The Empire Film Podcast

With Chris off on the fairway, taking his first proper holiday in approximately 20 years, its up to Helen O’Hara and James Dyer — the newly appointed Archbishop of Nerdbury — to hold down the fort, ably assisted by Empire news editor and former Pilot TV stalwart Beth Webb. Between the three of them, they do their level best not to refer to Cillian Murphy and Tim Mielants’ latest film as Steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeve, which is for the best as both actor and director join us on this week’s show, as does Sean Penn who chats to Alex about One Battle After Another. As well as Steve, we also review A Big Bold Beautiful Journey and The Lost Bus, but all all film chat is summarily derailed by this week’s listener question, which opens the floodgates for an outpouring of nostalgia as we worship at the altar of ‘80s children’s TV, including a certain pink and white stuffed cat.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast might just go ahead, make your day, as Chris Hewitt (having recovered from a colleague-inflicted mischief) invites Helen O'Hara and James Dyer into the podbooth for a discussion of the best films directed by Clint Eastwood. Amazingly, The Rookie is given short shrift. Then, our intrepid trio take a look at the week's movie news, including the surprising return of Michael Caine, and review The Long Walk, Spinal Tap II: The Grand Finale, and Downton Abbey: The End Continues. Or is it Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale? Either way, it's a big episode for Downton fans, as Hugh Bonneville and Allen Leech bid farewell to the cultural juggernaut in the best way possible, by talking to Boyd Hilton. [1:04:33 - 1:16:31 approx] And Chris has a wonderful time talking tennis and more with Islands star Sam Riley, making a triumphant return to the podcast. [27:44 - 43:45 approx] Oh, and Noel Coward pops in for a little song, which is nice. Enjoy.

The Shameless Plug — the show in which Chris Hewitt sits down with Empire editor, Nick de Semlyen, to shamelessly plug the new issue of Empire magazine — is back back back, folks, and comes with a lovely slice of Brisket. Not the meat, mind you, but Glen Powell's dog, who somehow wound up on Chris' lap during one of his forays to the set of Edgar Wright's The Running Man, in which Powell stars, and which is this month's cover feature. To hear more about that canine encounter, and Chris (and Nick's) observations of the film's sets, and our madcap The Running Mag idea, listen on. But there's plenty more here, as Chris and Nick do a deep dive into the issue, get bogged down in bad maths, and take some advice from Mick Scoresby. If you can't get out of it, get into it! Enjoy.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast asks perhaps the biggest question ever tackled on this show: who would win in a fight between the Gleesons and the Skarsgårds? Join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Amon Warmann, as they tackle that scenario and more. Is the world truly ready for the Coppola clan kicking bottom? Elsewhere, our intrepid quartet discuss the week's movie news (Star Wars! Superman! Lara Croft!), including a discussion of the trailer for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple that discusses spoilers for 28 Years Later. So, if you wish to skip, that runs from 53:44 - 58:00 approx. Oh, and they also review Spike Lee's reunion with Denzel Washington, Highest 2 Lowest, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Ethan Coen's Honey Don't, and Orlando Bloom's searing boxing drama, The Cut. In fact, Orlando is one of our guests this week, joining The Cut's director Sean Ellis to chat with Chris on Zoom about the extreme lengths, physical and otherwise, he went to for the film. [1:08:37 - 1:25:12 approx] And Chris also sits down in the podbooth with MJ Bassett, director of the brand new version of Red Sonja, for a candid conversation about MJ's long-held determination to make a Red Sonja movie, her recent decision to leave the United States to return to Britain, and much, much more. [22:22 - 40:22 approx] Enjoy.

This week's Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down, on Zoom and in person, with a cavalcade of cracking guests. There's Eva Victor, star/writer/director of the excellent Sorry, Baby, who talks about cats, directing themselves, and people who look like yams. [23:05 - 39:05 approx] Then there's Olivia Colman and Jay Roach, star and director of The Roses, the reimagining of the classic comedy, The War Of The Roses, who talk about baseball, guns, and terrible dinner parties. [59:50 - 1:17:03 approx] And, last but not least, Chris genuflects in the general direction of Sir Ben Kingsley, star of The Thursday Murder Club, as they talk about that movie, Sexy Beast, and Trevor Slattery. [1:42:55 - 1:56:29 approx] Either side of those, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and, after a fashion, Ben Travis for a fun episode in which they discuss the greatest movie Chucks (and variations thereof), run their eyes over the week's movie news (and yes, the reveal of the Star Wars: Starfighter cast came too late, dagnammit), and review Darren Aronofsky's Caught Stealing, Macon Blair's The Toxic Avenger, The Roses, and The Thursday Murder Club. Enjoy!

