Author: Empire

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,…

Coco fans, prepare to go un poco loco — we’re heading back to the Land of the Dead! Yes, forgoing the kind of pomp and ceremony that would ordinarily herald a new Pixar film announcement, Disney CEO Bob Iger used the company’s annual shareholder meeting earlier today as a platform to reveal that Coco 2 is in early development, with directors Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina both on board for a return to the Pixarified world of Alebrijes and singing skeletons. Check out the official title treatment for the film below; “While the film is just in the initial stages,…

Over the last four decades, few figures in the world of film have given as much to the form as Thomas Cruise Mapother IV — or, as we know him best, Tom Cruise. Across 47 films and counting, cinema’s real-life action man has run, jumped, climbed, flown, cycled, dived, danced, danced some more, fought, and even breathed his own carbon dioxide, all in service of making the big screen experience as big as it can possibly be. Now, in recognition of his years of service to cinema, both as an actor and producer, the BFI have today announced they’ll be…

We’ve another bumper-sized edition of the Empire Podcast in store for you this week, folks, with a double whammy of top notch guests — so buckle up! Our first guest is legendary director Barry Levinson, who sat down with our very own Chris Hewitt on the eve of the release of his new gangster joint The Alto Knights to discuss working with Robert De Niro, Robert De Niro, aaaand Robert De Niro’s dogs, as well as the life-changing impact Marlon Brando putting on a glove in On The Waterfront had on him as a young whippersnapper. [23:31 — 40:13 approx] Then,…

Change is afoot in the world of cinematic spy craft. James Bond has been reassigned to Amazon. IMF agent Ethan Hunt is about to undertake quite possibly his last impossible mission — The Final Reckoning. And now, after disappearing at the end of Jason Bourne back in 2016, everybody’s favourite amnesiac assassin is looking for a clean break too. Per THR’s reporting, the rights to Robert Ludlum’s propulsive spy saga have fallen out of Universal’s hands, and the search for a new studio to reboot the franchise and bring Bourne back is very much underway. According to THR, Skydance, Apple,…