Author: Empire

By royal decree, we shall all be returning to the principality of Genovia! Yup, you heard us right — after two whole decades of waiting for the return of Queen Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, Disney’s long rumoured Princess Diaries 3 is officially happening. Per Deadline’s reporting, Raya And The Last Dragon writer and Joy Ride director Adele Lim has signed up to direct the third movie in Disney’s beloved ’00s royal franchise. And what’s more, a follow-up Instagram post from Queen Mia herself, Anne Hathaway, looks to confirm the Idea Of You star’s return to the role that made…

As we head towards 2025, we’re getting closer and closer to the dawn of James Gunn’s all-new DCU. The Suicide Squad filmmaker and producer Peter Safran are at the helm of the re-jigged DC Studios, going big with next summer’s Gunn-directed Superman, but technically launching this December with animated series Creature Commandos. And now, Gunn has announced another animated project for the DCU slate – this one a big-screen release, titled Dynamic Duo. Make way for the story of Robin. Or, as Gunn himself put it on social media, ‘Robins’. Because as its title suggests, there’ll be a pair of…

You’ve swooned for Baby Groot. You’ve “aww”ed at Baby Yoda. But are you ready for the fluffy little bundle of adorable that is Baby Paddington? Because in the latest trailer for Paddington In Peru, Dougal Wilson’s hotly anticipated upcoming Brown family threequel, Baby Paddington is exactly what we get. As well as more of Antonio Banderas’ _Puss In Boots_ian riverboat captain, more of Olivia Colman’s sus singing nun, and… a quest to find the mythical lost city of El Dorado? Pack your bags — we’re off to Peru! Check out the trailer below; Do you hear that? It’s the sound…

Come on, come on, come on, come on. A pop star as swaggering as Robbie Williams – the British ‘90s icon who rocketed out of Take That to his own mega-fame – was never going to fit the standard rags-to-riches biopic treatment we’ve seen hundreds of times over. But admit it: you didn’t exactly expect this. Better Man is, indeed, a Robbie Williams biopic, depicting his rise as a pop provocateur, chart-smasher, and general troublemaker. Except, the part of Robbie Williams is played by… a CGI ape, Planet Of The Apes style. No, really. Not a bad fit for the…

Denis Villeneuve is one of the most exciting directors on this (or any other) planet, his two-part adaptation of Dune standing as a colossus in modern science-fiction moviemaking. And now, with our very special Empire VIP members event, you could be in the room with him while he talks about the making of Dune: Part Two, and its predecessor. On the afternoon of Saturday 12 October, the master filmmaker will join us for a deep dive into bringing Frank Herbert’s epic novel to life – from the escalating love story between Paul Atreides and Chani, to the all-out Fremen war,…

The Paddington films have always been imbued with a deep love of cinema. Paul King’s Paddington and Paddington 2 revelled in creating handcrafted textures, both beautifully shot and making nods to classic slapstick comedies, prison escape dramas, and soundstage musicals. Next, Paddington is venturing out of London – make way for Paddington In Peru, a threequel that sees Dougal Wilson make his directorial debut, taking the reins from King, and sending our young furry hero (and the Brown family) on an Amazonian adventure. That change of location means an influx of new cinematic touchstones. Notably, Wilson mentions an influence from…

They say that in life there are three guarantees: death, taxes, and that if there is a complicated woman in need of a stylishly done, painstakingly constructed biopic, then Pablo Larraín is the man to make it. Having sensitively explored the grief of Jackie Kennedy in the wake of JFK’s death with 2017’s Natalie Portman starrer Jackie, and then made a haunting portrait of Princess Diana’s vulnerability with Kristen Stewart in 2021’s Spencer, Larraín has enlisted the services of Angelina Jolie to help tell the story of fêted opera singer Maria Callas in the aptly titled Maria. Check out the…

Call us a hearty sandwich on The Empire Podcast this week folks because our latest episode is jam-packed! In a three interview, five guest week, first up our very own Chris Hewitt sat down to chat with Saoirse Ronan — producer-star of new drama The Outrun — and her co-star Paapa Essiedu to talk about bonding, improvisation, and shooting on location [19:13 – 33:45 approx]. Next up, director Josh Greenbaum talks to us about new Netflix offering Will & Harper, an excellent documentary that follows Will Ferrell and his writer friend of three decades, Harper Steele, on a cross-country road…

Two years ago, we brought you the news that Florence Pugh had signed on to star in a new adaptation of East Of Eden, John Steinbeck’s 1952 literary epic. In the time since the project — a seven-part Netflix limited series written by Zoe Kazan (The Big Sick) — was first announced, Christopher Abbott has joined the show’s cast and Pugh’s star has continued to rise with winning turns in the likes of The Wonder, Oppenheimer, and Dune: Part Two. And now we’re getting an exciting new casting announcement for the series as Netflix has officially greenlit the project. Per…

It sounds like a set-up straight out of a pulpy genre movie: what if the man you were matched with on a kitschy 1970s dating TV show turned out to be a serial killer? But as it turns out, Anna Kendrick’s feature directorial debut Woman Of The Hour is based in all kinds of truths – not just emotional ones, but literal factual ones too. Set in 1978, the film also sees Kendrick step in front of the camera as Cheryl Bradshaw, who goes on The Dating Game and ends up bagging a date with Daniel Zovatto’s Rodney Alcala. Except,…