The Empire Film Podcast

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees the team swap Kings Place, where we recorded last week's triumphant 550th episode, for the podbooth once more... and quickly yearn for air conditioning. Inbetween melting down (in the case of our equipment, quite literally), Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer and Sophie Butcher discuss franchises that went on too long, have a crack at the week's movie news, and review Women Talking, Magic Mike's Last Dance, Blue Jean, and Your Place Or Mine. Frankly, if your place has working air con, we're in. On the guest front, Amon Warmann chats to M. Night Shyamalan, director of Knock At The Cabin, about twists and basketball, and Ian Freer sits down with Felix Kammerer, the Austrian actor who is the star of the 14-times BAFTA-nominated German sensation, All Quiet On The Western Front. The road to episode 600 starts here, folks. Enjoy!

Episode 550 is here! To celebrate the latest Empire Podcast landmark, we once again staged a live show at Kings Place, London, and now here is that show, reassembled in the correct order and with the really naughty bits cut out (to see those, the live stream of the show is still available to watch via kings place.co.uk for the next two weeks!). And it was a belter, as Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, Ben Travis, and James Dyer took to the stage in front of a packed crowd of loyal listeners, and chatted about the week's movie news, reviewed EO, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, The Whale, Knock At The Cabin, and Saint Omer, and answered a ton of listener questions. But that's not all: a landmark episode deserves a landmark line-up of guests, and we didn't disappoint, with Aftersun director Charlotte Wells and her young star, Frankie Corio, joining James and Helen for a chat about the BAFTA-nominated belter; director Asif Kapadia showed up to talk to Chris about Kapadia's new film, Creature (and NOT Liverpool Football Club, or the Queen); and we looked ahead to the big-screen debut of Luther in Luther: The Fallen Sun by inviting director Jamie Payne and the film's villain, living legend and national treasure Andy Serkis, along to chat with Chris and James. A good time was had by all on the night, and we hope you enjoy this as much as we did. Enjoy.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast features more Oscar nominees than... well, not the Oscars themselves, that would be ridiculous. But certainly more Oscan nominees than you could shake a golden stick at. First, Chris Hewitt has a chat with Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, directors of Best Animated Feature frontrunner, Pinocchio (not that one). Then, Alex Godfrey gets deep with Best Actress nominee, Michelle Williams, as she tells him about how she played Steven Spielberg's mum for Steven Spielberg in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans. And then Dan Jolin Zooms in for a chat with The Whale director Darren Aronofsky, and his star, possible Best Actor favourite Brendan Fraser. Plus! Either side of those chats, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to discuss Paul Mescal's chances of being the new Bond (and Chris comes up with a plan that should see everyone happy), have a crack at chatting about the week's movie news (including a deep dive into the Oscar nominations), and review The Fabelmans, Plane, Shotgun Wedding, and Unwelcome. Enjoy.

Welcome, folks, to a most extraordinary podcast (in association with Disney+). A podcast in which Team Empire and Team Pilot TV get together to discuss the extraordinary Extraordinary, the brand-new sitcom that is now streaming on Disney+. Created and written by Emma Moran, Extraordinary is set in a world where everyone develops a superpower after they turn 18. Everyone, that is, except for Jen (Mairead Tyers), who is approaching 25 and is still fumbling for direction and meaning and purpose. Beautifully observed and very, very funny, it's already been renewed for a second season, and in this very special crossover event, Chris Hewitt, James Dyer and Kay Ribeiro (pronounced Ru-bear-oh) get together to wax lyrical about the show, discuss which superpowers they'd like to have, and much more. But that's not all! (Told you this was an extraordinary podcast...) There are also two interviews with the show's star players -- first, an uproarious, hilarious and frankly chaotic interview in which Chris sits down with the show's stars, Mairead Tyers, Sofia Oxenham, Bilal Hasna, and Luke Rollason; and then a more considered chat with Emma Moran. Do please extra-enjoy.

