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Steven Knight (born 5 August 1959) is a British screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. He wrote the screenplays for the films Closed Circuit, Dirty Pretty Things, and Eastern Promises, and also wrote and directed the films Locke, Hummingbird (a.k.a. Redemption) and Serenity. In July 2025, it was announced that he will write the 26th official James Bond film, to be directed by Denis Villeneuve.
Knight is one of three creators of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, a game show that has been remade and aired in around 160 countries worldwide. He is also the creator of the BBC's Peaky Blinders, The Detectives, , A Thousand Blows, and House of Guinness. He has also written for Commercial Breakdown, See, and Taboo.
He has built a large film and television studio complex in inner-city Birmingham called Digbeth Loc., opening in 2024.
He attended The Streetly School as a teenager, in Streetly, Sutton Coldfield, in the West Midlands. He then went on to study English at University College London.
Knight wrote the screenplay for the 2013 film Closed Circuit, which was directed by John Crowley and which starred Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall.
Knight wrote a draft of a screenplay based on the book Shutter Island written by Dennis Lehane, but the draft that was used for the movie of the same name was written by Laeta Kalogridis. Shutter Island, Variety. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
Recent films based on screenplays that Knight has written include The Hundred-Foot Journey directed by Lasse Hallström, based on the book of the same name by Richard C. Morais and starring Helen Mirren; Seventh Son, an adventure story starring Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Djimon Hounsou, Kit Harington and Jason Scott Lee, as well as the film Pawn Sacrifice, based on U.S. chess champion Bobby Fischer, with Tobey Maguire playing Fischer in the film. He also wrote the screenplay of World War Z II.
Knight wrote the script for the 2021 dramedy Locked Down, about a couple (Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor) attempting a high-stakes jewellery heist during the COVID-19 pandemic. Knight later wrote the script for the film Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart as Diana, Princess of Wales. Knight would subsequently reunite with Spencer director Pablo Larraín on the film Maria, starring Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas.
In March 2023, it was reported that Knight would write the screenplay for an upcoming Star Wars film directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, replacing Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson. The film is set to be a continuation to the Star Wars sequel trilogy, focusing on Rey Skywalker's attempts to bring back the Jedi. However, by October 2024, Knight departed from the film.
It was also announced in March 2023 that Knight would be writing the screenplay for a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo for Paramount Pictures, with Robert Downey Jr. eyed for the lead role.
In July 2025, it was announced that he will write the screenplay of the next James Bond film, to be directed by Denis Villeneuve. Deadline reported that Knight landed the job after he met with Villeneuve, with various other writers in the running. He said, "It has always been on my bucket list and it's fantastic to be invited to do it, I can't wait to get started. I'm hoping that, being a Bond fan for so many years, it will be imbued into me and I will be able to produce something that's the same but different, and better, stronger and bolder."
Knight's writing sometimes involves "groups of men who are probably not the easiest people to fit into conventional society."
In 2022, Knight was the co-director of the Opening Ceremony for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which took place on 28 July 2022.
Knight created the television series Peaky Blinders and has written for TV series including BBC's Commercial Breakdown (with comedian Jasper Carrott), Comedy Playhouse (the episode "Wild Oats" in 1993), Frankie's On..., Auntie's Big Bloomers, Taboo, and Canned Carrott.
He created and wrote A Christmas Carol, a dark adaptation of the Dickens story for BBC One in the UK and FX in the US, starring Guy Pearce as Scrooge and Andy Serkis as the Ghost of Christmas Past, as well as an adaptation of Dickens' Great Expectations starring Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham. It was notable for its ending, which steered markedly from that of Dickens's original.
Knight was a guest on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 on 11 August 2024, selecting George Michael, Bulgarian folk music, and Harry Lauder (the latter a reference to his support of Birmingham City F.C.), among others. He spoke about a variety of topics, including chess, Charles Dickens, Diana, Princess of Wales, and the origins of the SAS.
Filmography
Film
2001 Gypsy Woman 2002 Dirty Pretty Things 2006 Amazing Grace 2007 Eastern Promises 2013 Closed Circuit Hummingbird Locke 2014 The Hundred-Foot Journey Seventh Son Pawn Sacrifice 2015 Burnt 2016 Allied 2017 Woman Walks Ahead November Criminals 2018 The Girl in the Spider's Web 2019 Serenity 2021 Locked Down Spencer 2024 Maria 2026
Television
1989 Commercial Breakdown 1990–1992 Canned Carrott 1993–1997 The Detectives 1998–present Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Co-created with David Briggs and Mike Whitehill 2002–2004 All About Me 2013–2022 Peaky Blinders 2017 Taboo and Chips Hardy 2019–2022 See 2019 A Christmas Carol 2022–present 2023 Great Expectations All the Light We Cannot See Co-developed with Shawn Levy 2024 This Town The Veil 2025–present A Thousand Blows 2025 House of Guinness
External links
Categories: 1959 Births, Living People, Alumni Of University College London, Best Screenplay Genie And Canadian Screen Award Winners, British Film Producers, British Male Screenwriters, British Male Television Writers, British Television Directors, British Television Producers, British Television Writers, Commanders Of The Order Of The British Empire, Film Directors From London, Film Producers From London, Mass Media People From Birmingham, West Midlands, Television People From London, British Television Show Creators, Writers From Birmingham, West Midlands
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