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The Empire Film Podcast is the official podcast of Empire, the world's biggest and best movie magazine. We bring you all the latest movie news and nonsense, as well as reviews of the week's new films, an assortment of irreverent, film-related chat and interviews with some of Hollywood's best and brightest. New episodes every Friday.

For our famous deep dives into specific movies, subscribe to the Empire Spoiler Special Podcast at https://empire.supportingcast.fm/

Love TV? Subscribe to our sister show, The Pilot TV Podcast, which covers every quality show landing on the small screen — because you can't watch *everything*. https://podfollow.com/pilot-tv-podcast/

The Empire Film Podcast

It's the penultimate Empire Podcast of the year, folks, and to celebrate the impending season of goodwill to all, we've brought you another bumper episode. Which is nice of us. Guest-wise, Chris Hewitt sits down once again with one of our favourite guests, Gerry 'Gerard' Butler, to talk about his decidedly un-Gerry Butler-like role as Santa himself in charming kids movie The Night Before Christmas In Wonderland, [17:52 - 32:42 approx] while Helen O'Hara chats The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim with that film's director, Kenji Kamiyama, and producers Jason DeMarco and Joseph Chou, who also serves as Kamiyama's interpreter. [57:32 - 1:10:30 approx] That's an excerpt from the War Of The Rohirrim live event we did last week for our Empire VIP Club members, fact fans. And Helen also pops up again in the interviewer's chair to grill Jon M. Chu on how he directed Wicked, in a spoiler-free excerpt from our spoiler special, which is also out now. [1:34:32 - 1:43:57 approx] Either side of those, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen and James Dyer to tackle some Christmassy questions from the Empire Podcast subreddit, while they also discuss the week's movie news, including the 28 Years Later trailer and the rumoured demise of the SPUMC, and review The War Of The Rohirrim, Kraven The Hunter, Queer, and Carry-On. Oh, and Chris gets legitimately freaked out by the unexpected arrival of a sinister festive guest. Enjoy.

#647 ft. Gerard Butler; Kenji Kamiyama, Joseph Chou & Jason DeMarco; Jon M. Chu

"Four sets of guests, Jeremy? Four? That's insane!" Yes, folks, the last Empire Podcast of 2024 is an absolute barnstormer, a two-and-a-half-hour blast of film-related fun just in time for the festive season. And we have more guests than you could possibly fit under the tree. There's Mufasa: The Lion King star, Aaron Pierre! Nick Park & Merlin Crossingham, directors of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl! Ben Schwartz and Jeff Fowler, star and director respectively of Sonic The Hedgehog 3! And Michael Gracey, director of Robbie Williams biopic, Better Man, and his movie's inspiration and subject, Actual Bloody Robbie Williams. Yes, folks, it's a belter, and we haven't even mentioned the bits where Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer answer your Christmas movie questions, tackle the week's movie news including a deep dive into the Superman trailer, and review all four of the aforementioned guest-y films. Thanks once again for your unerring support this year, listeners. We couldn't do this without you. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and we'll see you on January 3rd for the first show of 2025. In the meantime, enjoy this one!

#648 ft. Aaron Pierre; Robbie Williams & Michael Gracey; Ben Schwartz & Jeff Fowler; Nick Park & Merlin Crossingham

Merry Christmas, listeners! Here, as a special Christmas Eve present, is an episode of The Ranking, the show in which four Empire writers get together and argue the toss over a whole bunch of themed films. (And yes, we know this is the first one in ages. We promise to do better in 2025!) Anyway, it's Christmas Eve, the time when Ebenezer Scrooge was visited by three ghosts and shown the error of his ways in Charles Dickens' classic tale, A Christmas Carol. It's a timeless story, and one beloved of the movies and the telly, which has adapted it in dozens of ways over the years. And for this special episode, Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, Neel Bhatt, and Jamie Graham immersed themselves in Dickens for what seemed like weeks on end, all with a view to finding the greatest Christmas Carol of them all. Will it be the Finney? The Sim? The Carrey? The Caine? The Murray? Or The Complete Surprise? Listen on to find out in this fun episode that is not — we repeat, not — sponsored by Spirited, in any way. Enjoy.

