline.
"I remember reading Foster, Claire's short story, I remember actually crying reading the book and having to put my hood up on the train to try to hide, I was so embarrassed.
"And then Shy was also that book. Max gave me that book in a proof edition before he finished it, and again it just broke my heart. They're the sorts of things I love as a reader and as a performer, so I really wanted to do something with him."
The premiere of Small Things Like These takes place at the Berlin Film Festival on opening night, 15 February. Murphy and Moloney have also produced the film.
The BAFTA Awards, with Murphy nominated for his performance in Oppenheimer, take place on Sunday 18 February in London.
The Academy Awards, with Murphy among the Best Actor nominees, take place in Los Angeles on Sunday 10 March.
