March streaming spotlight: Peaky Blinders, Wicked sequel, awards picks

1. Peaky Blinders film

Cillian Murphy returns as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, which hits select theaters March 6 and lands on Netflix March 20 — a 14-day theatrical-to-streaming window that turns this into a short, eventized run for fans. Written by series creator Steven Knight and directed by Tom Harper (Wild Rose, Heart of Stone), the film reunites familiar faces (Stephen Graham, Ned Dennehy) and adds newcomers Rebecca Ferguson and Jay Lycurgo; Barry Keoghan plays a grown-up Duke Shelby, “the illegitimate son of Tommy who’s now running the Peaky Blinders gang.” Netflix’s plot copy teases high stakes — when Tommy’s estranged son becomes entangled in a Nazi conspiracy, Shelby returns to Birmingham to save “his family and his nation.” Murphy framed the revival to Netflix plainly: “It seems like Tommy Shelby wasn’t finished with me… It is very gratifying to be re-collaborating with Steven Knight and Tom Harper on the film version of Peaky Blinders. This is one for the fans.” Marketing is lean and franchise-forward — “Get your caps on — the Peaky Blinders are coming back.” (Image credit: Ph: Robert Viglasky / © Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection.)

2. Wicked: For Good

Wicked: For Good streams on Peacock March 20, positioning the franchise sequel as one of this month’s biggest tentpole streaming arrivals. Variety’s listing provides the release date but no further cast or plot detail in the supplied notes, so Peacock’s March 20 window is the headline takeaway: the studio is routing a high-profile musical sequel straight to streaming for mass-audience reach. For audiences, that means the big-screen-musical momentum established by the original will be refocused into a platform-driven event day — a timing move with clear implications for how studios plan sequel rollouts in a crowded streaming calendar.

3. Awards-minded tentpoles and March highlights

March’s guide mixes prestige and genre: Ana de Armas’ Ballerina (From the World of John Wick: Ballerina) “arrives on HBO Max this month,” and Variety’s review calls it: “It’s a worthy entry in the ‘John Wick’ canon, with a revenge plot that’s pure trash and an actor who gamely picks up Keanu Reeves’ mantel of mayhem.” The image credit in Variety names Murray Close / © Lionsgate / Courtesy Everett Collection, and the caption lists the picture as 2025 even as HBO Max availability is March 2026 — a reminder that streaming windows can trail festival or theatrical years. On the genre front, Shudder’s Dangerous Animals — which earned “rave reviews out of the Cannes Film Festival last year” — centers on Jai Courtney as a shark-obsessed serial killer; the supplied wording has him playing a deranged Australian tour guide who “steers you out to sea and lets you swim with the sharks. Then he feeds you to them.” Variety’s line about the film credits screenwriter Nick Lepard and director Sean Byrne for “vivid new nightmares,” saying the thriller “scarcely allows a calm moment in which to question how deranged its premise truly is.” Those two titles show how March blends awards buzz, franchise extension and high-concept horror — all assets platforms use to attract subscribers and awards attention alike.