Author: Empire

It may have been over a decade in the making, but in recent weeks we’ve finally started to get our first proper look at Wildwood, the latest epic stop-motion animated adventure from Oregon outfit Laika Studio. Last month, weexclusively revealed a first look photo from Kubo & The Two Strings director Travis Knight’s long-gestating passion project, and followed that up shortly after with a world-first stop-motion digital magazine cover introducing the movie’s plucky heroine Prue McKeel. Now, at long last, today saw the studio release the first teaser for Knight’s adaptation of Colin Meloy’s anthropomorphic YA fantasy book(s) — with…

In space, no one can hear you scream. But back here on terra firma, you can hear this week’s Empire Podcast — and what’s more, you should! In a double-slash-triple interview packed week for the pod, first up our very own Chris Hewitt sits down on Zoom with Paul Feig, the dapper and debonair director of Bridesmaids, Spy, The Heat and — most pressingly — new Prime Video action-comedy Jackpot!. Together, the duo talk about working with Awkwafina and John Cena, the difficulties of getting an original movie off the ground, and whether Feig could murder somebody for money [23:34…

Here’s a curveball for your Friday morning. Fresh off of a run of galvanising star turns in the likes of psychological horror Longlegs, indie drama Pig, and madcap meta comedy The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent, Nicolas Cage is gearing up to play NFL icon John Madden in a new biopic for Amazon MGM Studios. Per Deadline’s reporting, Cage has landed the lead role in writer-director David O. Russell’s Madden, which will chart the American football commentator and coach’s remarkable journey from winning the Super Bowl as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders to his extraordinary emergence as the…

So far, Sony’s Spider-Man-adjacent Marvel movies have shied away from going hard-R rated – even the Venom films have played it safe overall. But that’s not the case with Kraven The Hunter. The latest outing from the universe formerly known as ‘SPUMC’ (the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters) – following on from February’s Madame Web – brings one of Spidey’s most formidable foes to the screen in an origin story that looks to go hard and the blood and gore. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is stepping into the fur-shouldered get-up, on a mission of vengeance that sees him become the world’s…

Having broken out big thanks to The Holdovers, Dominic Sessa has not been short of acting gigs. He’s part of the cast for another festive period-set comedy drama called Oh. What. Fun., based-on-truth tale Tow and new sequel Now You See Me 3. And via a new biopic called Tony, he’s aboard to play one of the most influential figures in the culinary world: Anthony Bourdain. The legendary Chef, writer and broadcaster cut his teeth working in the competitive Manhattan restaurant industry in the 1980s and 1990s, working his way up to Executive Chef at exclusive eatery Brasserie Les Halles.…

Given his experience bringing horror franchises to screens and his time spent on watery adventures with the Aquaman films, it feels somehow natural that James Wan would consider jumping aboard a modernized version of The Creature From The Black Lagoon. So word that he’s in early talks for exactly that is not truly surprising. The 1954 original, directed by Jack Arnold, leaned into the 3D technique to tell the story of the Gill-Man, a prehistoric human-fish hybrid monster who lived in the water and the ichthyologist – played by Julie Adams – who catches his eye. Various updates have been…

In the Disney pantheon, it doesn’t get much more classic than Snow White. The original 1937 Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs was the film that started it all – the debut feature from the studio, that more-or-less invented the animated film as we know it, and began a legacy that’s still going nearly 100 years later. So, it’s a big deal that Disney is presenting a new take on the fairytale as a live-action adaptation next year – the long-awaited Snow White, with Rachel Zegler playing the original Disney princess, and Gal Gadot vamping it up as the Evil…

With one trailer already out there in the cinematic Pride Lands, Mufasa: The Lion King continues in its quest to justify a prequel movie to both Jon Favreau’s 2019 CG effort and the 1994 animated epic original. Having Barry Jenkins as the filmmaker guiding the new film is certainly a solid start, leading to some beautiful new imagery utilizing the impressive, photo-real technology that Favs and his team developed. For Mufasa, the narrative spins back the clock to find the future king in his cub days, and how he came to meet the lion brother to be known as Scar,…

Back in the day, it used to be, ‘You’ve got a friend in me’. But these days everywhere you look, it’s more like, ‘You’ve got a friend in screens.’ Or so, that’s the gist of Pixar’s upcoming Toy Story 5. During Disney’s D23 Expo panel, Pixar boss Pete Docter hit the stage to give a major update on Buzz, Woody and Jessie’s next big-screen adventure – not only confirming studio legend Andrew Stanton as the director of the film, but unveiling a first piece of concept art too. That image, in the broadest of strokes, indicates what the fifth outing…

Deadpool & Wolverine is, it’s fair to say, absolutely loaded with cameo appearances, with more Marvel characters showing up from franchises past than you can shake a Peter at (steady). Yet there are always the ones that got away. According to actor/co-writer Ryan Reynolds, he came close to convincing Nicolas Cage – or as his younger alter ego might put it, Nic fuckiiiiiiing Cage – to don his spiky leather jacket and flame-sporting skull to return as Johnny Blaze, AKA Ghost Rider. Talking with Collider, Reynolds admitted that it had at least gotten to the two actors discussing the idea.…