Did you watch Scott Mann's 2022 TV tower thriller Fall and think, "Yeah, this is neat, but I could really do with the action moving about 2,000 feet higher a few more loose footholds, and a lil' pinch of extra lurching shots over perilous drops?" Well then do we have the movie — and trailer — for you. The Spierig Brothers have picked up Mann's vertigo-inducing thriller gauntlet for Fall 2: Deadpoint, a sure-to-be-nerve-shredding sequel set 5,000 feet above ground, featuring a new cast of emotionally vulnerable adrenaline junkies climbing things they really probably should leave well alone — this time, a bunch of mile-high perilous planks. Check out the trailer below;

Okay, okay, okay... that was barely a minute long and we're already feeling a little dizzy and a lotta nausea — sheesh! This is a teaser trailer that's pretty much all tease with admittedly little trail to follow, but as tone-setters go, it more than does the trick. On-screen infographics remind us of all the mental and physical effects of climbing at high altitudes (did you know oxygen drops to 13.7% at 11,000 feet?) as we hear some seriously shallow breathing, and then suddenly we're with Queen Charlotte star Arsema Thomas' Luce and her pals, stranded up plank creek without a sturdy plank paddle. Cue ominous shots of loose makeshift steps, dangling backpacks, perilous rocky outcrops all the way down, and — YIKES! — a seemingly unsurvivable fall. And all that in just a minute. Yeah, we're thinkin' Fall is back!

The official synopsis for The Spierig Brothers' vertiginous thriller — which also stars Harriet Slater, Tom Brittney, Virginia Gardner, and Grace Caroline Currey — gives us a little more context, and reads: "After losing her fearless sister Hunter, a deeply damaged Jax (Harriet Slater) sets out on a dangerous climb with Hunter’s old friend to honor her memory. As they tightrope walk the perilous planks of Mount Kwan, a terrifying rockslide leaves them stranded 5,000 feet above ground. In the face of vertigo-inducing sequences, dark truths, and cruel twists, Jax must confront her deepest fears head-on to fight for survival and closure."

While we'd still recommend anyone with deep-rooted trauma and mental health vulnerabilities to maybe pursue some slightly less dangerous acts of catharsis, we nevertheless are very excited/terrified to see where The Spierig Brothers' movie *cough* drops *cough* with fans when Fall 2: Deadpoint hits cinemas on 2 September. Before then, we're off for a lie-down and some deep breathing exercises because that trailer alone was pure stress...

When The Acolyte was cancelled after a single season on Disney+, fans of Leslye Headland’s Star Wars series were left with all kinds of questions. What was the deal with Manny Jacinto’s dark and dangerous Stranger? What would become of Amandla Stenberg’s Osha after her turn to the dark side? And where would those teases of Yoda and Darth Plagueis have led? Without a second season, we’ll never know – but fresh hope for the show arose recently when it re-charted on Disney+, around the release of Maul: Shadow Lord.

As more audiences caught up with The Acolyte years on, Empire spoke to Headland – who expressed that she would return if a second season of the show ever got the green light. “I would still want to do it! Absolutely,” she says. “As more people discover it, I think people may want to see some form of the story come back.” While a chapter of the story closed at the end of the season, Headland is clear on where she wanted to go next. “We did have a lot of stuff that we wanted to explore — including tying in lore to the sequels,” she teases. “Getting into who exactly Manny’s character is, his connection with [Jedi Master] Vernestra, his connection with Plagueis, and then his connection with other sequel-established things.”

For now, fans can binge Season 1 without waiting a week between episodes – a viewing experience Headland recommends. “It was designed that way,” she says. And in a galaxy rife with possibilities, there may come a time for The Acolyte to, somehow, return. “The weather changes with Star Wars,” she says. “There was a real negative reaction to [the Prequels], especially from a particular generation. And 25 years later, Hayden [Christensen] is at Celebration.” Trust in the Force.

Read Empire’s full story on The Acolyte in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day issue, on sale now. Order a copy online here. The Acolyte is streaming now on Disney+.

When Kevin Williamson pitched a meta slasher called ‘Scary Movie’ to Miramax, the suits felt the title was too flippant for a horror film and changed it to Scream. The rejected title didn’t go to waste, and was stuck on the Wayans family’s parody, which founded a parallel franchise. The Wayanses’ involvement ended after Scary Movie 2, and Scary Movie 5 was the last entry, in 2013. Until now: with Scream relaunching through 2022’s ‘requel’, it was inevitable that Scary Movie would be back with this ‘rebootycall’. And the Wayanses are back with it.

Just as the first Scary Movie was more a remake of Scream with gross-out comedy footnotes than an actual parody, this sticks close to the plot of Scream (2022) — simply restaging scenes with the odd wink to camera about how obvious the mystery is or dig at the modern-day Scream films’ ‘woke’ tendencies. Besides Wayanses old and new — there’s a joke about how many of them there are — pretty much all of the cast of the first Scary Movie return, still hammering their running jokes into the ground. Shorty (Marlon Wayans) is still stoned, and Ray (Shawn Wayans) is still pretending not to be gay, while talented comedians Anna Faris — who takes a ribbing for being in Scary Movie 3 and 4 — and Regina Hall do their best with not-exactly A material. Olivia Rose Keegan, Savannah Lee Nassif, Cameron Scott Roberts and Sydney Park — one of many 1997 babies who might have been named after the Neve Campbell character in Scream — are shrill stands-ins for Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, and Jasmin Savoy Brown from the requel — which is, by now, two Screams ago.

Scary Movie tradition is to refer to job-lots of other films in scenes which only barely qualify as send-ups. It’s also series tradition to be just behind the curve, so nods to Terrifier, Sinners, Get Out, Weapons, Longlegs, M3GAN, Candyman, The Substance, and Nosferatu will be old news to audiences who’ve moved on to Backrooms, Obsession, and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (the likely targets of a seventh instalment). There are okay-ish jokes about the OG SM crew being stuck in the early 2000s, but the film at least references some current concerns — ICE raids, insistence on preferred pronouns, a history curriculum predicated on slavery not being a bad thing. The last ten minutes before the extended end-credits almost start to be funny, playing on tension between the cast holdovers from the first Scary Movie and the younger generation — but it’s a long haul to get there.

In the last few years, Anya Taylor-Joy has mostly been seen (and heard) in the realms of sci-fi and fantasy — whether as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's Princess Peach, Furiosa's eponymous warrior heroine, or as Paul Atreides' sister Alia in Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two. In Jonathan Tropper's upcoming Apple TV limited series Lucky however, adapted from Marissa Stapley's bestselling book, our gal Anya — here playing the titular role, a con artist on the lam after a multi-million-dollar heist gone awry — is brought back down to Earth with a thud. Check out the trailer below;

Now there's a trailer! Sure, having a career-criminal Timothy Olyphant for a dad and a stylish federal agent Annette Bening for a mother-in-law might sound like a dream come true on paper, but as this first look at Lucky shows us, in reality it's a set-up that puts Anya Taylor-Joy's trying-to-be-reformed robber in a real pickle. But Lucky's daddy issues/missing hubby/missing money losses look most assuredly like our gains, with Taylor-Joy switching up wigs, costumes, and stress-levels effortlessly — running across rooftops and excavating childhood traumas — as she leaves the law asking, "How can someone so small cause so much trouble?"

The short-but-sweet official synopsis for Lucky — which also stars Queer breakout Drew Starkey, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Clifton Collins Jr. (Train Dreams) — reads: "When a multimillion-dollar heist goes sideways, con artist Lucky (Taylor-Joy) is forced to go on the run. Pursued by both the FBI and a ruthless crime boss, Lucky must fight for her life — and a way out."

With adrenalised action, tense familial drama, and a classic 'one last job' hook, the omens are strong for Tropper and Taylor-Joy's passion project, the latest from Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production label. We'll see whether we're feeling Lucky when it hits Apple TV on 15 July.

Charli XCX’s post-Brat pivot to cinema has so far seen her ease her way in, taking small roles in 100 Nights Of Hero, Faces Of Death, and I Want Your Sex, as well as playing herself in tour mock-doc The Moment. But Erupcja is a bolder leap: an intimate indie character-drama that hinges on her not playing Charli XCX, or a version thereof. It’s a film that proves she may well have a future in movies, the sort of cool underground Euro-picture that she herself would log on her eclectic Letterboxd page.

While XCX’s pop persona has never been the most outsized, she strips it all back to play Bethany — a ‘normal’ woman in her thirties on the brink of settling down. Her nice-but-dull boyfriend Rob (Will Madden, perfectly pitiable) has whisked her away to Warsaw (her suggestion, he wanted Paris) where he plans to propose. But Bethany has ulterior motives for picking Poland: she used to live there, and has a powerful unspoken bond with local flower-shop-owner Nel (Lena Góra). Whenever Beth and Nel are together, a volcano erupts — quite literally. When Mount Etna belches ash, cancelling flights across Europe and unexpectedly extending Beth and Rob’s trip, she can’t help but be drawn back into Nel’s orbit.

The film’s greatest asset, its compelling core? It’s Charli, baby.

