Author: Empire

The fuse is lit, and the countdown is on – Ethan Hunt is about to burst back onto screens in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, sending Tom Cruise to even greater lengths in the name of our entertainment. But before we do, the new issue of Empire is coming to newsstands, delivered via exploding rocket (ok, maybe not) from Thursday 13 February. You can, for your own safety, order a copy online here too. Before it lands, here’s a sneak peek inside its pages: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie are back with a…

It’s been almost a decade since The Accountant first introduced the world to Ben Affleck’s autistic hitman Christian Wolff. A modest success when it came out in 2016, Gavin O’Connor’s financial thriller has enjoyed a renaissance on streaming in the years since its release, with the exploits of the calculated, calculating killer winning the movie a loyal fanbase — and a full-blown sequel. Yes, 2025 is set to see The Accountant 2 hit our screens, with O’Connor back in the director’s chair, Bill Dubuque once again handling the script, and Affleck returning alongside on-screen brother Brax (Jon Bernthal), U.S. Treasury…

Earlier this week, the internet was abuzz with excitement as we got our first proper look at the return of Ben Affleck’s autistic hitman Christian Wolff in The Accountant 2. And now, having had our appetite for more digit-based danger whetted by the sight of Affleck and on-screen brother Jon Bernthal being reunited in Gavin O’Connor’s long-gestating sequel, today Amazon and Warner Bros. dropped the real payload — the first full trailer for the upcoming financial thriller. We’ve run the numbers and we think it adds up to an inbound banger from O’Connor and writer Bill Dubuque, but check out…

Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin, and Guy Pearce are three actors who’ve had a pretty damn solid last twelve months. As stars of The Substance, Dune: Part Two, and The Brutalist respectively, the trio have each seen their movies land with fans and critics alike, leading to their presence being keenly felt during this year’s awards run-in. And now, according to Deadline’s reporting, the three are in final talks to join forces and feature alongside Jacob Elordi in Sir Ridley Scott’s upcoming apocalyptic thriller The Dog Stars. Back in November we first shared word that Scott was eyeing an adaptation of…

Max Barbakow is well on his way becoming Hollywood’s go-to guy for a good ol’ odd couple comedy. His Palms Springs gave us a rom-com for the ages with Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti’s time-loop trapped wedding guests Nyles and Sarah, while recent Prime Video caper Brothers offered up Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage on fine comedic form as criminal twins tackling one last job. And for his next project, Epiphany, Barbakow is bringing together another inspired pairing to tickle our funny bones. Per Deadline’s reporting, Kristen Wiig and Bill Murray have been snapped up to star in the up-and-coming…

Robert De Niro knows a thing or two about playing mobsters. He’s done it multiple times across his legendary career – but as it turns out, The Alto Knights might just be the most De Niro mobster movie. That’s because he’s playing both central mob boss roles in the film, penned by none other than Nicholas ‘GoodFellas’ Pileggi, and directed by Barry Levinson. As well as mafia don Frank Costello, De Niro also plays… well, mafia don Vito Genovese, former friends who find themselves going head-to-head in mid-20th Century New York. Roll up for double De Niro. For the actor,…

With Captain America: Brave New World mere days away, Marvel Studios are already ratcheting up the promotion for Jake Schreier’s upcoming MCU joint Thunderbolts*, which is set to see Earth’s mightiest anti-heroes team up, The Suicide Squad style, to face a mysterious threat. Well, perhaps not quite so mysterious any more. After months of speculation, the latest trailer for the movie — which just dropped during the Super Bowl — seems to confirm just who exactly Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and their fellow under appreciated ne’er-do-wells (Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, Olga Kurylenko’s…

As Chief Brody famously said upon seeing the shark up-close in Jaws: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” And that, too, seems to be exactly how the RDA felt after their SeaDragon ship was trashed by heroic space-whale Payakan in the final reel of Avatar: The Way Of Water. James Cameron’s mega-sequel ended in a colossal aquatic battle that led to major casualties on both sides, and left the RDA running away, tail-between-legs – but as we head towards this year’s Avatar: Fire And Ash, the conflict has only just begun, and the RDA are ready to strike back. As…

This week’s bumper-sized edition of the Empire Podcast brings with it a hat-trick of top notch guests for your listening pleasure as Chris Hewitt sits down on Zoom for chats with a bevy of terrific talents. First up Chris chops it up with Ke Huy Quan about Love Hurts, the action movie that not only represents his first lead role, but is also the Vietnamese-born comeback king’s first movie since winning an Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once [17:33 – 34:18 approx]. Then, in the middle of our starry sandwich, there’s September 5 star John Magaro, who explains how…

Planeswalkers, assemble! Over a decade after Fox tried and failed to bring the fantasy world of Magic: The Gathering to the big screen with, MonsterVerse architects Legendary and toymakers turned burgeoning movie powerhouse Hasbro are reaching for the topdeck to give Wizards Of The Coast’s iconic collectible card game an on-screen universe that’s as expansive as its in-game world. Per Variety’s reporting, the entertainment world juggernauts are joining forces to create a cinematic universe for Magic that will stretch across both film and television. With over 50 million players worldwide and an estimated value of over $1 billion, Magic: The…