Blitz: Steve McQueen Reveals Inspiration Behind World War II Movie

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Blitz: Steve McQueen Reveals Inspiration Behind World War II Movie

For Steve McQueen, Blitz started with a photograph. While researching for his Small Axe anthology, McQueen found a picture of a young Black boy evacuating London with a suitcase.

“I just wanted to know who he was . . . what was his story?” McQueen told Deadline.

The photo inspired McQueen to make Blitz, a deeply personal film set in World War II London. Blitz examines how war unites a community through the eyes of a boy. McQueen wondered if witnessing a brutal argument between parents is terrible for a child, and how much worse it could be for that same child to experience wartime.

“It’s the worst thing in the world that can ever happen to a child,” McQueen said. “So imagine a small child in war? It becomes three times as amplified.”

Who is Involved in Steve McQueen’s Blitz?

In Blitz, newcomer Elliott Heffernan plays George, a young boy experiencing the London bombings during World War II. Saoirse Ronan stars as Rita, George’s mother, and Paul Weller plays Gerald, George’s grandfather.

“Blitz follows the epic journey of George (Heffernan), a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita (Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside,” the official synopsis reads. “George, defiant and determined to return home to his mom and his grandfather Gerald (Weller) in East London, embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.”

Blitz’s ensemble includes Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clementine, Kathy Burke, Weller, Stephen Graham, Leigh Gill, Mica Ricketts, CJ Beckford, Alex Jennings, Joshua McGuire, Hayley Squires, Erin Kellyman, and Sally Messham.

Blitz is written and directed by McQueen. Producers include McQueen, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Anita Overland, and Adam Somner. Blitz is a Lammas Park, Working Title, and New Regency production for Apple Studios.

Blitz opens in select theaters on November 1 before heading to Apple TV+ on November 22.