Author: Empire

Let’s be clear: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller haven’t exactly been absent. They’ve spent much of the last 10 years shepherding the Spider-Verse trilogy into existence; they produced Cocaine Bear and Strays and The Mitchells Vs. The Machines. But the last time they directed a film? That would be 2014’s 22 Jump Street (or their time on Solo: A Star Wars Story, before they parted ways with the production midway through). So in a way, Project Hail Mary can be seen as something of a Lord and Miller comeback – their first film as directors in over a decade. And…

This week’s episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt break out the bleep machine for a particularly sweary chat with M3GAN 2.0 star, the delightful Ivanna Sakhno, [1:10:44 — 1:23:01 approx] and quietly judge the football team of Damson Idris, star of Joseph Kosinski’s high-octane racing drama F1. [25:45 — 38:45 approx] Or F1: The Movie, to give it its full marketing moniker, which inspires this week’s listener question as Chris, James Dyer, Sophie Butcher and our Australian chum, Jeremy Dylan, discuss the best movies that have ‘The Movie’ in the title. Elsewhere, our very own fantastic four get…

It is done folks. It. Is. Done! 173 weeks after Matt Reeves’ The Batman swooped into cinemas and knocked our bat-socks off with its grungy take on DC’s Caped Crusader, 1,157 days after we learned that Reeves and star Robert Pattinson would be back for a sequel, and less than 72 hours from DC Studios head honcho James Gunn’s oft-cited deadline for delivery, the script for The Batman Part II is complete. It’s done and dusted. It’s in the bat-bag. And if you don’t believe us (which honestly, after a long three year wait and two release date pushbacks, we…

One look at Jodie Turner-Smith in her Tron: Ares light suit makes it clear: you absolutely would not mess with her. The Queen & Slim star – recently seen in The Acolyte – looks undeniably formidable in her guise for Joachim Rønning’s long-awaited blockbuster, taking audiences back to the world of Tron for the first time since 2010’s Tron: Legacy. Meet Athena, second-in-command to Jared Leto’s Ares, ready to bust out of the Grid and take charge. “She is hardcore and fierce and strong and loyal,” Turner-Smith tells Empire in our world-exclusive Tron: Ares issue. During our set visit, she…

For the last eight years now, Denis Villeneuve has been shoulders deep in the sands of Arrakis, bringing his vision of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic Dune to life. But with the Quebecois auteur’s Dune: Messiah gearing up to head into production this summer ahead of a December 2026 cinema release, Villeneuve has just booked perhaps the only gig in cinema today bigger than Dune 3. Yes, per Deadline’s reporting, Denis Villeneuve will soon be swapping spice for spies as he has just signed on to direct the next James Bond movie at Amazon MGM Studios. Earlier this week, industry insider…

Good afternoon. We herald a blockbuster beginning. We herald the end (of a long, long wait). We herald… The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Yes, it’s very nearly clobberin’ time now, with the arrival of Marvel’s First Family in the MCU just a month away – and since that release date rapidly approaching, we have a final fantastic trailer teasing the arrival of Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm. This time around, we not only get fresh glimpses of Galactus heading to chomp on this alternative Earth – we also see a bit of Mr. Fantastic’s stretchy powers…

From Moon to Source Code, and Warcraft to Mute, Duncan Jones has long since proven himself a leading light as both an intelligent sci-fi filmmaker and a director who knows a thing or two about bringing a unique artistic sensibility to ambitious, large-scale projects. And his latest, a long-gestating animated adaptation of 2000AD’s Rogue Trooper sci-fi comic book series, looks set to prove the apotheosis of Jones’ creative journey to date. Built using Epic Games’ cutting edge Unreal Engine 5, Rogue Trooper sees Aneurin Barnard (Doctor Who) star as a lone survivor super soldier on a mission for vengeance —…

After two less than inspiring attempts to revive the iconic Saw franchise with 2017’s Jigsaw and 2020’s Chris Rock star vehicle Spiral: From The Book Of Saw, it had seemed for a spell as if Jigsaw’s days of morally iffy self-mutilation mongering were finally over. But if this horror saga has taught us one thing, it’s that nobody — not even Saw itself — is ever really dead. And now, after a strong fan response to Kevin Greutert’s 2023 offering Saw X, a whole new era of effed-up fun and gruesome games awaits as genre behemoth Blumhouse has just bought…

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again. Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can… which, apparently, includes meeting Frank Castle. Yes, following the triumphant return of Jon Bernthal’s army vet-turned-vigilante anti-hero Punisher in Daredevil: Born Again earlier this year (and word not too long ago of a forthcoming Punisher Marvel Studios special presentation), Deadline has confirmed that Francis G. Castle will make his MCU big-screen debut in Destin Daniel Cretton’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day — which is set to start shooting any (brand new) day now. Having successfully broken free of a Wilson Fisk mandated cell during…

It’s another packed episode of the Empire Podcast, the show that dares to ask the big questions: isn’t the Mona Lisa just a woman sitting down? Who’s the richest Northern Irish person? Can you buy stocks in Glen Powell? Join the pod team — Chris Hewitt, Helen O’Hara, James Dyer, and Amon Warmann — as they tackle those questions, discuss the original 1977 print of Star Wars that Chris and James saw last week at the BFI, look at the week’s movie news (Dune! Saw! Clayface! Naked Gun! Spaceballs!), and review Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later and the new Pixar…