The Empire Film Podcast

This week sees the debut of a small indie film that the Empire Podteam haven't been looking forward to. Honest, guv. That film is Avengers: Infinity War, and this week's podcast sees the film's directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, talk to Chris Hewitt about working on that film, and about what they have planned post-Marvel with their very own studio, Agbo. Then Chris retreats to the safety of the podbooth, and is joined by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer for a fun-filled pod that takes in their best and worst movie premiere experiences, casts an eye over the week's movie news, compares the Venom trailer to a Christmas present, and finally reviews British indie Beast and American indie Avengers: Infinity War. Be warned: there are huge levels of squee in this podcast. Thanos demands your squeeness.

This week, one of our favourite actors - David Morrissey - returns to the podbooth to talk to James Dyer (and not Chris Hewitt, as advertised on the pod; there was a scheduling snafu) about his new show, The City And The City, playing Gordon Brown, and more. He also has advice for Chris re: his Tuesday night clash between the Liverpool-Roma game and the Avengers: Infinity War screening. Then, Chris and James are joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara as they discuss which quiet place they'd retreat to in the wake of an attack by nasty sound monsters; chew over the week's movie and TV news; and cast a vaguely shambolic eye over the week's new releases. Do, please, enjoy. Hey, did you know the Call Me By Your Name song hasn't been on the pod for three episodes now? You know the one. "Call me by your name! Call me! Call me! Call me by your name, oh yeah!" That one.

British action star, and regular podcast listener, Scott Adkins visits the podbooth this week to talk about his new film, Accident Man, as well as idolising Jean-Claude Van Damme and accidentally kicking Benedict Cumberbatch. (1:04:10-1:32:31) Our second guest is Brad Peyton, director of this week's monster mash-up Rampage, who talks to Chris about working with The Rock, playing poker, not being an asshole, and an early contender for line of the year. (24:08-44:49) Then, Chris retreats into the podbooth with Ben Travis, James Dyer, and the returning, albeit croaky, Helen O'Hara, to review Rampage, talk about giant animals, and revisit an all-time classic line from Shark Attack 3. This week's pod is dedicated to our friend Sarah Dunn: www.gofundme.com/sarah-dunn

The latest episode of The Ranking - our show that ties in with the magazine (hashtag brand synergy) and sees four Empire writers argue the toss on a filmmaker's CV - is here. And this time we're delving deep into the work of a man who's orchestrated more tracking shots than you've had hot dinners: Brian 'Bri Bri' De Palma. Discussing his progression from early promise to his virtuoso Hitchcockian phase and then the more commercial fare of the Eighties and Nineties (but without focusing on the not-so-great output of recent years), Chris Hewitt, Ian Freer, Nick de Semlyen and Jonathan Pile discuss the ins and outs, ups and downs of a great, if somewhat erratic career. And, for the first time, you'll be able to hear the top ten being counted down in this podcast. Enough squabbling, let's vote! (Stop trying to make 'enough squabbling, let's vote!' happen, Chris.)

We've gone bonus content mad on the Empire Podcast this week! Every day this week, we'll bring you a brand new pod, culminating in Friday's mothership. And we kick things off with this very fun, and compact, commute-sized conversation with two of the key figures behind last year's biggest movie - Star Wars: The Last Jedi. And, just in case you weren't already sure, those figures are Rian Johnson, the film's writer/director, and Mark Hamill, the man who has played Luke Skywalker for 41 years. They talk to Chris Hewitt about all manner of things, from the first time they met to their respective mancaves, and how they deal with fame. Enjoy.

On this week's Empire Podcast, we're filled with joy as Anya Taylor-Joy pops by our offices to talk to Chris Hewitt about her new film Thoroughbreds, dealing with tricksy accents, the much-delayed The New Mutants, and the moment when she found out that Split was a stealth sequel to Unbreakable. It's a fun, and lengthy, chat that starts at 27.44 and runs all the way to 55.56. Elsewhere, Chris derives a different kind of joy from John Krasinski's A Quiet Place, which he declares his film of the year thus far in the reviews section. He's joined for the main pod by James Dyer and Ben Travis, who discuss just what it is that makes the act of cinemagoing so special, review Thoroughbreds and Ghost Stories, natter about the week's movie news, and talk about Empire's new sister magazine, Pilot TV. Oh, and that song isn't aired this week, you'll be delighted to know. This is a safe place. A quiet place.

Paddy Considine was our very first guest on our very first podcast, way back in 2012. Since then, we've been like ships in the night. But we fix that this week, with Paddy popping into the podbooth for an epic chat with Chris Hewitt about his new movie, Journeyman, and all manner of things. (50:46-1:17:54) Elsewhere, Chris talks to Blockers star Leslie Mann (17.06-32.49), teaches her about Pacific Rim: Uprising, learns a lot about vocal fry, and then somehow - being the blithering nincompoop he is - manages to spit on her from distance. Then, he's joined in the podbooth by James Dyer and Ben Travis to discuss the week's movie news, review Ready Player One and more, and answer the burning question: what movie-related business would they open when this all goes horribly wrong? Oh, and the world's worst earworm may get another outing. Could be worse; Chris could be gobbing on you.