Director Pete Ohs keeps things low-key but engaging as the tectonic plates shift in Beth and Rob’s relationship; it’s painful watching him flail, trying to bridge the distance and conjure romance as she pulls further away. For all his niceties, they’re clearly not aligned. “With him, the Earth doesn’t shake,” Beth admits. The exact nature of her connection with Nel — whether romantic, sexual or spiritual — isn’t spelled out, but their chemistry is undeniable, both potent and volatile, causing ruptions in Nel’s other entanglements too. Through Rob and Nel, Erupcja prods at possible paths in Beth’s future: is the stability he represents boring? Is her connection with Nel — for all its excitement and unpredictability — ultimately selfish? Rather than try and offer answers or moralistic judgment, Ohs simply lets his characters exist in the mess of it all.

The overall vibe is one of a hangout, with shades of Richard Linklater’s Before films; you sense it was filmed that way too, since Ohs shares a writing credit with all the key cast members, including XCX, Madden, Góra and playwright Jeremy O. Harris (who plays a small role as an expat artist). That looseness is inviting, all contained in a 71-minute runtime that doesn’t outstay its welcome. There’s style here — a boxy aspect ratio, colourful interstitials, volcano cutaways — and a drolly funny voiceover that lends wry humour to the drama. But the film’s greatest asset, its compelling core? It’s Charli, baby.

Great things happen when Brad Bird goes animated. This is the filmmaker who cut his teeth on The Simpsons in its prime, and went on to helm The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and its sequel, and Ratatouille. And running through the background of it all, he’s always wanted to make Ray Gunn – a retro-sci-fi noir which he’s been stewing on since the 1990s. Now, it’s finally real, arriving as an animated feature on Netflix later this year, with some stellar voice talent to boot.

In the role of the brilliantly-named Ray Gunn himself is Sam Rockwell. “He’s pretty much your Main Street private detective,” Bird tells Empire of his hero. “A hard-bitten character, but not without a sense of humour.” And getting someone as expressive as Rockwell in the booth only adds to the personality of your hero. “Sam is just an amazing actor, and he’s quirky and unpredictable,” says Bird. “He never phones it in. It inspires you to bring something to the table as an animator.”

As Gunn – the last human private detective in a world inhabited by all kinds of galactic beings – becomes embroiled in a twisty-turny mystery, Bird promises audiences are in for a ride. “It has no shortage of thoughts in it. But it’s primarily meant to be good with a box full of popcorn,” he explains. “It’s meant to be a really good time.” Plus, in true Brad Bird style, it’s a real genre blend. “There’s a lot more action in this movie than a normal noir, and there’s more comedy,” he says. “It’s a blend of things going on at once.” Sounds like it’ll be worth the seriously long wait.

Read Empire’s full Ray Gunn story in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day issue, on sale Thursday 4 June. Order a copy online here. Ray Gunn comes to Netflix later in 2026.

A new era is dawning for Spider-Man in Brand New Day – picking back up with Tom Holland’s Spidey in a world where nobody remembers Peter Parker. The new issue of Empire takes a major new look at Marvel’s summer blockbuster – and you can pre-order a copy right here.

While the issue doesn’t hit shelves until June 4, here’s a sneak peek inside its pages.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

New York’s friendly neighbourhood hero thwips back into action in Spider-Man: Brand New Day – and Empire gets the first word, speaking to stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Bernthal, Marvel boss Kevin Feige, director Destin Daniel Cretton, and producer Amy Pascal.

Supergirl

James Gunn’s DCU returns with Supergirl – a punky space-opera that isn’t afraid to explore the messiness of its complex central hero. Empire speaks to Milly Alcock, director Craig Gillespie, and writer Ana Nogueira on a different kind of comic book movie.

Jackass

For decades now, Johnny Knoxville and crew have been raising hell for our entertainment. As they prepare to bow out with Jackass: Best And Last, they talk Empire through their wildest moments – and the camaraderie that’s kept them together.

Minions & Monsters

The little yellow Minions have dominated the globe for years now. And as they prepare to take on Hollywood in Minions & Monsters, Empire meets their creator (and voice actor) Pierre Coffin to discover what makes them so irresistible.

Timothy Olyphant

Whether playing heroes, villains or anything in between, Timothy Olyphant is a magnetic screen presence – and his choices are only getting bolder. He sits down for a major new Empire interview and shoot.

10 Years Of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

The cult classic comedy turns 10 – and Empire sat down with the ever-humble trio known as The Lonely Island to discuss its legacy, its initial box office flop, and what was left on the cutting room floor.

The Deep Dive: Houdini In Hollywood

Our latest exploration of the annals of movie history explores the time legendary escape artist Harry Houdini broke his way into cinema.

First Word

This month’s news section takes aim at Brad Bird’s long-awaited animated passion project Ray Gunn; goes to the beach with the surviving members of Monty Python; straps in for Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma with director Jane Schoenbrun; digs into the mysteries of Silo Season 3; ventures to Dreamworks’ much-hyped Forgotten Island; lights the spark on Evil Dead Burn; explores the resurgence of The Acolyte on Disney+ with creator Leslye Headland; and much more.

Final Cut

In the home entertainment section, Charlie Cox discusses the seismic Season 2 finale of Daredevil: Born Again; we rank the best movies of 1996; Cyrano de Bergerac gets the Masterpiece treatment; Lawrence Kasdan discusses Body Heat; we break down the big moments of Jack Ryan movie Ghost War with director Andrew Bernstein; and plenty more.

Reviews

In this issue, you’ll find reviews of the Nicolas Cage-starring Spidey spin-off Spider-Noir; John Travolta’s directorial debut Propellor One-Way Night Coach; Jodie Foster thriller A Private Life; Charli XCX Euro-drama Erupcja; and many more.

Order a copy of the issue online here

In recent years, the Evil Dead series has not messed about. While Sam Raimi’s sequels fused his hardcore horror sensibilities with gallons of slapstick gore, the likes of Fede Alvarez’s 2013 Evil Dead and Lee Cronin’s 2023 Evil Dead Rise have veered closer to the transgressive terror of Raimi’s original film; albeit with a sadistic wink in their eye. Next up is the turn of French filmmaker Sebastien Vaniček, whose Evil Dead Burn will subject a new family to the hellish exploits of Kandarian demons. The Necronomicon is open for business once more.

At the heart of the madness this time is Souheila Yacoub’s Alice, playing on a different register to Bruce Campbell’s outlandish Ash. “When we created Alice, we wanted a character who’s really grounded,” Vaniček explains. “She’s mourning someone, she arrives in this house, and crazy stuff happens. I wanted to create characters that are behaving like it’s real life.”

While Alice won’t have a chainsaw hand, Vaniček is still pulling ideas that spring from fighting Deadites in a domestic space. “I really want the audience to feel different when they use their dishwasher after watching the movie,” he says. And Alice will really have her work cut out, battling the Necronomicon’s nastiest. “I needed to stay in touch with what makes these demons not like the ones from The Exorcist,” says Vaniček. “They are smart. They are playing with you. When I was talking with the actors, I was telling them, ‘Behave like animals.’ Every one of these Deadites has a fighting style that is completely different.” Expect a groovy time at the movies.

Read Empire’s full Evil Dead Burn story in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day issue, on sale Thursday June 4. Order a copy online here. Evil Dead Burn comes to cinemas from July 10.

Streaming on: Apple TV

Episodes viewed: 6 of 10

As soon as the familiar, ominous horns blare over the first scene, it’s clear that this new Cape Fear has no hang-ups about being a remake. The same Bernard Herrmann theme stalked the 1962 J. Lee Thompson original and 1991 Martin Scorsese version. Music is far from the only thing the show affectionately borrows, particularly from Scorsese’s take (he’s an executive producer here). It imitates respectfully and stylishly, with visual nods and reinterpretations of key scenes. What this Apple TV show does less surely is establish its own convincing identity.

In the earlier versions, Max Cady is a violent rapist who emerges from prison with a volcanic grudge against a lawyer he blames for his conviction. Here, there’s a tweak. Cady (Javier Bardem) has served 17 years for murdering his pregnant wife but is released when an ex-lover confesses to his crimes, then immediately kills herself. News of his freedom terrifies his former lawyer, Anna Bowden (Amy Adams), who is now married to Tom (Patrick Wilson), the prosecutor who put Cady away. The terror is intensified when Cady heads to the Bowdens’ neighbourhood and takes a keen interest in them and their two unhappy teenage children.

The movies were straightforward cat-and-mouse. This is a bit more cat-and-ball-of-string.

In the movies and the original novel, The Executioners, Cady is a guilty man set on vengeance. The tension builds as he gets closer to his stated goal of destroying the life of the lawyer he holds responsible. The show makes Cady more ambiguous. Is he fundamentally evil or was he broken by prison? Was he wrongly jailed or wrongly freed? As practised as Bardem is at being sinister, it reduces the character. To keep Cady interacting with the Bowdens, and string out the mystery, he has to be partially defanged, leading to some unconvincing plot-turns. Anna is forced to work with Cady, which she finds uncomfortable rather than unbearable. Tom has the odd drink with him. They circle each other cautiously and repetitively. The movies were straightforward cat-and-mouse. This is a bit more cat-and-ball-of-string.

It becomes a better watch as the series progresses, the Bowdens’ paranoia boiling over and the tone edging into campy thriller. Early episodes have moments of it, with overwrought Hitchcockian camerawork and some cheesy storytelling tricks — newspaper headlines and televised reports do some expository heavy-lifting — but they’re playful little smudges on a more prestige, serious surface. By Episode 6 (the first six of ten were made available for review) it gets looser, with some ludicrous revelations, all well-sold by the excellent cast. It’s silly, garish fun and actually more of a piece with the adaptations it’s following: another serving of well-made pulp.

