Author: Empire

Ok, first things first. Let’s get it out of the way. Yes, the Empire Podcast team — Chris Hewitt, Helen O’Hara, James Dyer, and John Nugent — spend a great deal of this week’s podcast answering a listener question about great movie quartets. They also spend a great deal of time, in the Movie News section, talking about The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum. And yes, despite all that, they spectacularly fail to mention Bilbo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin in the former category. So, just letting you know that now lest you wish to shout at your…

Fans of animation are no strangers to Brad Bird. He brought to life Vin Diesel’s super-sized robot in The Iron Giant, gave us one of the best superhero films of the 2000s with The Incredibles, and introduced audiences to the internet’s favourite chef Remy in Ratatouille. But his latest project actually dates back to before all of those films, having been gestating in the director’s mind for more than 30 years. The project in question is Ray Gunn, a blend of 1940s noir detective films and sci-fi that has just revealed its first images along with its voice cast. Check…

Just in case there was any remaining doubt that video game adaptations are the new comic book movies, another one’s strafing our way — and it’s a biggie! This evening, THR is reporting that Sony’s Columbia Pictures are gearing up to bring Hideo Kojima’s stealth combat franchise Metal Gear Solid to the big screen. And, what’s more, the studio has already found one of the hottest directorial duos around to make it: Final Destination Bloodlines duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein. With stock in Lipovsky and Stein rising following the critical and commercial success of last year’s Final Destination…

We’ve got an itch for an action movie threequel — and Netflix has a Rake to scratch it! Yes, after technically dying in Sam Hargrave’s Extraction, and having gotten better in testosterone-fuelled follow-up Extraction 2, Chris Hemsworth’s Aussie merc Tyler Rake is officially coming back for a new mission with the ingeniously titled Extraction 3. And what’s more, per Deadline’s reporting, we know that he’s not coming back alone: Sam Hargrave is returning to the directorial hotseat, while Rake’s BFF/manager Nik (Golshifteh Farahani) and mysterious ‘Man In The Suit’ Alcott (Idris Elba) are also re-entering the fray on-screen. Having somehow…

You could never accuse David Lowery of being one-note. The filmmaker began his career with a riff on Bonnie and Clyde in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, and has since given us arthouse spookfests (A Ghost Story), Earthy-toned Disney remakes (Pete’s Dragon, Peter Pan & Wendy), and existential epic fantasies (The Green Knight). Oh, and he directed episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew too. Next up? He’s going full pop star psychodrama in Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway as a legendary pop icon, reconnecting with Michaela Coel’s mysterious dressmaker after they parted ways years previously. The film boasts true pop cred,…

You know the old saying about how today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrappers? Well, turns out, it still holds up today actually. Barely a week since we first learned that Ryan Gosling had been set to lead The Daniels’ new sci-fi movie, the duo’s first feature since Oscar-winning smash Everything Everywhere All At Once, Variety is reporting that Gosling has exited the buzzy blockbuster project. Though neither Daniels Kwan or Scheinert — or Ryan Gosling himself — have commented on the Canadian actor’s sudden departure, Variety cites ‘a scheduling conflict’ as the cause for Gosling’s exit. With RG…

There’s nothing quite like a Steven Spielberg action sequence. Think those incredible Indiana Jones setpieces (the Raiders boulder! The Temple mine-cart chase!), Jurassic Park’s dino mayhem, or Minority Report’s jetpack brawl. And while his new summer blockbuster Disclosure Day is many things – a sci-fi movie; a conspiracy thriller; an alien flick – it’ll also see the legendary director once again put pedal to metal. “It’s an action movie,” the director tells Empire in a major new interview. “It has a large scale. It comes out of the gate very fast. I think this is a very experiential story.” And,…

This week’s episode of the Empire Podcast is an Easter bonanza, folks, that sees Chris Hewitt, Helen O’Hara, and James Dyer (with new honorific firmly in place, at least for now) discuss the best resurrections in movies, wax lyrical about Richard Kind in The Producers, and cast their learned eyes over a glut of movie trailers, including the new one for Supergirl. The gang also review Fuze, The Drama, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice. Speaking of Fuze, Chris even finds time to have a lovely chat with that film’s star and director,…

Move over Rocky, Grogu, Yoshi, and that little capybara from Flow — there’s a new lil’ guy (well, gal) on the block and her name is Ally. Having wooed us last year with Mickey 17’s inaccurately named cuties the Creepers, Bong Joon Ho is going all in on the charm with the protagonist of Ally, the director’s debut animated movie. And now, having spent the best part of the last seven years developing his ocean-based odyssey alongside co-writer Jason Yu, director Bong has revealed a first proper look at the piglet squid at the centre of his latest film. Check…

For decades now, alien enthusiasts have theorised that evidence of extra-terrestrial life has been hidden by authorities, filed away from prying eyes in Area 51 and secret military bases. If the truth is out there, it’s redacted. A similar secrecy applies to Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day. This is a blockbuster of the ‘top-secret’ variety – a mysterious conspiracy thriller that sees the Hollywood legend return to the science-fiction genre he’s revolutionised many times over. His latest is all about the big questions: do aliens exist? How long have we known for? And should humanity at large know about it? These…