The Ranking: A Christmas Carol Adaptations

So, 2024: a year of cinematic highs, lows, and bits in the middle. And in the annual tradition that is our Review Of The Year podcast, Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer drill deep into them all (time allowing, of course), answering questions from listeners on a vast array of topics, before running down Empire's Top 20 films of the year. It's a bumper-sized one, folks, just the thing to see you into 2025. Happy New Year to all our listeners — enjoy!

The Empire Podcast Review Of 2024

We're back! Yes, after a whole week off for the Christmas holidays, the Empire Podcast has returned to darken your aural doors once more, and the first pod of 2025 is an absolute belter, as Chris Hewitt sits down with four incredible guests. First, he talks carousel horses and chocolate with We Live In Time stars, Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. [24:27 - 36:32 approx] Second, he welcomes Nosferatu star Nicholas Hoult back to the pod, and they talk about embracing fear, giving golf lessons in costume, and Hoult taking over the pod one day. [55:19 - 1:11:23 approx] Third, he has a lovely natter with Giovanni Ribisi about his 15-year overnight success as DP of last year's excellent Strange Darling, which is available now in various formats for your home viewing pleasure. [1:41:51 - 1:57:00 approx] Then, in the podbooth, Chris is joined by Helen O'Hara and debutante Becky Darke for a fun episode in which they make bold and no doubt wildly off-kilter box office predictions for the year ahead, discuss Chris Nolan's The Odyssey (and not Draclier, bah!), and then review Nosferatu, Nickel Boys, and We Live In Time. The perfect listening accompaniment to that Celebrations sandwich you're currently making, we reckon. Enjoy.

#649 ft. Florence Pugh & Andrew Garfield; Nicholas Hoult; Giovanni Ribisi

Here it is, folks. The 650th episode (if you don't count all the other episodes) of the Empire Podcast, recorded live on Friday January 10th in front of a sell-out crowd at our spiritual home of Kings Place, London. And it's an absolute belter, in which Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Beth Webb show barely a passing awareness of the week's movie news, review A Real Pain, Babygirl, and Maria, and answer a bunch of questions from the audience. There will be singing. There will be plenty of film-related fun. And there will be guests galore, as Chris sits down with Get Away writer/star, Nick Frost; Beth chats with Babygirl star, Harris Dickinson, making his second live show appearance; Alex Godfrey pops up to have a natter with William Tell star, Claes Bang (and we all get mildly distracted by his coat); and Helen has a pow-wow with Joe Alwyn, star of The Brutalist, the film that might just win the Oscar race. All the guests can be found in one super-long section between 49:56 and 2:08:14, approx. As ever, thanks to everyone who made this evening possible, from the Kings Place team to our guests; thanks to you guys for coming and for continuing to support the pod; and thanks to cinema for being so goshdarn cinematic. Enjoy.

#650 (live from Kings Place, London) ft. Nick Frost, Harris Dickinson, Claes Bang, Joe Alwyn

This week's Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt, Alex Godfrey and Beth Webb bid a sad, but heartfelt, farewell to the great David Lynch, who has died at the age of 78. It's also an epic epitaph in many ways, clocking in at around 40 minutes, as the trio, all huge Lynch fans, pay tribute to the genius behind Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Dr., Twin Peaks, and more. [44:18 - 1:26:33 approx] Elsewhere in the episode, which was recorded before the news broke of Lynch's passing, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to discuss great bike moments in movies, chat about the BAFTA nominations and the new Daredevil: Born Again trailer, and review A Complete Unknown, William Tell, Back In Action, and Wolf Man. And there are interviews aplenty, as Chris talks to a whole bunch of folks: there's a riotous, chaotic chat with A Real Pain stars Jesse Eisenberg (who also wrote and directed the movie) and Kieran Culkin, as they talk food, films, and feet [19:06 - 44:18 approx]; A Complete Unknown director James Mangold calls in from LA to talk about why he was drawn to Bob Dylan [1:43:03 - 1:57:39 approx]; and Wolf Man star, Christopher Abbott, who tells us why he might start a new club with Colin Farrell and Jeff Goldblum. [2:23:50 - 2:37:57 approx] Otherwise, it's all about Lynch, as it should be. Farewell, sir.