To me, my X-Men... '97 Season 2 trailer! When last we saw our beloved mutants in X-Men '97's breathless Season 1 finale, things weren't looking so great for our heroes. Scattered across time, Magneto, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, and Xavier wound up in Ancient Egypt circa 3000BC, landing directly in the path of a young En Sabah Nur — aka 'the first mutant' Apocalypse. Meanwhile Jean Grey and Cyclops were flung 2000 years into the future, reunited with their son Nathan in a literal post-Apocalypse world. And as the first trailer for X-Men' 97 Season 2 shows us, we're picking right back where we left off with our mutie crew — check it out below;

Hoo boy — if X-Men '97 Season 1 proved Marvel knows exactly how to handle its mutants, then it looks like Season 2 is doubling down and then some. Rogue mourning Gambit... Apocalypse pledging to strike the X-Men at their most vulnerable ("The 1990s!" obviously)... Morph going full Deadpool... Polaris! Sheesh, we need a Time Machine — or just a replay button, really — to process all the cool mutant shenanigans teased here. Handily, amid our delirium we did find Marvel's official Season 2 synopsis as our superheroes — and villains — prepare for a battle across the ages. It reads: "X-Men '97 Season 2 continues with the heroic mutant team of X-Men, divided and thrown across different eras in time as they struggle to navigate their return home. Meanwhile, back in the 1990s, suspicious foes and new strains of mutant intolerance are on the rise in the wake of the X-Men’s absence."

Among the voice cast for X-Men '97's nine-episode Season 2, you'll be relieved to hear, are Ross Marquand as Professor X, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Lenore Zann as Rogue, and George Buza as Beast. We'll see whether they — and the rest of our heroes — make it back to the 90s in one piece when X-Men '97 Season 2 drops on Disney+ on 1 July. Now can we get a “Bwa-na-na-na naaaa na-na”? Thank you!

Given how many of Kristin Scott Thomas’ on-screen characters could kill you with a single withering look, it’s perhaps a surprise that her screenwriting and directorial debut is a gentle and cosy affair, about a middle-class British family working through their emotional hang-ups. Think chintzy cottage, idyllic streams and enviable day dresses and you’re halfway there. What’s less surprising is the quality of performance and self-assurance on display.

There’s a sense of real feeling to Scott Thomas’ work here. Written with her journalist husband John Micklethwait, this was inspired by elements of Scott Thomas' own life. She lost both her pilot father and later her pilot stepfather to plane crashes in early life, at a time when she was old enough to remember both tragedies. While she had made short animations for her younger brothers about their missing fathers, she wanted here to explore the experiences of three children shaped in contrasting ways by the same events, which not all of them remember in the same way. It's an ambitious undertaking, an attempt to examine all three women’s lives, marriages and approaches to motherhood, as well as their own mother’s response. It can't quite drill down into all those elements sufficiently deeply, but what's here is beautifully played.

It can't quite drill down into all those elements sufficiently deeply, but what's here is beautifully played.

Naturally given her reputation, Scott Thomas was able to assemble a superb cast. She enlisted her Four Weddings And A Funeral brother, James Fleet, as her fiancé Geoff, and her Horse Whisperer daughter Scarlett Johansson (with a solid English accent) as her oldest and most tightly wound daughter, Katherine, who’s about to become the Royal Navy’s first female aircraft carrier captain. Sienna Miller is the movie-star middle-child Victoria, and Emily Beecham the youngest and most stay-at-home, Georgina, an NHS nurse. Over the course of a few days, they must all face blockages in their lives, and hopefully find a way to move forward.

There are a few awkward shifts of tone, a few too-obvious tells (Saltburn's Joshua McGuire, as Georgina’s husband, is so often cast as a buffoon that there are no surprises to his storyline), and one satisfying but arguably too-pat mother-solves-it-all scene with the sisters. Still, the cast deliver enough substance, with enough nuance, to carry it off, and create something as charming and evidently loved as their country-cottage setting.

You know the saying about how when one door closes, another one opens? Well, when it comes to revivals of sci-fi franchises based on a 1994 Roland Emmerich movie, it's more like when one Stargate opens, the same Stargate closes. Yes, just seven months after Amazon announced a new Stargate series from Blindspot creator Martin Gero would soon be heading our way, Variety is reporting that Uncle Bezos has closed his wallet and the show has already been axed before ever making it into production.

According to Variety's sources, Amazon's top brass got cold feet around Stargate because they became worried "that Gero’s take on the series would not have broad appeal beyond the franchise’s already dedicated fanbase." Given that the company happily hired Gero as writer-showrunner however, a Stargate veteran who's worked on each of the franchise's last three TV iterations, it's unclear what ultimately proved the straw that broke the camel's back for Amazon. If there is a silver lining to be found in this disappointing news though, it is that despite Gero's series not moving forwards, Amazon is still exploring new ways to bring the franchise back to our screens.

With 16 years having passed now since the franchise's last TV outing, Stargate Universe, hopes for a fully-fledged revival of the hard sci-fi saga are admittedly dwindling at this exact moment. But given the infinite potential of the premise — an ever-refreshing expeditionary team uses ring-shaped portals to virtually instantaneously travel anywhere across the universe — surely, surely it's only a matter of time before the Stargate truly does open once more. Only then will the holy trinity of Star franchises — Wars, Trek, and Gate — be whole again. Fingers crossed!

“Love is a state of temporary psychosis,” claims Sigmund Freud, in the opening title card of Finding Emily. Once upon a time, of course, this particular psychosis was less of a temporary presence on our cinema screens and more of a regular feature. But in the streaming era, romcoms are a rare breed; how pleasing, then, to see an unabashed romantic comedy back on the big screen, and a homegrown British one from _Four Weddings And A Funeral_production company Working Title, no less.

This is a sweet little film which makes no bones about following in the tradition of its Richard Curtis-ian forebears, even if it tries to inject a bit of Gen-Z self-awareness and subversion along the way. Our star-cross’d story begins in a Manchester Student Union bar: one night, scruffy music technician Owen (Spike Fearn), with a Stone Roses haircut and a fidgety soft-lad Gallagher swagger, stumbles upon a cute girl named Emily (Sadie Soverall). They enjoy a slow-motion meet-cute, where the world around them seems to fade away, West Side Story-style. They vibe. But then Emily disappears, and though she gives Owen her number, it’s one digit short.

Alicia MacDonald’s direction almost feels like a Mancunian take on Rye Lane, colourful and vibrant with music everywhere...

So, Owen sets out on a romantic/obsessive (delete as appropriate) mission to track her down — which is how he bumps into the wrong Emily (Spider-Man’s Angourie Rice), an American psychology student and confirmed romance cynic who believes that love is an act of insanity. Struggling to find a suitable subject for her thesis, she realises that Owen’s desperate mission to find the real Emily might be the perfect case-study of self-sabotage. Thus, a 10 Things I Hate About You-style ‘secret scheme’ is hatched — a classic romcom conceit — in which Emily creates her very own deeply unethical “Stanford prison experiment”, as she puts it, without Owen’s awareness or consent. Or, as her Romcom Best Friend suggests, in the Gen-Z vernacular: “It’s giving illegal.”

It all goes about the way you might expect it to go, with a romance they didn’t realise was happening until it was right in front of them, a love that goes unrequited until it is, inevitably, requited. Plenty of stuff here stretches credulity, even for this genre — are podcasts really blared out on big screens and loudspeakers, live across university campuses, like it’s Times Square in a film about the end of the world? — and there are some fairly broad caricatures of ‘woke’ politics, which slightly undermine a real point the film wants to make.

But the script, by Rachel Hirons, has some strength to it, self-aware enough to reference genre tropes like Manic Pixie Dream Girls, and robust enough to have a genuine narrative debate on earnestness versus cynicism. And it sails by with charm and warmth: Alicia MacDonald’s direction almost feels like a Mancunian take on Rye Lane, colourful and vibrant with music everywhere (shout-out to Nia Archives and Tom Tom Club on the soundtrack); while Rice and Fearn are bright and breezy company, both game for self-effacing comedy and with bags of chemistry between them. For a good romcom, that’s half the battle.

By any action aficionado's standards, stuntman-turned-director David Leitch's filmography is pretty impressive. Producer of John Wick, director of Atomic Blonde, Bullet Train, Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, and veritable actionpalooza The Fall Guy, and one of the reasons we're finally getting a Stunt Oscar, when it comes to cinematic ass-kicking the man kicks ass. And his latest movie, Nicholas Hoult and Zoë Kravitz led cat-and-mouse heist thriller How To Rob A Bank, looks like another balls-to-the-wall cinematic adrenaline rush. Check out the trailer below;

Nicholas Hoult in a wolf mask? Check! Zoë Kravitz and John C. Reilly teaming up to take on Hoult and his gang of viral crooks? Check! Bank job POV shots, two-footed dropkicks, and a primo slice of anti-capitalist sentiment? Check, check, and triple-check! Yeah, we're thinkin' Leitch is back. And honestly, if this first trailer for How To Rob A Bank is anything to go by, with its acerbic wit, kinetic action, and palpable tension as 'what if Robin Hood was a content creator in a furry outfit?' Hoult and co gear up for their biggest job yet, then we could be in for a real treat.

