The Empire Film Podcast

Another landmark live show for the Empire Podcast saw a capacity crowd cram themselves into Hall One at our spiritual home of Kings Place, London, to celebrate Episode 600. And we brought along some exceptional star guests as well, as Tom Hiddleston — Loki himself — popped in for an extended chat about the God Of Mischief, and other animals, with Chris Hewitt; Mia McKenna-Bruce, the star of How To Have Sex and newly-minted BAFTA Rising Star Award nominee, chatted to Beth Webb about Robert De Niro, McDonald's, and Fake James Cameron; and Ray Winstone sat down with Alex Godfrey to natter about his forthcoming one-two punch of The Gentlemen and Damsel, and some of his legendary films, from Sexy Beast to Nil By Mouth. That extended trio of interviews can be found at approx: 57:16.00 and ends roughly at 2:14:00Either side of that, you will find more live show chaos from the podteam, as Chris is joined on stage by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Ben Travis to discuss the week's movie news, review The Holdovers, Mean Girls (not that one), The Kitchen, and The End We Start From, and they tackle as many audience questions as they can before the venue turns out the lights. Mind you, we would have kept going by the light of our Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire glow-in-the-dark cover. Anyway, it's an absolute belter of a show, and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did making it. And thanks for all your support over the years. We couldn't do this without you. Enjoy.

We have a veritable guestapalooza this week as George Clooney and Callum Turner join us to talk The Boys In The Boat, Kevin Hart and Gugu Mbatha-Raw give us the lowdown on F. Gary Gray's heist movie Lift, and Dan Levy chats about his directorial debut Good Grief.Other than that, it's another fireside chat with just Helen and James this week as they mull over numerically titled films, shake their heads at the Golden Globes, and wade through an incredibly busy week for movie news. And that's before they get into the deranged masterpiece that is Poor Things, the simply deranged new Stath movie The Beekeeper, and the aforementioned Lift, Good Grief and The Boys In The Boat.Finally, apologies for the slight sound problem at the beginning of this week's show (one of the mics had the wrong setting) it only lasts for the first four minutes, though.

Echo, the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe show to debut on Disney+, continues the story of Maya Lopez, the deaf, Native American vigilante whom we met back in Hawkeye. And in this very special preview interview with Sydney Freeland, the Navajo filmmaker who is one of the show's directors, Chris Hewitt discovers just what we can expect from this five-episode limited series, in which Maya comes face to face with her past, and with two familiar faces in the shape of Charlie Cox's Daredevil and the man whom Maya considers to be her uncle, Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin. All five episodes drop at once on Disney+ from Wednesday Jan 10 (in the UK), and you can get up to speed now by checking out this interview. Enjoy.

Happy New Year! With just two shows until 600, The Empire podcast crashes back into your feeds this week. Well, two thirds of it does because Chris is on holiday, leaving Helen and James to hold down the fort. And by that we mean have a cosy fireside discussion about all the fantasy books they devoured over Christmas, along with assorted stories of New Year's Eve shenanigans. But none of that matters because we have the one and only JA Bayona on this week's show, the director stopping by to talk about his brilliant (and very likely to be Oscar-winning) film, Society Of The Snow. Plus Joel Edgerton joins us to explain what happens when the cast is crew in The Boys In The Boat.Plus Helen and James pull their reviewing caps on and watch Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, Blumhouse's haunted swimming pool feature Night Swim, and kinder transport drama One Life.

Michael Fassbender returns to the podcast, discussing his upcoming movies and his love for The Streets. Adam Driver talks about his role in Michael Mann's Ferrari and the possibility of Heat 2. Other topics include New Year's filmic resolutions, ranking The Hollywood Chrises, and movie reviews.

The hosts of this podcast review the year 2023 in cinema, discussing animated films, UK releases, box office performance, film reviews and disappointments, Oscar contenders, a line from the Bhagavad Gita, action films and standout sequences, comedy films and hilarious scenes, favorite needle drops and standout song choices, musical moments from TV shows and movies, music scores in films, and their top 10 films of the year.

The last Empire Podcast before Christmas brings you a pair of lovely interviews as our gift to you: first, Mike Muncer sits down on Zoom with Rosamund Pike to talk about class warfare and the challenges of starring in Emerald Fennell's Saltburn, which is now streaming on Prime Video. Then, Chris Hewitt has a lovely audience with Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan, stars of Maestro, Cooper's second film as director. Either side of those, Chris is joined in the virtual podbooth by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer as they tackle a whole bunch of Christmas movie questions, discuss the week's movie news, review Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, Society Of The Snow, John Woo's Silent Night, and Finestkind. Oh, and Chris discusses his sexual awakening, which is as terrifying as it sounds. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our amazing and loyal listeners!

"Say hi to your family for me!" Mark Wahlberg, star of the action comedy The Family Plan, returns to the Empire Podcast for the first time in aaaaaaages this week, and brings his on-screen wife, Michelle Monaghan, with him for a fun chat with Chris Hewitt that takes in everything from kids swearing in front of their parents to Adele's impact on Wahlberg's sleep cycle. Chris is also in the interviewer's chair for a fun audience with Zachary Levi, the star of Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget. And, in the antepenultimate episode of the year (no Christmas break for us!), Chris hosts from his home office this week, and is joined by Amon Warmann and James Dyer to tackle a couple of Christmas movie-related questions, take a look at the week's movie news, including the sad death of Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Andre Braugher, and review Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child Of Fire, Godzilla Minus One, The Family Plan, and The Three Musketeers: Milady. Enjoy. RUNNING ORDER (all timings approx)Intro/Listeners' QuestionsMark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan -- 19:19.00 - 34.00.00Movie NewsZachary Levi -- 53:11.00 - 1:09:26.00Reviews/Outro

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is one of the biggest and best films of the year, and in this very special episode of the Empire Podcast, Chris Hewitt sits down for an audience with its stars, Cillian Murphy, who stars as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, and Emily Blunt, who plays his redoubtable wife, Kitty. In a fun and free-wheeling chat, the Oppenheimers talk about working with Nolan, reading the screenplay for the first time, adjusting to their characters, and much, much more. Including the answer to the question that's long been on our minds: does Chris Nolan say 'laters, dudes'? Oh, and while this isn't a spoiler special, we do discuss major plot turns, and the film's ending, so make sure you've seen the film before giving it a spin. Enjoy.

Timothée Chalamet and Keegan-Michael Key, stars of 'Wonka', talk about their friendship, musicals, and sketches. They also discuss the unique art style and animation in the film. Director Jeff Rowe shares insights on 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem', including the use of crazy color lighting and shooting action scenes. The hosts discuss Tom Cruise cake, resurrecting dead stars, and upcoming trailers. They review 'Wonka', 'Leave The World Behind', and 'Family Switch'. Exciting announcement for episode 600 with Bradley Cooper and Kerry Mulligan.