Author: Empire

Universal’s eagerly awaited live-action remake of DreamWorks’ How To Train Your Dragon may not have even hit cinemas just yet, but that hasn’t stopped director Dean DeBlois and his team from flying into production on its sequel already. Following a very warmly received screening of Hiccup and Toothless’ first foray into live-action at CinemaCon yesterday, DeBlois took to the stage with stars Nico Parker (Astrid) and Gerard Butler (Stoick) to confirm that a drawn-to-live remake of How To Train Your Dragon 2 is getting ready to take flight in cinemas worldwide on 11 June, 2027. DeBlois will be back in…

Once upon a time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino made Once Upon A Time In Hollywood – his love-letter to late-‘60s LA, and an elegiac swan-song to a bygone age of movie-making that rewrote the tragic death of Sharon Tate in true fairytale style. But it seems we’ll find out what comes beyond that happily ever after. In news that frankly nobody saw coming, a sequel to OUTAIH is apparently in the works – but without Quentin Tarantino directing. Instead, David Fincher is set to bring it to the screen, since the film will focus on the character of stuntman Cliff…

It’s already been two years since Miles Morales ventured Across The Spider-Verse. And frankly, we’re still high from the dizzying animation that the filmmakers delivered on that astonishing sequel – upping the ante from 2018’s Into The Spider-Verse so much so that it was more than worth the five-year wait. Now, we have good news and… well, not exactly bad news, but news you’ll want to make peace with. The good news? We now have an official release date for the third and final entry in the trilogy, the much-anticipated Beyond The Spider-Verse. The less-good news? It’s not out until…

If The Monkey got you back in the mood for Rube Goldberg-style gore-strewn death scenes, buckle up: Final Destination is back. Nearly 15 years after the series seemingly wrapped with 2011’s Final Destination 5 (which ironically followed 2009’s not-actually-final The Final Destination), the series is back with sixth entry Final Destination Bloodlines, tracing a new set of convoluted everyday death-traps back to a historic glass-bottomed disco disaster that was averted long ago – setting Death on a rampage to reclaim the souls that should have been his. Check out the trailer: The Final Destination series has long settled into its…

Master Swords up, Zelda fans. It’s been a little while since Nintendo announced that it was planning a live-action film based on The Legend Of Zelda, news that caused excitement and anxiety alike. Because, of course a live-action Zelda movie could be excellent – with plenty of cinematic potential in sword-swinging, Bokoblin-bashing action set in the gently gorgeous world of Hyrule. But, the pressure is on for Zelda to be done right, given its quite-literally-legendary status – an almightily high bar. Now, nearly two years on from the film’s announcement, we have a prospective release date. As revealed by Nintendo…

We start this week’s Empire Podcast on a director’s chair. We pull back to reveal its back. On it is emblazoned a name. That name? George MacKay, the wonderful star of Joshua Oppenheimer’s thought-provoking original movie musical The End, who pops into the podbooth to have a good old natter [from 30:49 — 48:20 approx] with… We pull back. It’s another director’s chair. On it, another name: Chris Hewitt. Everyone shrugs their shoulders. But wait! There’s another chair, and another name! That name is Irwin Winkler, the legendary producer of Rocky, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Irishman, Creed, and now The…

Last week, we got the first teaser for Paul Thomas Anderson’s long-awaited return with One Battle After Another. It was just a brief glimpse that offered a tantalising first hint at what the ever-versatile filmmaker has cooked up for his first outing since Licorice Pizza. Of course, it looks absolutely nothing like Licorice Pizza. Which was absolutely nothing like Phantom Thread, and so on and so forth. Now, we’ve got the full trailer – bringing more chaotic vibes, a desperate Leonardo DiCaprio, and some revolutionary energy. Check it out: Frankly, there’s still not a lot of plot to go on…

News just in: the Avengers: Doomsday cast has been unveiled. Well, we say ‘just in’. Over the last five or so hours, Marvel Studios has been confirming who will be starring in the long-awaited upcoming Avengers movie, which has officially begun production. Yes, in a live-streamed announceathon on Marvel’s YouTube and social media channels, a succession of 26 cast chairs were slowly unfolded, accompanied by character appropriate musical stings, in fifteen minute intervals, revealing the sprawling list of names set to appear in the Russo Brothers’ long-awaited return to the MCU. Among the names on the list were *deep breath*…

Last month, the movie world was left shaken and stirred by the news that Amazon MGM had taken creative control of the James Bond franchise, with long-time producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson — who’ve both been working on 007 features since 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me — stepping back to pursue other creative and charitable pursuits, ending an era in British cinema in the process. Now, per THR’s reporting, we’re learning that industry veterans Amy Pascal and David Heyman, producers of the Spider-Man and Wizarding World franchises respectively, have struck a deal to guide everybody’s favourite double-oh agent into…

Who is the killer in Sean Cunningham’s iconic 1980 slasher Friday The 13th? It’s a question that’s proven the undoing of many a pub quiz team over the last 45 years, but the answer, as we expect anyone reading this will know, is not Jason Voorhees: it is, of course, his deranged mother Pamela Voorhees (originally played by Betsy Palmer). And, courtesy of Deadline, we now know who’ll be playing Jason’s vengeful ma in Peacock and A24’s upcoming, long-gestating franchise prequel series Crystal Lake — Dead To Me and Scooby-Doo star Linda Cardellini. Jinkies! In Cunningham’s original 70s set movie,…