The official synopsis for How To Rob A Bank — which also stars Anna Sawai, Rhenzy Feliz, Christian Slater, and Pete Davidson — reads: "A crew of social media-savvy bank robbers broadcasts their daring heists, unaware that their growing viral fame has put them in the crosshairs of a veteran FBI agent and a brilliant software engineer. Despite the unlikely duo closing in, the crime ring pushes past their limits, putting everything on the line for their beliefs – and their most ambitious heist yet.”

We won't know whether the cops or the robbers will out until How To Rob A Bank hits cinemas on 4 September, but David Leitch has already scored big: we're more than ready to shut up and let him take our money with this one.

In jazz, the magic happens in the silences. Miles Davis once suggested that true genius lies in “the notes you don’t play”. Fittingly, Köln 75 — a film about the story behind The Köln Concert, Keith Jarrett’s improvised 1975 performance that went on to become the bestselling solo piano album of all time — is ingenious in how it riffs around one striking omission: none of Jarrett’s music appears in the film.

Rather than awkwardly dance around that absence, director Ido Fluk transforms it into the film’s central idea. In place of Jarrett’s music comes the frantic, infectious energy of Vera Brandes, the teenage concert promoter who somehow convinced the notoriously difficult pianist to take the stage in Cologne and ended up creating jazz history.

[Ido] Fluk attacks the material with restless formal energy. Fourth-wall breaks, rapid-fire editing and knowingly absurd pop-culture detours give the film a self-aware swagger that occasionally strains for profundity.

Crucially, Jarrett himself is barely the point. The film belongs entirely to Vera, played by Mala Emde with charming, kinetic verve. Though older than the real-life teenager she portrays, Emde captures the reckless obsession of someone utterly consumed by art, throwing herself into jazz culture with the kind of evangelical earnestness that feels almost alien today. Vera isn’t simply organising a concert; she’s chasing transcendence. John Magaro (Past Lives), meanwhile, plays Jarrett as a man permanently teetering between artistic purity and total exasperation, giving the film a prickly counterweight to Vera’s idealism.

Fluk attacks the material with restless formal energy. Fourth-wall breaks, rapid-fire editing and knowingly absurd pop-culture detours give the film a self-aware swagger that occasionally strains for profundity. There are moments where the film tries a little too hard to mythologise jazz as a near-spiritual force, while Michael Chernus’ rambling critic character often arrives to dump exposition rather than add to the narrative. Some of the film’s broader comedic flourishes also sit awkwardly alongside its more sincere emotional beats. Still, the film’s sheer, chaotic momentum usually carries it through.

That momentum becomes exhilarating in the final stretch, as Vera scrambles through a mounting series of disasters threatening to derail the concert entirely. A faulty piano, Jarrett’s exhaustion, backstage chaos— Fluk stages it all like a ticking-clock thriller. Even knowing the outcome, the film builds genuine suspense from the logistical nightmare. Then comes the elephant in the room: the missing music. The now 81-year-old Keith Jarrett’s lack of involvement with the production means the climactic performance unfolds without a note of The Köln Concert itself. For some, that will be an unforgivable anticlimax. Yet there’ssomething strangely fitting about a film that rolls with the punches around that limitation. By the end, the missing music feels less like a flaw than part of the magic.

When you think of Jackass, you think of a bunch of brawling bros in a giant shopping trolley, careening down a steep road. Or, ‘bee limo’, in which they filled a limo with bees, while their friends were still inside it. Or, Johnny Knoxville getting flipped by an angry bull. But underneath all those daft and dangerous pranks, there’s always been a camaraderie to the Jackass crew, one that persists to this day. Hence why the gang returns, one last time, in the upcoming Jackass: Best And Last – which sees them recreate that legendary shopping trolley stunt from the first film.

As member Steve-O puts it, there’s a warmth to Jackass that keeps the team – and the audience – coming back. “It might sound counter-intuitive, but I consider Jackass to be deeply wholesome,” he tells Empire. “I think it’s built into the male DNA to want to be macho and tough, and I think our willingness to not look cool is somehow endearing.”

Over the years, those involved in making the movies (and the original show) have been through ups and downs, with Jackass a constant among it all – and while the core conceit means they’ve never truly grown up, they have matured. “I’m so grateful for the growth in both the franchise and in myself,” says Steve-O. “The trajectory is one of tremendous spiritual growth.” Looking back on the films, he can see significant chapters in his own life. “On the third movie, I was newly sober, which is great, but sobriety is a very slow and uncomfortable process. I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin. I had not found my voice,” he reflects. “And then on the fourth movie, with so much time having elapsed, I just felt like a butterfly. I just blossomed.” Long live Jackass.

Read Empire’s full Jackass feature in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day issue – on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online now. Jackass: Best And Last comes to UK cinemas from June 26.

Tip Toe begins with a woman screaming, “Monster!” in horror, but to label the show itself as horror suggests this to be a work of heightened fiction. In truth, the dread and terror evoked here are all too real. While It's A Sin reflected on gay history (it’s set between 1981 and 1991) and Years And Years took a prescient look at the near-future, this latest rallying cry from Russell T Davies is rooted in the here and now. Specifically, the fear, rage and despair that characterise modern-day life as a queer person in the UK.

Queer joy does pop up occasionally, connecting Leo (Alan Cumming) to his chosen family on Canal Street, for example. But these aren’t the moments that will stick with you. No, it’s Clive (David Morrissey) showing up in Leo’s home unannounced; it’s Leo no longer apologising for simply existing; and most of all, it’s the sight of Leo’s feet dangling from the lamppost he’s been hanged from in the street. That’s not a spoiler, by the way. Tip Toe opens with Stephanie (Elizabeth Berrington) broken at the sight of her friend strung up for all to see, establishing an immediate sense of dread as we jump back ten days to understand how we reached this point.

Knowing Leo’s story ends this way creates a constant unease heightened by each individual conflict. Small at first, the clashes build primarily in taut two-handers, with Cumming and Morrissey both doing career-best work that finds nuance in even the most difficult moments. Director Peter Hoar, who’s previously collaborated with Davies on Nolly, It’s A Sin and Doctor Who, expertly handles the shifting tension as it ebbs and flows, the abrasive drama hurtling towards a crescendo that's almost too hard to watch. Watch we must, though, because Tip Toe wrestles with vital conversations that remain overlooked elsewhere.

As such, it’s easy to forgive the occasional heavy-handed monologue. The most effective one comes early on via Leo’s friend Melba (Paul Rhys): “I used to walk into a room and just go, ‘Ta-da!’ Now I tiptoe, just in case.” We are lucky that Davies refuses to do the same, loudly calling out the real horrors queer people face at a time when everything should be getting better, not worse.

For a few years now, Adam Wingard has been in MonsterVerse mode. But for all the rock-‘em-sock-‘em delights of Godzilla Vs Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, his return to original fare is particularly exciting. Because, long before he was going full monster-mash, Wingard made films like You’re Next and The Guest – small, sharp, ultra-knowing genre works that made him a cult sensation. And his latest, Onslaught, looks to be very much in that mould, pitching Adria Arjona against a batch of super-soldiers. Check out the trailer:

Now that looks like a rad time at the movies. Onslaught seems to be something like The Guest with the action dial cranked way up – with a big, burly (and seemingly supernatural) military monster, played by Alex Pereira, on the march. Can Arjona’s battle-hardened Celeste stop him? Judging by the way she revs that chainsaw (“Come on, you little bitch!”), we wouldn’t count her out just yet. The cast also includes The Terminator legend Michael Biehn, Reginald VelJohnson, and Rebecca Hall, who also starred in Wingard’s Godzilla/Kong films.

The real question is, will this have any connective tissue to The Guest? It has that military theme, it’s a collaboration with Wingard’s regular screenwriter Simon Barrett, and Dan Stevens is also in the cast (and mysteriously absent from this trailer). It wouldn’t be the first time Wingard and Barrett pulled a switcheroo on audiences, after their 2016 film ‘The Woods’ turned out to be a secret Blair Witch sequel. Whatever Onslaught ends up being, it looks like a blast. It’s due in US cinemas on September 6, and hopefully won’t be out much later in the UK.

A movie based on an old cartoon, based on a toy, about a character who voluntarily goes by the name ‘He-Man’, should not be taken too seriously. If you feel nostalgic about it and think it deserves respect, imagine listing off the characters to an unfamiliar fellow adult and see how long it takes you to feel embarrassed (even if you get past Ram Man, good luck navigating Fisto). That’s presumably why director Travis Knight has taken a distinctly winking approach to the self-styled Masters Of The Universe, and leaned into the utter ridiculousness in a way that, largely, works.

A wordy prologue establishes the scene: our hapless hero Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) was once a prince of Eternia, a magical land that the royal family and the Sorceress (Monica Baccarin) protected against evildoers like Skeletor (Jared Leto). But when that bad guy attacks, the King (James Purefoy) and his chief Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba) are overwhelmed, and the child Adam is sent through a portal to Earth. He instantly loses the magical sword that would allow him to return. Fifteen years later, he’s a misunderstood cog in a corporate machine, but he finds his weapon at long last and is immediately hunted by Skeletor’s goons.