Join acclaimed actors Joaquin Phoenix, Tom Hiddleston, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as they dive into their latest projects, including Phoenix's role in Eddington and insights into the upcoming Stephen King adaptation, The Life of Chuck. The trio discusses the emotional depth of storytelling and the transformative power of film narratives. Weaving humor into their conversations, they explore personal anecdotes and the healing capacity of cinema, leaving listeners with a unique perspective on the roles films play in our lives.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast will haunt your nightmares, but in a good way, as Chris Hewitt returns to the host chair, just in time to tackle, with Beth Webb and Amon Warmann, a Mount Rushmore question about the best Final Girls in horror movies. Their final choices may shock you, but that's nothing compared to the bit where Chris explains Freddy Krueger to Amon, who has never seen a Nightmare On Elm Street movie. Terrifying stuff. Elsewhere in the show, our intrepid trio also discuss the week's movie news (hello, Marty Supreme trailer!), and review Celine Song's Materialists, Nobody 2, and Together, the horror film in which Dave Franco and Alison Brie literally fuse together. Which wasn't weird at all for the real-life married couple, who also guest on this week's episode, talking to Mike Muncer about that very singular experience. [1:03:58 - 1:15:10 approx] And, finally on the guest front, Harry Stainer sits down with Celine Song to talk about her wonderful new movie, and the nature of love. Heavy, man. [29:02 - 44:40 approx] Enjoy, and sorry about the spooky child-like singing.

Or 42 minutes with Chris Hewitt and Nick de Semlyen. Which would you prefer? Don't answer that. Anyway, that's what you've got with the latest episode of The Shameless Plug, as Chris and Nick sit down to talk about Nick's extraordinary adventures in New Zealand, shadowing James Cameron for two days as he put the finishing touches to this month's cover movie, Avatar: Fire & Ash. Elsewhere, our friends and neighbours talk about some of the other highlights from the September 2025 issue, including Chris' interview with Jeremy Renner, and Alex Godfrey's epic Zoom sit-down with Spinal Tap. Yes, actual Spinal Tap. It's all happening. For those tales, and more from behind the scenes of the world's biggest movie magazine, press play. And if you haven't picked up your copy yet, there's still time in good, evil and virtual newsagents wherever you are. Enjoy.

In space, no-one can hear you pod. Thankfully, we're not on space, we're on Earth, so you will be able to hear this wonderful Empire Podcast special dedicated to Noah Hawley's excellent Alien prequel, Alien Earth, which dropped its first two episodes today on Disney+. Here, you will hear Chris Hewitt sit down with Hawley, the show's creator and showrunner, about his vision for the show, the monsters old and new that he's bringing into this universe, and the lengths his cast members went to get his attention. And you'll also hear from two of those cast members, Timothy Olyphant, who plays the inscrutable synth, Kirsh, and Sydney Chandler, who plays the show's wide-eyed but extremely formidable lead, a hybrid called Wendy. Neither interviews are spoilerific, but you might want to wait until you've seen the first two episodes before giving them a whirl. It's your call. We're not your MU-TH-UR.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Helen O'Hara slip into the host's chair in Chris Hewitt's absence, and use her endless reservoir of patience to corral James Dyer, Alex Godfrey and Ben Travis in a discussion of the best second movies by notable directors (and yes, we know that we didn't mention [INSERT BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS CHOICE HERE]). That was inspired by the arrival of Weapons, the second film from Zach Cregger, and in the reviews section our quartet lose their minds over that, and also look at Freakier Friday, My Oxford Year, and The Pick-Up. Oh, and they talk about trailers, trailer, and more trailers in the movie news section. Guest-wise, Chris pops up on Zoom to have a lovely natter with Guy Pearce, who shows off his musical prowess, reveals the one accent that eludes him, and talks about brilliant new Australian prison drama, Charles Williams' Inside (which is out on Monday, August 11, on digital platforms); [20:12 - 37:51 approx] and Ben has a lovely spoiler-free chat with Weapons star, and the MCU's secret weapon, Benedict Wong. [1:02:05 - 1:17:58 approx] Enjoy!