Author: Empire

Every good arena spectacle needs its villain. Gladiator had Joaquin Phoenix’s weaselly Commodus. BBC favourite gameshow Gladiators had Wolf. Now, Ridley Scott’s next Roman epic, Gladiator II, is doubling the hissable-baddie quotient: make way for mad Emperors Geta and Caracalla, twins with insatiable egos who delight in the brutal bloodshed of the Colosseum’s gladiatorial combat. Together – played by Joseph Quinn (the Stranger Things 4 breakout who recently excelled in A Quiet Place: Day One, next to be The Fantastic Four’s Johnny Storm) and Fred Hechinger – they’re going to make life particularly difficult for Paul Mescal’s incoming fighter Lucius.…

We’ve got Gods and crows on our minds on this week’s jam-packed episode of the Empire Film Podcast folks — and we’ll tell you for why. In a doozy of a double-guest week, first up we have a sizeable slab of the Empire VIP Club live Q&A Chris Hewitt did with Jeff Goldblum, star of Netflix’s Greek myth riffing new show KAOS, to serve up for your audible delectation. And it is, as you’d expect, Goldblum at his most Goldblummy — Goldblummin’ good stuff if you will [24:13 – 42:52 approx]. Then, flying in to your ears we’ve got an…

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to feast your eyes on the veritable constellation of stars who’ve just been added to the line-up for The Revenant filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s latest. Back in February, we brought you news that Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible action man Tom Cruise had signed on to star in Iñárritu’s new as-yet-untitled movie at Warner Bros. And now today, per Deadline’s reporting, we’ve learned that *deep breath* Anatomy Of A Fall star Sandra Hüller, Killers Of The Flower Moon’s Jesse Plemons, Emmy winner John Goodman, Talk To Me breakout Sophie Wilde,…

The filmography of the late, great Tony Scott is packed with Denzel Washington favourites – from Man On Fire and Crimson Tide, to Déjà Vu and Unstoppable. The director and star had a real creative chemistry spanning years, right up until Scott’s untimely death in 2012. And now, for the second time, Washington is collaborating with Scott’s similarly legendary filmmaker brother Ridley, stepping into Gladiator II – their first work together since 2007’s American Gangster. This time, Washington is donning ancient Roman gear as Macrinus, a wealthy arms dealer who “wants to be Emperor and he’s willing to do anything…

Over the years, the world of cinema has given us some exceptional movie family dynasties. The Coppolas, the Skarsgårds, the Sheens, the Carradines, and the Arquettes to name but a few. Now, with Netflix’s upcoming August Wilson play adaptation The Piano Lesson, the Washingtons are set to solidify their place amongst them. Directed by first-time feature filmmaker Malcolm Washington, son of Denzel, and starring Tenet and BlacKkKlansman’s John David Washington (Malcolm’s older brother), the movie — which also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Deadwyler, and Ray Fisher — looks set to honour Wilson’s seminal exploration of racial identity, familial legacy,…

It is with great sadness that we report legendary French actor Alain Delon has died at the age of 88. Widely hailed as the most beautiful movie star of all time thanks to his ocean blue eyes and statuesque, sculpted cheekbones, Delon — star of Le Samourai, Plein Soleil, Rocco And His Brothers and much, much more — brought an insouciant cool to cinema on- and off-screen, and an ineffable capacity to convey the depths of a brooding soul in the level of those self-same eyes. Delon passed away at his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and…

Face-hugs all round: it’s been a good weekend for Alien at the global box office. The sci-fi horror franchise burst back to life this year with Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus, the first film in the series since 2017’s Ridley Scott-directed Alien: Covenant, this time with a somewhat back-to-basics approach – scared space-colonists battling hordes of Xenomorphs on a hellish space station, with chest-bursting, acid-dripping, monster-birthing results. That approach put bums in seats across the world – since Romulus’ opening weekend came in at $108 million worldwide. Not bad for a film that was originally slated for Disney+. In the US,…

“I have the power!” So bellows Prince Adam every time he turns into the eponymous hero of toy-brand-turned-80s-animated-TV-series He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe. We imagine it’s also what the folks at Amazon have been saying on the regular as they bring together the cast and crew of their hotly anticipated new live-action Masters Of The Universe movie. Having already snagged Laika head honcho Travis Knight to helm moviegoers’ latest trip to Eternia and The Idea Of You star Nicholas Galitzine to get his He-Man on in the lead, the long-gestating project has now found its Teela, too. Today,…

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…