Travis Knight and his cast get the big stuff right.

His childhood friend Teela (Camila Mendes) helps him escape home, where they must keep the weapon away from Skeletor and reach Castle Grayskull to… well, it’s not entirely clear. The result is a chase movie, with the pantomime bony baddie determined to get his hands on Adam’s sword (steady) and crush all opposition to his rule.

The decision to make Adam a hapless doofus is a source of great comedy — Galitzine sends himself up as gamely as he bulks up — but his childish dependence on Teela and the rest reduces the narrative propulsion. Adam needs to avoid Skeletor and Alison Brie’s underused Evil-Lyn, sure, but he has no real plan to reclaim his throne or restore Eternia. He’s just swept along by events. That might be okay, as he muddles towards a rebellion, but the muddle needed to be very funny and very sharply scripted, and there are a few lulls in the pace here.

That all said, Knight and his cast get the big stuff right. This will appeal to small kids with its bold colours, big characters and utter lack of deep thought (how does Mekaneck’s blood reach his brain when his neck suddenly telescopes 20 feet?), and will appeal to adults who remember being small kids playing with action figures. Certainly, it’s vastly more fun than the misfiring 1987 attempt, and welcome proof that Hollywood has finally given up on making everything darker and more serious.

It’s no secret that Jason Momoa has always wanted to be Lobo. But, given that he also spent years as Aquaman in the DCEU ‘Snyder-verse’, that option was never really open. Until, that is, the universe got rebooted into the DCU, with James Gunn and Peter Safran holding the reins. The morning that was announced, Gunn received a text from Momoa that simply said “fucking LOBO”.

Cut to summer 2026, and Momoa’s dreams have come true: he’s playing Lobo, the intergalactic bounty hunter, in the Gunn-produced Supergirl movie, directed by Craig Gillespie. And if Momoa was bullish about playing the part, nobody can deny that he was perfect for the role. “I was thrilled to have him,” Gillespie tells Empire. “I couldn’t imagine anybody else, but it’s a pressure... [we asked ourselves a] million questions to pay homage to the original.”

It’s a sentiment shared by Supergirl herself, Milly Alcock, whose Kara Zor-El is set to cross paths with the motorbike-riding badass when she sets off on a vengeful quest through the galaxy. “Jason had such presence,” Alcock says. “He is Lobo. And it was exciting to see somebody living out their dream.” Remember: it’s never too late to manifest.

Read Empire’s full Supergirl feature in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day issue – on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Supergirl comes to cinemas from June 25.

For years now, the pursuit of an _Escape From New York_remake has been a fool's errand. To write one is impossible. To direct one is insane. Len Wiseman was going to tackle it in 2007 with Gerard Butler. Joel Silver wanted to make a whole trilogy in the mid-2010s. Just a few short years ago, Radio Silence signed on to bring Snake Plissken back. But now, per THR's reporting, it appears that Zack Snyder is set to be the man to go in and remake John Carpenter's dystopian cult classic.

According to THR, Snyder — who's most recently been working on low-budget passion project The Last Photograph after the high-profile releases of his Justice League and Rebel Moon movies — is aboard to write and direct 'a reimagining' of Carpenter's 1981 action flick. For those who may not know, Escape From New York was set in a dystopian future where the isle of Manhattan had been turned into a maximum security prison. In the OG film, Kurt Russell starred as tattooed, eye-patch wearing anti-hero Snake Plissken, a disgraced former military hero sent on a one-man-Suicide-Squad style mission to enter the island and extract the crash-landed President of the United States. Part character piece, part black comedy, all post-Vietnam/Watergate individualism and anti-establishment sentiment, Escape From New York oozes a cool and an idiosyncrasy filmmakers have been looking to replicate ever since. That Snyder's version, which will have Carpenter aboard as Executive Producer, is being eyed for theatrical release by StudioCanal is a promising sign that maybe someone has finally cracked a modern take on the source material.

We don't know who'll be in Snyder's Escape From New York just yet, just as we don't know when his The Last Photograph will reach our screens. What we do know however is that Snyder has previous for reinvigorating long-since considered untouchable classics (hello Dawn Of The Dead!), sources suggest the 300 filmmaker is opting for a 'down-and-dirty' approach to the material, and we are very interested to see what his vision of Carpenter's movie will look like. And, of course, who will be playing Snake Plissken. Our eyepatches are at the ready, and our stick-on cobra tattoos are waiting. Give us a call!

Streaming on: Apple TV

Episodes viewed: 5 of 8

The pressure of making Star City — a spin-off of the beloved alternate-history drama For All Mankind — must have been immense. That surely pales in comparison to the strain endured by the characters of the show itself, though. Never mind that these scientists and cosmonauts are ahead in the Space Race: they’re not doing this for themselves, and they’re not doing it for all mankind either — they’re doing it for Mother Russia, whose iron grip is absolute.

Taking us back to the late ’60s, showrunners Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert retell key events from the first season of For All Mankind without repeating what’s come before. Star City is a much harsher beast, trading in the optimism of its predecessor for something far bleaker, but no less compelling. To pull this off, the writers ground all the relentless paranoia and snitching with characters to root for, including some younger versions of recognisable faces such as Sergei Nikulov (Josef Davies) and Irina Morozova (Agnes O’Casey).

[Anna Maxwell] Martin Martin has never been better, elevating what could be rather dour into scenes that thrum with energy...

O’Casey is the breakout star, mesmerising to watch as she observes a married couple who may or may not be faithful to their country. Everyone understandably has their guard up at all times, but as specific relationships gradually thaw and even heat up, other standout personalities emerge as well. The two-hander that pulls it all together isn't half as guarded, however: the ‘Chief Designer’ (Rhys Ifans) and Lyudmilla Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin) are at odds from the start, despite fighting for the same cause. The air is thick with their contempt for each other, and Raskova is especially vicious in her cold austerity. Martin has never been better, elevating what could be rather dour into scenes that thrum with energy, even when trapped in a brutally oppressive Soviet setting.

Would this ring truer if the cast spoke in actual Russian? Absolutely, but if you're willing to overlook the ‘Chernobyl Effect’, Star City is a worthy successor to For All Mankind, proving that there’s still life in this world (and potentially worlds beyond it too).

Ever since it was revealed that Spider-Man: Brand New Day would see Tom Holland’s Peter Parker rub spider-shoulders with Jon Bernthal’s gun-toting Punisher, fans have wondered how the ultra-violent exploits of Frank Castle will mesh with the Friendly Neighbourhood vibe of everyone’s favourite wall-crawler. But then, there’s the flip-side of that question: what would it be like for Spider-Man to pop up in a Punisher project, should Marvel pursue more post-One Last Kill?

As it turns out, the thought has crossed Tom Holland’s mind too. “I would love to pop up in one of [Punisher’s] shows,” he tells Empire. “Let’s see what an R-rated version of Spider-Man looks like. I’m so grateful for Jon for taking the leap and being a part of the film, and I would love to repay the favour.”

Holland and Bernthal’s friendship goes way back, when they starred together in film Pilgrimage – during which time they were each auditioning for their Marvel roles, helping each other through the process. “I really wasn’t familiar with the Punisher. I wasn’t a huge comic-book guy,” admits Bernthal. “Tom was really the one that said, ‘Man, this character’s so great,’ and he explained it to me.” Now, all these years later, it’s coming full circle – and not just in Brand New Day. “We’ve remained friends over the years, but what a beautiful opportunity to do two movies back to back with him with The Odyssey and Spider-Man,” says Bernthal. “I love him. I’m so proud of him.” Sounds like more Spidey-Punisher team-ups could have real (spider) legs.

Read Empire’s full Spider-Man: Brand New Day cover story – speaking to Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Kevin Feige, Destin Daniel Cretton, Amy Pascal and more – in the July 2026 issue, on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes to cinemas from July 29.

Unless your name happens to be Din Djarin or Grogu, this past weekend's box office takings should put a smile on your face — even if it is two horror movies making the big bucks right now. Yes, the great YouTuber horror boom continues to reign victorious at cinemas near and far. Curry Barker's monkey's paw joint Obsession has just crossed the $148 million mark as it continues to, er, obsess cinemagoers in its third week since release, while Kane Parsons' liminal nightmare Backrooms has racked up an almighty $118 million globally in its opening weekend — the biggest ever open for an A24 movie. And the good news doesn't stop there, either.

Since Danny and Michael Philippou — aka RackaRacka — rocked up on the scene with cursed hand chiller Talk To Me in 2023, the YouTuber-turned-horror-filmmaker pipeline has proven particularly fruitful at the box office, with the likes of Chris Stuckmann's Shelby Oaks, Mark Fischbach's Iron Lung, and the the Philippous' sophomore feature Bring Her Back all reaping the rewards of passionate fan bases, relatively meagre budgets, and Gen Z enthusiasm for the genre. With Obsession and Backrooms though, both of which have opened against — and handsomely beaten — the first new Star Wars movie in seven years (The Mandalorian And Grogu), it feels like a watershed moment has arrived. Backrooms, directed by 20-year-old genre wunderkind Kane Parsons and generally garnering rave reviews, has enjoyed the third biggest opening weekend for a horror movie in US history on a budget of just $10 million. Obsession on the other hand has achieved a feat unseen since E.T The Extraterrestrial, experiencing an increase in ticket sales in its second and third weekends, proving in the process that this horror bubble — far from bursting — is only growing, with plenty of space for all comers.

