Author: Empire

As the famous line goes, “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten… when it comes to receiving the Disney live-action treatment.” That’s right, folks — we’ve marvelled at Elliot in Pete’s Dragon, gawped at Beauty & The Beast’s titular furry fella, witnessed photorealistic Simba in The Lion King, and… well… you get the idea! Now, it’s noughties banger Lilo & Stitch’s turn to go from drawn to life, guided by the Oscar nominated filmmaker behind Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, Dean Fleischer Camp. And while we’ve only had a few blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpses at what Camp…

Hollywood may be enjoying a long weekend giving thanks, cooking turkeys, and parading supersized Spider-Mans (Spider-Men?), but that doesn’t mean this week’s Empire Podcast is any less stuffed to the gills with guests, greatness, and guesty greatness than usual. And talking of guesty greatness, our first guest this week is Auli’i Cravalho, Moana herself, who sits down with Chris Hewitt to talk about returning as a master wayfinder in this week’s newly released Moana 2 — and to talk about the art of not talking to people on planes [16:03 — 29:35 approx]. And then, tripling down on the guesty…

Wanna go back to Middle-earth? On the evening of Wednesday 4 December, Empire VIP members can be the first to experience Kenji Kamiyama’s epic animated adventure The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim, nine days before its release on 13 December_._ Set 183 years before the events of Peter Jackson’s iconic trilogy, The War Of The Rohirrim etches the journey of Hera Hammerhand (Gaia Wise), daughter of the King of Rohan (Brian Cox), to protect a mighty fortress from invasion by evil lord Wulf (Luke Pasqualino). Not only will we be screening the film but we’ll also be joined by filmmakers for a (Helm’s)…

Back in February, we brought you the very exciting news that Sam Mendes has not one but fourBeatles biopics in the works, with each intersecting movie set to hit cinemas in 2027. And while that may still seem quite some time away, the long and winding road to Mendes’ Fab Four pictures may have just found its first stop — and its first Beatle. In an Entertainment Tonight interview conducted after earning a glut of Grammy nominations, The Beatles’ iconic drummer Ringo Starr heavily implied/all but outright said that Bird star Barry Keoghan is set to pick up his drumsticks…

It is with great sadness that we bring you the news Jim Abrahams, the legendary writer-director who — alongside brothers Jerry and David Zucker — gave us such comedy greats as Airplane!, The Naked Gun, and Police Squad, has died at the age of 80. His son Joseph confirmed the news to THR, telling the outlet that his father passed away of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica earlier today. James S. Abrahams was born in Shorewood, Wisconsin on 10 May, 1944. The son of educational researcher Louise M. Abrahams and lawyer Norman S. Abrahams, it would be…

Since it was announced last month that Christopher Nolan has set a new movie at Universal for Summer 2026, the cast list — not to mention our anticipation for the movie — has been getting bigger and buzzier by the day. But with the latest addition to the call sheet for Nolan’s next movie, things have ratcheted up another gear and taken a turn for the Furiosa. Oh yes, per Deadline’s reporting, Mad Max: Fury Road and Atomic Blonde star — and all-round Hollywood icon — Charlize Theron has just signed on for her first team-up with the Oppenheimer Oscar…

Holy Shiz! After all the impatient waiting and feverish anticipation, Universal’s Wicked (*cough* Part One *cough*) is finally here — and in news that will surprise approximately nobody, Jon M. Chu’s cinematic take on the Wizard Of Oz inspired Broadway smash is proving pretty Popular with audiences already. The epic movie musical, which tells the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo) and her one-time college roommate Galinda (Ariana Grande), has been Defying Gravity at the box office this past weekend, soaring to a record breaking $164 million opening worldwide as it leaves its competitors, er,…

Having released the highest-grossing animated movie of all time this summer in the shape of Inside Out 2, expectations have been set sky high for Pixar’s next movie. But, ever one step ahead of the game, the legendary animation studio have set their sights far higher with original new offering Elio, a cosmic sci-fi adventure hailing from Turning Red director Domee Shi, Coco co-writer and -director Adrian Molina, and SparkShorts alum Madeline Sharafian. Starring newcomer Yonas Kibreab in the title role alongside the likes of Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Brad Garrett, Jameela Jamil, and Shirley Henderson, Elio looks like a…

It’s another epic episode of the Empire Podcast this week, folks, as a smorgasbord of stars join us on the pod — all of whom shared the unique privilege of Chris Hewitt’s company in person for their interviews. First to have Hewitts about them there’s the great Steve McQueen, writer and director of Apple TV+ bound Blitz, to talk about how he approached the World War II drama, and working with Paul Weller [18:56 — 35:15 approx]. Then, Chris has a cracking conversation with The Piano Lesson stars John David Washington (following in the footsteps of his father, Denzel, who…

Christopher Nolan may be stacking the deck with the cast of his mysterious next film right now, but he’s not the only major filmmaker out there aligning stars for a secrecy shrouded project. Five years after his last directorial effort, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker, J.J. Abrams is preparing to get back in the saddle with an original new offering. And now, having already snapped up Glen Powell, Jenna Ortega, and Emma Mackey to lead his latest, it looks like the Super 8 director has found the next big name for the call sheet — Samuel L.…