This week's Empire Podcast sees the man anointed as Empire's Legend Of Our Lifetime... talk to Steven Spielberg. Here all week. Try the fish. Yes, at long last we spiel with The Berg, as Steven Spielberg - former Empire editor, and director of one or two classic movies - chats to Chris Hewitt in the immediate aftermath of last Sunday's Rakuten TV Empire Awards, where Spielberg was given the above honour. From discussion of Ready Player One to The Beatles, it was a blast. Elsewhere, Chris talks to Simon Pegg, star of Ready Player One, about all things Spielberg. And then Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and Ben Travis to review Unsane, Pacific Rim: Uprising, and A Wrinkle In Time. They also tackle the week's news and answer a question about sequels. Enjoy!

Because (some of) you demanded it! Today saw the debut of the second (and probably final) trailer for Avengers: Infinity War, the superhero team-up to out-cape them all. And, as it hit the internet just too late for us to bang on about it on the regular podcast, we decided to seize the opportunity to bang on about it in a very special trailer breakdown podcast. This one follows hot on the heels of the trailer breakdown podcast we did for the first Avengers: Infinity War trailer last year, but there was arguably even more for Chris Hewitt and Helen O'Hara, our resident MCU-philes, to get their teeth into this time around. So join them in the warmth and comfort of Chris' mancave as they talk, and talk, and talk about all things Avengery, from Thanos' masterplan, to character interactions, and that confrontation between Steve Rogers and Josh Brolin's giant purple space plumber. Not a fan of the MCU? Might be best to skip this one...

This week's Empire Podcast is a bumper affair, jam-packed with more big names than the Avengers: Infinity War trailer. Well, almost. First up, Call Me By Your Name stars Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet - or Timothy Chalet, as autocorrect insists on calling him - popped into a London hotel room at the end of January to talk about their Oscar-winning love story with Chris Hewitt. And while they do talk about the film, there's also a fair amount of silliness, ranging from discussion of Chalamet's mobster nickname to the possibility of setting Call Me By Your Name 2 in space. Oh, and there's a Sean Connery-off for good measure. Be warned: bad language abounds. The second grouping is much more serious and focused, you'll be delighted to know, as Ben Travis has a chat with Garth Davis and Rooney Mara, director and star respectively of Mary Magdalene. Then, Chris, Ben and John Nugent convene in the podbooth to discuss the week's movie news (the Avengers: Infinity War trailer wi

The second episode of The Ranking, our new ongoing cross-platform series (hashtag brandsynergy hashtag sharedgoals hashtag TeamEmpire), sees four Empire writers lock themselves in an increasingly stuffy meeting room to argue the toss over one of the greatest film directors of all time: Martin Scorsese. It's all here: talkin' Taxi Driver, raging about Raging Bull, and finding there's not a lot to say about Silence. As far back as they can remember, Chris Hewitt, Empire's Editor-In-Chief Terri White, and contributing editors Ian Freer and Dan Jolin always wanted to be voting on the empirical Marty Top 10. And if you want to know what that top 10 looks like, pick up the April 2018 issue of Empire, on sale now at all good and evil newsagents.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast was, unlike our Oscars 2018 podcast special, recorded on a full night's sleep, but is no less delirious. So apologies in advance, as Chris Hewitt, Nick de Semlyen and James Dyer decide who their Desert Island Director would be, discuss the week's movie news, and review You Were Never Really Here, Gringo, and Mom And Dad. Plus, they debut the catchiest song of the year so far, and discuss just what Thanos wants with those stones... Elsewhere, Chris welcomes the brilliant British actor David Oyelowo back to the podcast, to talk about comedy screaming in Gringo, and how the landscape has changed in Hollywood for black actors, particularly post-Black Panther. And Helen O'Hara may be off in Iceland, but she's still present on the pod, engaging in conversation with the great Scottish director, Lynne Ramsay, about You Were Never Really Here. Do you need to know anything more? Go on, get listening!

The Oscars are over for another year. Yes, the 90th edition of the Academy Awards took place last night in the glamorous heart of Hollywood and so Empire responded in kind, by recording a sleep-deprived, seriously sweary podcast, detailing our verdict on the ceremony itself, and the winners and not-winners. No glamorous heart of Hollywood for us. This was recorded round the kitchen table of our very own host, Chris Hewitt, and he was talking to Ben Travis and James Dyer, who took The Shape Of Water's Best Picture win with the grace and magnanimity for which he is renowned. So, if you want to hear three giggling idiots struggle to complete sentences and form thoughts - even more so than usual - this is the podcast for you.

This week's Empire Podcast sees a filmmaking Lawrence, famous for an association with The Hunger Games franchise, drop by for a chat about their new movie, Russian spy thriller Red Sparrow. Yes, it's director Francis Lawrence, who chats to Ben Travis about all manner of things, from Russian accents to torture implements. What, did you think we meant another filmmaking Lawrence, famous for an association with The Hunger Games? Weird. Elsewhere, Helen O'Hara braves the snow and the wind and the snowy wind to host this week's episode, discussing the week's big film news (Wonder Woman 2! The Oscars! Tarantino!) with Ben and James Dyer, and reviewing the big releases. Oh, and a giggling idiot calls in for a brief chat. It's cold outside, so pull up that weird fireplace movie they have on Netflix, huddle over your phone's dying battery for heat, and listen to the soothing strains of the Empire Podcast. You know it makes sense.

