Author: Empire

As the great William Shakespeare himself once wrote, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players.” With their innovative, BIFA 2024-nominated documentary Grand Theft Hamlet, Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls take the Bard at his word as they chronicle Crane and fellow out of work actor Mark Oosterveen’s madcap attempt to stage a production of Danish tragedy Hamlet within the unforgiving, unpredictable world of Grand Theft Auto Online. Part comedy goldmine, part poignant document of life — and the arts’ existential crisis — during lockdown, this is one of those real seeing-is-believing type deals. Check…

It’s a day ending in ‘y’, so you know what that means — another acting heavyweight has boarded the next Christopher Nolan movie! Since the Oscar winning Oppenheimer director set his latest project at Universal just last month, a flurry of exciting names have been added to the call sheet of what’s already shaping up to be quite the blockbuster event for summer 2026. First there was Matt Damon, then everyone’s favourite friendly neighbourhood Tom Holland signed up for a lead role — and just last week, Zendaya and Anne Hathaway entered the fray, too. Now, per THR’s reporting, it…

It may not even be mid-November yet, but Christmas has come early this year for Studio Ghibli fans. Following the BAFTA, Oscar, and Golden Globe winning success of the legendary Japanese animation outfit’s The Boy And The Heron earlier in 2024, Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro made a triumphant return to cinemas in the UK and Ireland this summer, sparking calls for more of the studio’s back catalogue to make a multiplex comeback. Well, whaddaya know! It looks like the Elysian Film Group and Anonymous Content have been listening to those calls, because they’ve announced that they’re teaming up once again…

Now that we’ve reached the end of the Witches’ Road with Agatha All Along, all MCU fans’ attention is now set to turn towards Julius Onah’s star-spangled fourquel Captain America: Brave New World. Having had one curiosity sparking teaser for Anthony Mackie’s feature debut as Captain America already, as well as a couple of intriguing tidbits of info about Giancarlo Esposito’s baddie Sidewinder and an eyebrow-raising adamantium connection spilled at San Diego Comic Con back in July, the hype train for the 35th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has really been starting to build up a head of steam.…

Casting announcements for a new Christopher Nolan movie are like the years in Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’ — they start coming and they don’t stop coming. And having seemingly outdone himself with the stacked ensemble of his Best Picture winner Oppenheimer last year, the British filmmaker is already looking to increase the star power wattage with his latest effort. After already setting Tom Holland and Matt Damon to lead his as-yet-untitled new Universal movie in recent weeks, today Deadline are reporting that Nolan has just added two more heavyweights to his next movie’s call sheet — Zendaya and Anne Hathaway.…

Forget jam-packed, this week’s episode of the Empire podcast is positively marmaladen with great guests, folks! To kick things off, Chris Hewitt talks to Paddington In Peru stars Hugh Bonneville and Emily Mortimer (the new Mrs. Brown) about tarantulas, Paddington tantrums, and shooting in the wilds of Basingstoke [20:47 — 35:27 approx]. Then, that man Hewitt peels back the layers of magical-social-realist drama Bird with the great British director Andrea Arnold as the duo discuss working with non-actors, switching between TV and filmmaking, and shooting in Gravesend [51:56 – 1:07:39 approx]. And as if that weren’t treat enough (seriously, orange…

10 years ago today, Disney and Lucasfilm celebrated principal photography finishing on the first film in their new Star Wars trilogy, revealing its name — The Force Awakens — to the world and spawning a gazillion fan theories in the process. Now, one decade, five films, a fistful of Disney+ series, and a whole lot of online discourse later, today appears to mark the beginning of a bold new chapter for the universe George Lucas built. Per Deadline’s reporting, Lucasfilm and Disney have sealed a deal for X-Men franchise alumnus and Rebels co-creator Simon Kinberg to write and produce an…

Yesterday was a difficult day. A disappointing day. A day where millions of people’s dreams were crushed, replaced by a mounting sense of dread and an overwhelming urge to ask, simply, “Why? Why? WHY?!” After months of nervous anticipation, we had dared to believe it was finally happening, only to have hope snatched at the last second by an inexplicable twist of fate. We are of course referring to the profoundly dismaying announcement last night that Bong Joon Ho’s Robert Pattinson starring sci-fi joint Mickey 17 has been delayed yet again. (What else could we have been talking about?) Per…

Whilst the eyes of the world may be locked firmly on the other side of the Atlantic this morning, back here in Blighty there is at least some positivity still to be shared yet. Having shone last year when the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes brought Hollywood to a standstill, the independent British cinema scene has continued to shine throughout 2024, with revered greats, rising stars, returning masters, and bold new narratives all emerging to ensure the flame for indies from these shores has never burned brighter. As such, it comes as no great surprise that the announcement of this year’s…

Here’s some *ahem* buzzy horror movie news for your Tuesday morning. David Cronenberg’s seminal 1986 body horror masterpiece The Fly is set to be the basis for a seemingly Nia DaCosta’s Candyman style, universe expanding spin-off at 20th Century Studios. Per Deadline’s reporting, Nanny filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu is actively developing, well, The Fly, on which the in-demand rising name in horror will serve as both writer and director. As Deadline are quick to note, whilst plot details for Jusu’s films are being kept shtum at the moment, “sources stressed that it’s set in the universe of Cronenberg’s film, rather than…