Jesse Eisenberg & Kieran Culkin, James Mangold, Christopher Abbott, and Farewell To David Lynch

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast brings you not one but two Oscar winners, as first Chris Hewitt sits down with Michelle Yeoh to talk about her new Star Trek movie, Section 31, and how the Best Actress Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once changed her life [20:56 - 36:39 approx]; then, John Nugent has a fascinating chat with The Brutalist star, current Oscar nominee, and former Best Actor winner, Adrien Brody, about the LA Fires and his role in Brady Corbet's epic drama. [1:02:49 - 1:18:11 approx] Elsewhere, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Kelechi Ehenulo to dig deep into the Oscar nominations, discuss VFX gone wrong, and review The Brutalist, Steven Soderbergh's Presence, Flight Risk, and Star Trek: Section 31, while they also get really specific about TV episodes. Enjoy.

Michelle Yeoh, Adrien Brody: Oscar Winners And Oscar Nominations

It's another bumper, jam-packed edition of the Empire Podcast this week, folks! The great Angelina Jolie heads up our trio of amazing guests, as she talks to John Nugent about taking on the challenge of playing the legendary opera singer, Maria Callas, in Pablo Larrain's Maria. [20:48 - 34:02 approx] Plus, Chris Hewitt has a fascinating chat with Jason Reitman about how, exactly, he recreated Saturday Night Live's opening night for Saturday Night, [56:33 - 1:15:42 approx] and finally Chris sits down on Zoom with EE Rising Star Award nominee, the wonderful David Jonsson, for a natter about that, Rye Lane, the difference between a stroll and a strut, and tackling a very complex role in Alien: Romulus, which is now on Disney+. [1:38:23 - 1:56:21 approx] Meanwhile, back in the podbooth, Chris is joined by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to share their thoughts on the recent West End version of The Tempest, put together a Mount Rushmore of SNL stars, discuss the week's movie news, and review Saturday Night, Companion, and Mike Leigh's Hard Truths. Enjoy.

Angelina Jolie, Jason Reitman, David Jonsson & An SNL Mount Rushmore

Another bumper-sized edition of the Empire Podcast this week, as Chris Hewitt sits down on Zoom for chats with a trio of terrific talents. First, there's Ke Huy Quan on Love Hurts, the action movie that represents his first lead role, and first movie since winning an Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once. [17:33 - 34:18 approx] Then there's John Magaro, star of September 5, on how that movie and Steven Spielberg's Munich make for a great double-bill. [1:00:34 - 1:16:50 approx] And, finally, The Wild Robot director (and creator/voice of Stitch, as in Lilo & Stitch), Chris Sanders, on the success of his new animated movie, and becoming an unexpected voice actor. [1:39:10 - 1:54:10 approx] Then, in the podbooth, Chris is joined by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Beth Webb to discuss the film stories they'd love to see turned into plays, take a look at a bunch of trailers including The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Jurassic World: Rebirth, chat about the second coming of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and review September 5, You're Cordially Invited, Dog Man, and more. Enjoy.

Ke Huy Quan, John Magaro, Chris Sanders, And The Shrek Is Broken

One pod to rule them all? This Thursday (August 29) sees the return of Prime Video's epic J.R.R. Tolkien adaptation, The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, and to mark the occasion we've put together a little preview special, just for you. In it, you'll find an in-depth interview with showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, in which they tease and tantalise John Nugent about what people can expect from this second season (hint: lots of Sauron), and then a shorter but no less wonderful chat between Helen O'Hara and Morfydd Clark, who plays Galadriel, and Sam Hazeldine, who plays Adar in this season. (That interview has slight sound issues, by the way) The first three episodes of The Rings Of Power s2 drop on Thursday, and then return to a weekly schedule, so give this a listen before you stock up on second breakfasts and strap yourselves in for a binge. Enjoy.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power — An Empire Podcast Preview Special

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