The Ranking is a new monthly edition of the Empire Podcast that ties in with a regular feature in the magazine. The concept is simple: every month, we pick a director/writer/actor, or a franchise, and four Empire writers lock themselves in a room and argue the toss, with the aim of emerging with the definitive Top 10. This edition sees Chris Hewitt, Nick de Semlyen, James Dyer, and Simon Crook (making his pod-debut) discuss the big screen impact of Stephen King, whose incredibly popular novels and short stories have inspired directors like Frank Darabont, David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, Rob Reiner, George A. Romero, Bryan Singer, and one Mr. Stanley Kubrick, to turn them into movies. So there's plenty of discussion of the best of King adaptations, the worst of King adaptations (hello, The Dark Tower), and how the panel got into the great man's writing in the first place. Next up: Martin Scorsese!

For the past few years, Lennie James has been battling zombies as Morgan on The Walking Dead. He's about to jump ship to the spin-off show, Fear The Walking Dead, but somehow he's found the time to create, write, produce and star in new 6-part Sky TV series, Save Me, about a Londoner who, after finding himself accused of his daughter's abduction, vows to track down the real culprit. And we were delighted to welcome Lennie and his Save Me director, Nick Murphy (@nickmurftweets) into the podbooth this week, where they had a wide-ranging chat with Chris Hewitt about the push/pull dynamic between a show's creator and a show's director; Lennie's desire to appear on The Simpsons; and, as big football fans, the recent draw between Liverpool and Spurs. It's all happening. Elsewhere, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and Dan Jolin. There, they review I, Tonya and Finding Your Feet, discuss the week's movie news, including the BAFTAs (later in the show), the success of Black

You might not believe it, largely because we know we don't look a day over 290, but the Empire Podcast turned 300 this week. Yes, we've somehow clocked up 300 episodes of movie news, interviews and nonsense since we started way back in 2012 and to 'celebrate', we took to the stage at Kings Place, London, for a cracking evening. And 400 of you came along as well, which was nice, considering that it was Valentine's Day. How romantic. So, sit back, relax and enjoy as the podteam - Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer and Terri White - tackle the week's movie news, review Black Panther, The Shape Of Water, and Lady Bird, and subject themselves to a Paxman-style grilling at the hands of the audience. And if you've had your fill of giggling idiots, don't worry - we were graced by two of our country's finest acting talents, as Ruth Wilson popped along to talk to Terri about Dark River, Luther, The Lone Ranger, sheep shearing, Yorkshire accents and the #TimesUp movement. First, thou

This week's Empire Podcast is an unexpectedly classy joint, as Chris Hewitt talks to British acting royalty, the Oscar-winning double whammy of Sir Colin Of Firth and Dame Rachel Of Weisz, about their new movie, The Mercy, which tells the tragic story of Donald Crowhurst's ill-fated attempt to sail the world solo in 1969. And they also talk about their acting nightmares - literally and metaphorically. Back in the podbooth, Chris and James Dyer welcome pod debutant Ben Travis, review Black Panther and that new secret Cloverfield movie that dropped without warning the other day like a U2 album come to life, and discuss the week's movie news, including the Solo: A Star Wars Story trailer. Oh, and they definitively answer the burning question of the week: is Aliens, a film in which Lance Henriksen is only the fourth-scariest thing, a horror movie? It's a toughie.

Daniel Day-Lewis may be retiring, set fair for a life of Countdown and Four In A Bed marathons, but his Phantom Thread director, the great Paul Thomas Anderson, is decidedly not. Much to our delight, as he's this week's guest, having a chat with John Nugent about the film's soundtrack, how Day-Lewis came up with the name 'Reynolds Woodcock', and much, much more. Back in the podbooth, we go from Phantom Thread to phantom menaces as Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer mull over the week's movie news, review Phantom Thread and WWI drama Journey's End, discuss their home cinema set-ups, and audition for Hamilton. Oh, and James reveals the story of the time he was responsible for Holborn Station being shut down. Standard, really.

This week's Empire Podcast sees Lee Unkrich, Pixar legend, World's Biggest The Shining Fan, and all-round decent cove, drop by the podbooth to talk to John Nugent about his new movie, Coco, which will do unspeakable things to your tear ducts. Elsewhere, John joins Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer for a freewheeling episode that includes Chris' first-hand account of what it was like to be present at the Chevy Chase-Mike Read Q&A that has already passed into legend (the night, not Chris' account); reviews of The Post, Coco, and The Commuter; and plenty of discussion of the week's movie news, featuring an elevator pitch from James for Gambit that simply has to be heard to be believed. Oh, and Randy Newman drops by again, much to everyone's horror. Do have a listen. We'd be ever so delighted.