Saoirse Ronan, who starred in Little Women, has been cast in Steve McQueen’s forthcoming military film, Blitz. We don’t know who Ronan will portray just yet, but we do know that McQueen’s return to feature-length productions will centre on the experiences of many Londoners during the Blitz of World War II. Since no additional casting announcements have been made as of yet, it is also unclear who will co-star with the actress who has been nominated for four Academy Awards. McQueen will not only direct the Apple film but also write the script and serve as producer. McQueen rose to prominence after the success of Hunger, his award-winning feature film from 2008, which received praise from both critics and audiences.
After Hunger was so well received, McQueen went on to get even more acclaim for his work on 12 Years a Slave in 2013. As one of the year’s most successful movies, it was a shoo-in for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes. Since the release of his star-studded heist movie Widows in 2018, McQueen has been rather silent on the feature filmmaking front; thus, we eagerly await the narrative he is preparing to tell in Blitz. Recently, he has shifted his attention to television, where he has directed, produced, and written for the documentary series Uprising and the anthology series Small Axe.
Since her breakthrough appearance in Joe Wright’s Atonement, for which she received her first of four Academy Award nominations, Ronan’s career has skyrocketed. She has since acted in several critically acclaimed films, including Brooklyn, Lady Bird, and Little Women, for which she garnered three Oscar nominations and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Film. Ronan will next be seen in the science fiction thriller Foe, directed by Garth Davis, and the drama The Outrun, directed by Nora Fingscheidt.
Currently, she is appearing in Tom George’s mystery comedy, See How They Run. During World War II, the German Luftwaffe rained destruction on London in a campaign known as “The Blitz,” which lasted from 1940 to 1941. The British press popularised the phrase “blitzkrieg,” which comes from the German word “blitzkampf” and means “lightning war,” to describe this period of the conflict. McQueen’s Lammas Park will be financing Blitz with Working Title Films’ Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner and New Regency’s Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, and Michael Schaefer. There is no confirmed date for the release of Blitz at this time, but filming is expected to begin later this year.