Cillian Murphy is backing up his Oscar win for Oppenheimer with a career direction actors don’t often take immediately after scoring an Academy Award. Murphy was the central figure in Oppenheimer’s massive global success, featuring in its lead as the American physicist and “father of the atomic bomb,” J. Robert Oppenheimer. The epic biographical drama was a triumph on account of many, including big-name writer, director, and producer Christopher Nolan and Oppenheimer’s star-studded cast. Still, Murphy’s engrossing and phenomenal lead performance was an essential extra edge that helped make Oppenheimer a nearly $1 billion box office success.

Among dozens of critical award nominations and wins, Murphy secured an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his Oppenheimer effort. The achievement was particularly noteworthy for the 48-year-old Irish actor, as it marked the first Oscar nomination and win of his career. Because of this – and because, generally, actors seem to accept more high-reward opportunities after a big win – it’s easy to presume that Murphy would seek out another movie worthy of an Oscar. However, Murphy is making an unexpected career pivot the world of cinema doesn’t often get to enjoy.

Cillian Murphy’s 2 Big Movie Returns Break An Unwritten Rule For Oscar Winners

Murphy Is Set To Reprise Old Roles In New 28 Days Later And Peaky Blinders Movies

Instead of chasing more traditional post-Oscar routes, Murphy will return to film with unexpected role reprisals.

Actors will commonly pursue another Oscar-worthy endeavor or be tapped to front a massive film franchise after winning an Academy Award. Think, Emma Stone, who followed her Oscar win for 2016’s La La Land with an Oscar-nominated performance in The Favorite and, later, an Oscar-winning performance in Poor Things; or Eddie Redmayne, who gave an Oscar-nominated performance in The Danish Girl and fronted the billion-dollar Fantastic Beasts franchise after winning an Oscar for 2014’s The Theory of Everything. Instead of chasing more traditional post-Oscar routes, Murphy will return to film with unexpected role reprisals.

To the delight of many, Murphy is reprising his roles as Jim from the post-apocalyptic thriller 28 Days Later and Tommy Shelby from the British period crime drama series Peaky Blinders for two forthcoming movies. It’s not as if his venture into the 28 Days Later sequel, tentatively titled 28 Years Later, and the first Peaky Blinders theatrical film would be unfit for high awards. However, in these instances, the actor’s intention seems to be geared more toward his interest in reviving the characters and their stories than to wait for a role more likely to guarantee his second Oscar.

Why Cillian Murphy’s 28 Years Later & Peaky Blinders Movies Are So Exciting

Both Movies Have Bigger Budgets and Big Potential

Regardless of their Oscar likelihood, the 28 Days Later sequel, which will become an extended sequel series, and the Peaky Blinders film are markedly exciting for fans of their respective IPs. Their potential to become well-regarded movies is presumably inevitable, as they both have overarching stories to address and will have bigger budgets than ever to fulfill them. Whereas precursor films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later had budgets of $15 million or less, 28 Years Later will reportedly have a budget in the $75 million range (via The Guardian).

Similarly, the Peaky Blinders movie will receive a major financial upgrade, according to a Peaky Blinders update from creator Steven Knight, who ensured the film would be much bigger than the TV series in budget and scale. With more considerable budgets, 28 Years Later and the Peaky Blinders movie can provide grand cinematic experiences to their IPs’ otherwise unfinished stories. For 28 Years Later, the opportunity could present as an arresting post-apocalyptic simulation to address the unrestrained rage virus. For Peaky Blinders, the opportunity could mean tying up loose ends after Peaky Blinders’ finale in a much more spectacular fashion.

Other Upcoming Movies Cillian Murphy Will Appear In

Murphy Has Two Book-To-Movie Adaptations On His Radar

On top of his highly anticipated role reprisals, Murphy also has a few other exciting film endeavors on his radar. The actor will join forces with previous Peaky Blinders director Tim Mielants for the book-to-movie adaptation, Steve, of which Murphy will serve as a producer and lead actor. Steve’s screenplay is adapted from Max Porter’s novel Shy, which follows a headteacher who manages a home for troubled young men.

Murphy also stars in and produced the book-to-film adaptation of Claire Keegan’s bestselling historical fiction novel, Small Things Like These. Despite not having a theatrical release date yet, Small Things Like These premiered this year at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival to rave reviews, and it currently holds an 83% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, raising anticipation for its eventual release. Granted, off the back of his incredible Oppenheimer performance, all of Cillian Murphy’s upcoming releases have a unique appeal, causing audiences to stand by to see if they will weigh up to something just as great.