Now, as more major YouTubers start to realise the potential of harnessing their legions of supporters and cut-price content creation nous to enter the cinema sphere, it seems we could be in for a radical new generation of filmmakers — just like the Movie Brats, Super 8, and Film School generations before them. Irish YouTube megastar JackSepticEye is already on board to produce and tackle a Bloodborne animated movie, Parsons is already thinking about Backrooms sequels, and Barker has expressed interest in seeing what other dreams the 'One Wish Willow' can turn into all-too-real nightmares. All of which is to say, watch this space! (And if PewDiePie fancies making a Star War, now may be the perfect time...)

Look up! It isn't a bird. It isn't a plane. And it sure as Krypton ain't Superman. It is however our first look at James Gunn's upcoming Superman sequel Man Of Tomorrow — or at least Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor on the set of the upcoming DCU blockbuster. Yes, in what is now becoming typical Gunn fashion, the DC Studios head honcho took to Instagram this afternoon to reveal a photo of Hoult's supervillain Luthor, in full emerald green Warsuit mode, 'live from the set of Man Of Tomorrow' — per his own words. Check it out below;

Hoo boy — here we go! Now yes, before you come out swinging with your "ackshyually"s, we know Lex Luthor's war suit in DC comics is traditionally represented as an exoskeleton essentially designed to help Luthor level the playing field with the Kryptonian thorn in his side. But, as we also know, Man Of Tomorrow is actually set to see Hoult's Lex and David Corenswet's Supes buddy up to take on a threat far bigger than their feud, classic silver age comic book supervillain Brainiac (Lars Eidinger). So, the smart money is on Lex either breaking out of prison dressed as the world's deadliest Christmas tree decoration before allying with the Man of Steel against Brainiac, or debuting his high-tech new threads on the field of battle itself. (It is of note that Luthor appears to be either on a sandy planet, or just a sort-of Dune-looking beach, in this shot — so perhaps there's some more off-world action heading our way as Gunn bulks out his more cosmic take on the DC Universe.)

Outside of the return of Hoult and his shiny bonce, and Corenswet's Clark Kent, we also know that Man Of Tomorrow is going to bring us Adria Arjona as Maxima, an alien queen with a serious Supes obsession (at least, she has one in Marvel's comics). Elsewhere, Lanterns star Aaron Pierre is bringing his Green Lantern, John Stewart, from the small to the big screen for Gunn's latest blockbuster, Matthew Lillard has been cast in an as-yet-unrevealed role, and Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), Guy Gardner (Nathon Fillion) and Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific) are all set to return for next summer's DC blockbuster. We'll see how they all fare when Man Of Tomorrow soars into cinemas on 9 July, 2027. But before then, Supergirl awaits! 26 June better come around faster than a speeding bullet or we might have to bust out our own warsuits... and you don't want that!

You never know quite what you’re going to get with a Minions movie. Sometimes it’s a classic Gru-and-family adventure, as in the Despicable Me films. Sometimes it’s a ‘70s B-movie depicting the rise of Gru, as in Minions: The Rise Of Gru. Or in the original Minions spin-off, it was a jaunt through history as the little guys worked to find their ultimate overlord. Now, prepare for something completely different: Minions & Monsters isn’t just a new Minions movie; it’s a Minions monster movie, specifically about the Minions trying to make a monster movie in 1920s Hollywood. Think Babylon, meets James Whale's Frankenstein, with Minions.

Having the nonsense-babbling creatures front and centre – while pairing them with other supernatural creatures – means that Minions & Monsters will feature an entire 15-minute section spoken only in ‘Minionese’, the quasi-language voiced by creator Pierre Coffin – who also directs here, for the first time since 2017’s Despicable Me 3. It helps that the Minions have always been indebted to early cinema. “All the Minions stuff is heavily inspired by silent-movie stars,” Coffin tells Empire. “There’s this magic element to it.”

Placing them in the early days of Hollywood – and alongside other fantastic beasts – should result in the kind of anarchy that the Minions have always embodied. “I want to hope that the reason why the Minions are successful is that in this era of highly political correctness, they’re on the edge of being insolent,” Coffin explains. In a way, the Minions unite us all. “The whole point of it is that you don’t understand them when they speak — but you understand them nonetheless,” he says. Global domination: achieved.

Read Empire’s full Pierre Coffin interview – talking the legacy of the Minions, and what’s to come in Minions & Monsters – in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day issue, on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Minions & Monsters comes to UK cinemas from July 1.

Even in space, families can be dysfunctional. So it appeared when the final act of James Gunn’s Superman gave us our first glimpse at the DCU’s Supergirl, Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock), who swaggered in with rockstar energy, collected her unruly pooch Krypto, and swiftly waved goodbye to her do-gooding cousin. Think is a Kryptonian was having a Brat summer. Now, Supergirl is front and centre in her own movie – one that looks to channel the raucous energy of its main character, who beneath all the partying is dealing with real inner turmoil.

For Alcock, it was reading the Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow comic that unlocked what DC boss Gunn wanted the Kara in his movie universe to be. “I understood at that point that James is trying to do something very different and unexpected with her,” she tells Empire. “She’s such a good contrast to Superman, because she’s a survivor of trauma in the purest sense. I was excited to play someone so beautifully flawed and resilient.” Hey, if you lost your entire planet and people, you’d probably be messed-up too.

It was this approach which opened up the film for Craig Gillespie too, who’s previously made big bold films about complicated women in I, Tonya, and Cruella. “I have a very specific tone I’m attracted to,” he explains. “I always loved the first Iron Man: flawed, complex and conflicted. They sent me the Ana Nogueira script [for Supergirl], and two scenes in, I was like, ‘I’m in.’ It was exactly what I hoped for; it’s all character. She went from an incredibly, incredibly dark scene to this irreverent character scene, all in the first 15 pages.” Get ready for a big swing in presenting a superhero, flaws and all. “[Supergirl] has got a lot of trauma, a lot of demons; she’s unapologetic,” he teases. “You get to have a character that can be punky and edgy and not take off those rough edges.” Bring on the noise.

Read Empire’s full Supergirl feature in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day issue – on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Supergirl comes to cinemas from June 25.

It had to happen eventually. And when the time came, Daredevil: Born Again made its big moment count. In the Season 2 finale, Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock made a major move – SPOILER WARNING! – and announced to the world his secret: he is Daredevil. And he did so to bring down Wilson Fisk within the boundaries of the legal system he so deeply believes in. While the move finally forced Mayor Fisk out of his NYC office, it also landed Murdock behind bars – setting the stage for even bigger things to come in Season 3.

As Cox tells Empire, it was time to take a seismic shift with the character. “My response to anything like that is, I’m all for big and bold,” he says of the Season 2 finale. From here, there’s no going back on Matt’s secret. “That’s a very difficult thing to put back in the box in our show,” he explains. “It’s been done in the comics, but the kind of show that we make has a kind of grounded element to it. It’s hopefully as much based in reality as any of the Marvel projects are, and it’s a harder thing to wind back. The powers-that-be said, ‘Yeah, we understand that.’ Fine, great.”

It remains to be seen how Matt outing his own vigilante secret will affect his journey in Season 3 and beyond, but we do know the next run of episodes will see more appearances from Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, and Mike Colter’s Luke Cage. Not that comics fans should expect characters from those shows to undo the Season 2 bombshell any time soon. “I think Purple Man’s children in effect do Daredevil a solid and wipe the memories of New York or something,” says Cox of where things evolve in the comics. “I don’t want to do that, although I’d be a huge advocate of having David Tennant on the show.” Stranger things have happened in the multiverse.

Read Empire’s full Charlie Cox interview on Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day issue, on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Daredevil: Born Again is streaming on Disney+.

Things get awkward on this week's Empire Podcast, folks. Not just because Chris Hewitt seems to be wearing a Skeletor mask for some of it, nor because he's so heat-addled that he forgets to introduce James Dyer properly. No, things get awkward because the team — Chris, James, Helen O'Hara, and Ben Travis — discuss whether it ever gets awkward for them when visiting film sets. Then, our intrepid quartet also discuss the week's movie news, including the shocking news of Paddington 4's potty-mouthed writers, and review Daniel Roher's Tuner, John Carney's Power Ballad, Kane Parsons' Backrooms, and Kristin Scott Thomas' directorial debut, My Mother's Wedding. Oh, and Chris sits down for a lovely chat with Leo Woodall, star of the excellent Tuner (spoiler for the reviews section there — it's great!), and discovers that Woodall has some hidden talents. Enjoy!

And if all of the above isn't quite enough Empire Podcast for you, then there's plenty more where that came from. You can listen to this week's episode (which, if you're counting, is #719) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Shameless Plug, which sees Chris Hewitt and our intrepid leader, Nick de Semlyen, deliver a monthly behind-the-scenes deep-dive into the making of the world's biggest movie magazine. This month, the duo become a trio as James Dyer joins Nick and Chris to discuss how our Aliens 40th Anniversary issue came to be, and just how exactly the team managed to get James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn and Jenette Goldstein to come together on Zoom in celebration of the ultimate sci-fi blockbuster sequel.

Want to make sure you never miss out on the latest movie news, reviews, and Empire exclusives again? Click here to add Empire as your go-to source on Google Feed.