THIS! IS! OVERSHARING! Full disclosure, folks — this week's Empire Podcast features the return of one of our favourite interviewees, Gerry 'Gerard' Butler, as he and his PLANE co-star Mike Colter sit down on Zoom with our Chris Hewitt. And while it's as fun and giggle-tactic as any of Butler's appearances on the pod, we should warn you that a lot of it revolves around a story that Chris shares (some might say, overshares) with the duo right at the beginning. And that story is a load of old poop. You have been warned. Elsewhere, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer for another fun and frank exchange of film-related views, in which they (but mainly Helen and James, let's be honest) bang on about the books and games they'd love to see turned into films, discuss (most of) the week's movie news (this was recorded before the BAFTA nominations were announced), and review The Estate, Alice, Darling, and Bank Of Dave, while Helen goes Full Kermode on Damien Chazelle's Babylon. Enjoy — and sorry about all the poop.

We're back! Finally! And properly! The first Empire Podcast of 2023 is here, folks, and it features an interview that Helen did with Noah Baumbach, director of White Noi... no, only kidding. This week's interviews are a one-time deal, folks, but they are absolute belters, as Chris Hewitt sits down with Empire Of Light writer-director Sam Mendes, and M3GAN producers Jason Blum and James Wan; while Ian Freer has a natter with Todd Field, who returns as director after a long hiatus with the brilliant Tár. Then, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to tackle a bunch of questions, discuss the most recent movie news (including the new Quantumania trailer), and run their eye over all three of our guests' films, along with Mark Jenkin's Enys Men, a film seemingly specifically designed to annoy James. We've started 2023 as we mean to go on, folks, with an onslaught of utter nonsense. We hope you'll join us for the ride. Enjoy.

Here's another little bonus episode to get your 2023 off to a good start, listeners. S.S. Rajamouli is the brilliant director of last year's astonishing, action-packed, Indian epic RRR (now streaming on Netflix), and in this very special, spoiler-filled interview (also available to spoiler special subscribers, along with Team Empire doing a deep dive into the movie; one of last year's finest), he tells Chris Hewitt all about how he managed it. To subscribe to the spoiler specials, go to empire.supportingcast.fm, and we're back next week with the regular pod. Enjoy.

Happy New Year, folks! So, there's no regular episode of the Empire Podcast this week (we'll be back next week, Jan 13th), but in order to fill the huge pod-shaped hole in your lives, Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and James 'Jaime Blanco' White crammed themselves into the studio just yesterday to record a fun breakdown of the forthcoming fillums that have got them all het up and hot under the collar. From Killers Of The Flower Moon to Barbie, from the MCU to Mission: Impossible, all human life is here. And there's a Cocaine Bear for good measure. Oh, and while we're looking forward, we're also looking back, as we bring you Helen's interview with Noah Baumbach, the director of White Noise, which is now streaming on Netflix. It's a really interesting interview, and it's just under 14 minutes in length. Why are we telling you that? You'll see. Anyway, enjoy!

And so 2022 has come to an end, folks. It was a tough year for pretty much everybody, but it was also a very good year, cinematically speaking, and in this Empire Podcast special, Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Amon Warmann convene in the podbooth to have an extended natter about the year that was. Along the way, formats for the show are abandoned on the fly, the pod discuss the films that they loved, the future of cinema, a strange year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and much, much more. Enjoy, and have a happy new year, everyone!

The new issue of Empire magazine is on sale right now, folks, in all good, evil, and virtual newsagents, and it's a belter. This month's issue is dedicated to a celebration of the greatest actors of all time, as voted for by you, the readers of Empire. It's got everything, from exclusive interviews with Nicolas Cage (our cover star) and Tilda Swinton, to the likes of Tim Burton waxing lyrical about that time he worked with Jack Nicholson on a little film called Batman, and Gina Prince-Bythewood talking about Viola Davis. And that's not all: James Mangold has written an exclusive essay for us, celebrating the incredible work and legacy of Buster Keaton. It's a great issue, and so we've decided to take podspiration from it. So, in this podcast special, Chris Hewitt, James Dyer, Alex Godfrey and Helen O'Hara get together and have a wide-ranging discussion about some of their favourite actors, the art of acting itself, the mythology of the Method, omissions from the list that made their blood boil, and much, much more. Oh, and Helen was patching in to the studio from Northern Ireland, and her audio is a little distorted at times. Hopefully it won't spoil your enjoyment too much. Speaking of which... enjoy!