Is it even considered a break-up if one party literally doesn’t remember the other’s existence? No, we’re not talking Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind – this is the fate of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and Zendaya’s MJ as we enter Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Due to the reality-altering events of previous film No Way Home, the MCU at large no longer remembers Parker, nor that he’s the civilian counterpart to New York’s friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. And that includes Peter’s best mate Ned (Jacob Batalon), and his girlfriend MJ too – who each ventured off to college while the newly-anonymous Peter committed to full-time hero-dom.

It was a bittersweet ending to the Jon Watts-directed Spider-Man trilogy, and true to the sacrificial essence of the character’s ‘great responsibility’. And now, as Brand New Day picks up, MJ has another romantic interest – played by Ahsoka’s Eman Esfandi – while Peter has to simply watch on. Even for its cast, it’s emotionally wrenching. “As someone who cares about the characters and cares about these films, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s so heartbreaking,’” Zendaya tells Empire. “You just feel so bad because you want them to be happy, and you know ultimately they would be happier together.”

While MJ doesn’t remember Peter, she does – of course – still know about Spider-Man, and it seems the pair will cross paths in the more spandex-centric side of Brand New Day. Given the nature of Doctor Strange’s magic spell, get ready for a different kind of MJ-Spidey dynamic. “It’s easy in a way, because I don’t have to play that I know this person,” explains Zendaya. “I don’t have to play all the history that they have together because seemingly, to her, they don’t.” Here’s hoping love, uh, finds a way.

Read Empire’s full Spider-Man: Brand New Day cover story – speaking to Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Kevin Feige, Destin Daniel Cretton, Amy Pascal and more – in the July 2026 issue, on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes to cinemas from July 29.

It’s in the name: the Punisher, well… punishes. Violently. As Marvel fans most recently saw in MCU Special Presentation The Punisher: One Last Kill, with Jon Bernthal taking centre stage once more as vengeful ex-marine Frank Castle – a role he originated in Netflix’s Defenders shows, and reprised in Daredevil: Born Again. Next stop for the Punisher? Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is less likely to feature the kind of bone-crunching no-holds-barred smackdowns seen in One Last Kill. Still, it sounds like director Destin Daniel Cretton – along with Bernthal and Spidey himself, Tom Holland – has found ways to bring an authentic Punisher into Peter Parker’s world, without landing Brand New Day in hot water.

As Holland tells Empire, fans will see consistency with what’s come before from the Punisher. “I know that there are concerns about taking a sort of R-rated character and putting him into one of these movies, but the way that we’ve designed the world around him feels very authentic to the Frank Castle we know,” Holland explains. If the MPAA would look less favourably on The Punisher’s actions, the same goes for Peter Parker himself. “There are fun ways to get around the fact that he swears all the time and kills people,” teases Holland.

And don’t expect Castle to go soft in the presence of Spidey, either. “Frank Castle is perfectly at peace in a world of absolute darkness,” says Bernthal. “He’s not looking for a buddy, he’s not looking for a friend, he’s not looking for a hand to pull him out of the hole that he’s in. He’s fine living in there. In fact, all he wants to do is dig deeper.” Get ready for another perfect pairing of mismatched allies in the MCU. “I think, begrudgingly, Frank would tell you, if he had to be honest, he does care about Peter,” Bernthal promises. Just, don’t get on his bad side.

Read Empire’s full Spider-Man: Brand New Day cover story – speaking to Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Kevin Feige, Destin Daniel Cretton, Amy Pascal and more – in the July 2026 issue, on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes to cinemas from July 29.

Every filmmaker worth their salt has their recurring obsessions, whether it’s the confines of privilege (Sofia Coppola), symmetry and pastels (Wes Anderson) or naked bare feet (you know who). For Irish writer-director John Carney, it is the enervating quality of music to connect and forge relationships of all stripes. From Once to Begin Again, Sing Street to Flora And Son, ex-muso Carney has plied his trade in funny, unashamedly uncynical song-centric films that wear their heart and art on their sleeve. His latest, Power Ballad, is no exception, again playing his favourite theme, this time adding some fresh new licks.

The set-up is efficiently, entertainingly sketched. Giving up his dreams of musical stardom to start a family in Ireland, American rocker Rick Power (Paul Rudd) is the frontman of wedding band The Bride And Groove (chef’s kiss), playing cover versions and occasionally harshing the buzz with his own compositions. During a reception at an Irish castle, friend of the groom and floundering former boy-band alumnus Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas) joins the band on stage and duets with Rick on a kickass version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Wish’.

Sharing an easy chemistry, Rudd and Jonas are such a delight together that there’s a dip when the demands of the story split them up.

The pair click and Danny invites Rick back to his hotel room, a makeshift studio filled with guitars, keyboards and recording equipment. In a lengthy sequence, Carney has a ball watching the music lovers vibe: if the jam session isn’t quite Paul McCartney making up ‘Get Back’ on the fly, it is a joy to watch the two men create, especially when the two riff on a Rick composition, ‘How To Write A Song (Without You)’. The two go their separate ways until Rick, six months later, is walking through a Dublin shopping centre and hears his tune, now an over-produced sad banger, seeping out of the PA system.

Sharing an easy chemistry, Rudd and Jonas are such a delight together that there’s a dip when the demands of the story split them up. Just wanting acknowledgement for his involvement, Rick becomes obsessed, alienating his bandmates, wife Rachel (Marcella Plunkett) and daughter Aja (Beth Fallon) while Danny returns to LA with 100 million views, an arena tour and a renewed sense of purpose. It’s refreshing to see the eternally youthful Rudd play crumpled middle age: smoking, swearing, seeing his lifelong dream become a nightmare. Jonas is eminently winning as a former star who, like Rick, just wants to prove his worth musically, buoyed by his agent (Carney regular Jack Reynor). To its credit, there are no villains in Power Ballad. Carney and co-writer Peter McDonald (who, in an endearing comedic turn, plays Rick’s bestie Sandy) do a smart, convincing job of blurring the lines of creative ownership. Like Carney’s other work, it’s a big-hearted film that likes its people, whatever their faults and foibles.

A former bassist with The Frames, Carney pulls off that rare trick of making ‘fictional’ pop music in his films sound not only credible but memorable. After working with Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová on Once and New Radicals’ Gregg Alexander on Begin Again, this time around Carney has collab’d with Gary Clark, lead singer of ’80s popsters — hey! — Danny Wilson (their biggest hit, ‘Mary’s Prayer’, can be heard in a pub), who contributed to Sing Street and Flora And Son. There’s less music here than usual, but the pair make ‘How To Write A Song (Without You)’ an irresistible, iPhone-torch-in-the-air anthem about the importance of a muse for a love song. That song is not only memorable but also feeds into a twist in the tale that makes you feel differently about its relationships.

It might not have the soul of Once or the exuberance of Sing Street, but Power Ballad sees Carney try something different. It is consistently funny — an extended set-piece where Rick and Sandy gate-crash Danny’s LA pad hits the mark, in broad strokes — but it’s not out-and-out comedy. Carney is exploring more here than just laughs, tapping deeper and more earnestly into middle-age despair, youthful insecurities and thwarted aspirations. It’s a new palette that makes you wonder what a Carney film might look like if the guitar stayed firmly in its case.

It’s been 10 years since Tom Holland first entered the MCU as Spider-Man, thwipping his way into Captain America: Civil War. Across a decade which brought an entire Spider-Man trilogy and several super-sized Avengers team-ups, Holland really got to know what makes his Spidey tick. And so, after taking a break from the character after the world-conquering Spider-Man: No Way Home, when the time came to return for the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Holland became instrumental in creatively contributing to the next era of Peter Parker.

Who better to help steer Spidey’s new adventures than the guy in the suit? “This is the first time in my tenure as Spider-Man that I was kind of welcomed into the writers’ room,” Holland reveals to Empire, adding that he and the producers would “meet once every two weeks to pitch ideas and discuss our ambitions and what we wanted to try and do.” He was even instrumental in kick-starting one of Brand New Day’s most significant plot points: that Parker’s powers are evolving in unusual and unexpected ways. “My pitch when I came to the table with it was called ‘Spider-Puberty’,” he says. “What happens if Peter Parker is losing control and things are changing?” That core proved instrumental in what Brand New Day became. “‘Spider-Puberty’ was my tagline pitch to the studio — which was immediately shot down,” Holland says. “But they liked the kernel of the idea and it grew into what we have in the movie now.”

Returning to the character nearly five years after we last saw him, Holland is ready to steer Spider-Man into the future – and ensure that, eventually, there’s life beyond Peter Parker too. “For whoever’s next, whether that is a Miles Morales or a Spider-Gwen or a Spider-Woman or something like that, I would love to be a part of setting up the next chapter,” he says. “Whatever that looks like, I don’t know. But if I could do what Downey did for me, then I would be so content swinging off into the sunset.” Spoken exactly like a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

Read Empire’s full Spider-Man: Brand New Day cover story – speaking to Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Kevin Feige, Destin Daniel Cretton, Amy Pascal and more – in the July 2026 issue, on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes to cinemas from July 29.

Through the years, Spider-Man fans have seen various elements of the wall-crawler make it to the big screen. First came Tobey Maguire’s boy-next-door take on Peter Parker, followed by Andrew Garfield’s cooler kick-flipping version, before the MCU introduced Tom Holland’s decisively teenaged iteration, following the character through high school. (Plus, of course, we’ve had Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse films too.) But the arrival of Spider-Man: Brand New Day will take Holland’s Parker into a new era: now a fully-fledged Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man operating in New York City, isolated from his friends – and Zendaya’s MJ – since the world no longer remembers who he is (courtesy of some Doctor Strange sorcery).

As Marvel boss Kevin Feige explains, it sets the stage for perhaps the most comics-accurate Spidey yet. “It is the first Spider-Man film that we’ve made in the MCU that is focused on the classic elements of Spider-Man,” Feige tells Empire in our world-exclusive Brand New Day issue. “He’s doing the Spidey thing of living in a rather sad, small apartment, listening to the police scanner and going out and using his great power responsibly.”

In the absence of his friends – and following the losses of Aunt May and Tony Stark – Brand New Day sees Peter burying himself in his web-slinging work, while his powers undergo strange transformations. “He is dedicating his entire existence to his job. That’s the core theme that I find incredibly relatable,” says director Destin Daniel Cretton. “I think most people at certain points in our lives have gone through loss. At least for me, and I think for many people, the result can be: ‘Screw it. I’m just going to work. I’m going to do nothing else but work.’ That’s obviously not the most healthy state.”

The hope is to get deeper under Peter Parker’s skin than ever before – – still with all the thrills fans expect from a big summer Spidey blockbuster. “[Brand New Day] is a more internal movie,” producer Amy Pascal teases, “and the bigness of it is emotional, not worlds exploding.” Get ready for Spider-Man’s all-new evolution.

Read Empire’s full Spider-Man: Brand New Day cover story – speaking to Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Kevin Feige, Destin Daniel Cretton, Amy Pascal and more – in the July 2026 issue, on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes to cinemas from July 29.

The last time we saw Spider-Man in the MCU, the entire universe shifted. 2021’s world-conquering No Way Home not only broke down the walls of the Spider-Verse, but ended with a seismic shift in Peter Parker’s existence: by which we mean, the entire world forgot about it, courtesy of some Doctor Strange magic. So, the return of the wall-crawling hero marks the start of a new era, kick-starting a new phase of Spidey’s lifecycle as a fully-functioning Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man, living anonymously in New York City – with some surprising evolutions on the way. Get ready for the dawn of a Brand New Day.

This month’s issue of Empire takes a world-exclusive deep dive into Spider-Man: Brand New Day, getting the first word from the web-slinger himself – Tom Holland – and co-stars Zendaya and Jon Bernthal, as well as Marvel boss Kevin Feige, producer Amy Pascal, and incoming director Destin Daniel Cretton. Inside, we explore how Brand New Day finally brings vintage-comics Spider-Man to the screen, dig into the emotional stakes as Peter’s closest allies no longer remember him, discover how the Punisher meshes with New York’s friendliest superhero, and unpack the mysteries of the film’s spider-mutation story. And it’s packed with never-before-seen images, offering your best look yet at Spidey’s action-packed comeback.

This month’s newsstand cover sees Spider-Man – and nefarious ninjas The Hand – soaring through the New York skyline.

And the subscriber cover sees Spidey drawing The Hand into his web, illustrated exclusively for Empire by Edgar Ascensão.

And that’s not all! This month’s issue also meets the man behind the Minions, as Minions & Monsters prepares to unleash mayhem; goes on set of Supergirl to get the inside scoop on DC Studios’ second major movie; revisits the legacy of Jackass with cinema’s premier pranksters; ventures to The Lonely Island for a 10-year look-back at Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping; and goes to the beach with members of Monty Python. It’s not to be missed.

Thwip over to your local newsstands to pick up the Spider-Man: Brand New Day issue of Empire, on sale from Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes to cinemas from July 29.

To me, my X-Men... '97 Season 2 trailer! When last we saw our beloved mutants in X-Men '97's breathless Season 1 finale, things weren't looking so great for our heroes. Scattered across time, Magneto, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, and Xavier wound up in Ancient Egypt circa 3000BC, landing directly in the path of a young En Sabah Nur — aka 'the first mutant' Apocalypse. Meanwhile Jean Grey and Cyclops were flung 2000 years into the future, reunited with their son Nathan in a literal post-Apocalypse world. And as the first trailer for X-Men' 97 Season 2 shows us, we're picking right back where we left off with our mutie crew — check it out below;

Hoo boy — if X-Men '97 Season 1 proved Marvel knows exactly how to handle its mutants, then it looks like Season 2 is doubling down and then some. Rogue mourning Gambit... Apocalypse pledging to strike the X-Men at their most vulnerable ("The 1990s!" obviously)... Morph going full Deadpool... Polaris! Sheesh, we need a Time Machine — or just a replay button, really — to process all the cool mutant shenanigans teased here. Handily, amid our delirium we did find Marvel's official Season 2 synopsis as our superheroes — and villains — prepare for a battle across the ages. It reads: "X-Men '97 Season 2 continues with the heroic mutant team of X-Men, divided and thrown across different eras in time as they struggle to navigate their return home. Meanwhile, back in the 1990s, suspicious foes and new strains of mutant intolerance are on the rise in the wake of the X-Men’s absence."

Among the voice cast for X-Men '97's nine-episode Season 2, you'll be relieved to hear, are Ross Marquand as Professor X, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Lenore Zann as Rogue, and George Buza as Beast. We'll see whether they — and the rest of our heroes — make it back to the 90s in one piece when X-Men '97 Season 2 drops on Disney+ on 1 July. Now can we get a “Bwa-na-na-na naaaa na-na”? Thank you!

Good news for Tolkien-heads: more Rings Of Power are being forged. Prime Video’s Lord Of The Rings series has been a significant undertaking for the streamer in recent years, exploring the Second Age of Middle-earth during Sauron’s initial rise. And ahead of Season 3 arriving later in 2026, it seems things are going swimmingly in the Rings Of Power camp, with Season 4 already in development.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, plans are a-hairy-foot for Season 4 of The Rings Of Power, and it’s expected to start rolling cameras in early 2027. While the season has not officially been greenlit, wheels are in motion to begin pre-production before the end of this year. From the beginning, showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay were vocal about having a five-season plan for the show, while Prime Video has previously touted positive streaming numbers for the series.

Stay tuned for the official greenlight on Season 4 – and we’ll see in Season 3 where all the assembled Elves, Orcs, Harfoots and more end up; the new episodes are set to shift the timeline forward by several years. Season 3 starts streaming on Prime Video from 11 November.

Hot on the heels of Mark Fischbach’s Iron Lung and Curry Barker’s Obsession, Kane Parsons’ Backrooms is another horror movie by a fledgling feature director whose shorts have built up a huge subscription base on YouTube. But this surreal offering is quite unlike any horror movie you’ve seen. If references must be offered as fingerholds to cling to, it’s something like The Blair Witch Project spliced with Cube blended with Synecdoche, New York, mostly shot in liminal spaces lit in queasy mono-yellow.

Confused? You will be. Unless, of course, you’re familiar with Parsons’ web series that grew out of a 4chan creepypasta image of a large, oddly shaped room. From the thrumming disquietude of that image, Parsons built 20-plus instalments revolving around fictional research facility Async as it attempts to document a dimension outside of reality. Now, in the movie, Async scientists led by Mark Duplass haunt the periphery, but the main focus is civilian Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who inexplicably passes through a wall in the basement of his drab furniture store, into the Backrooms. Shocked, scared, intrigued, he sets about exploring its strangely angled, segmented spaces connected by tapering passageways, jutting staircases and small, Alice-In-Wonderland-type doorways. What he discovers is a seemingly endless maze that makes the Overlook Hotel look like a roadside motel. (Twice Parsons directly nods to The Shining, which shares Backrooms’ corridors-as-neural-pathways metaphor.)

Backrooms is one of the most out there art-horror features since Eraserhead.

Occasionally the rooms possess items, like dirty laundry or a Christmas tree or furniture melted into the floor; always there is the insistent buzz of fluorescent lights and the drone of an ambient score that might be whale music in Satan’s spa. “None of it makes any sense,” he tells therapist Mary (Norwegian arthouse queen Renate Reinsve), whose own traumatic childhood lends her a mysterious link to this otherworld. Many viewers will likely nod in sympathy. But for all those who will doubtless be relieved that a nightmarish final scene and then a coda offer hints of explanation, others will wish that Parsons kept us entirely in the dark (or should that be in the scuzzy yellow?).

Switching between the rigorous lensing of an objective camera and lurching, found-footage-style perspectives, Backrooms is one of the most out there, surreal, art-horror features since David Lynch’s Eraserhead. The web series might boast 200 million views since debuting in 2022, but this movie is most certainly not for everyone. It favours opacity, half-glimpsed creatures and a steady sense of unease over crowd-pleasing jumps, and is sure to spark endless debate and interpretations among those who aren’t bored silly by it.

Leo Woodall’s charm has already got him through a trip on the Italian coast (The White Lotus), Netflix’s most devastating modern romance (One Day), and even a run-in with Bridget Jones, but with Tuner, he’s finally handed a true star vehicle, proving well and truly ready to take the wheel. In Daniel Roher’s romance-cum-thriller-cum-drama, Woodall plays Niki, a piano tuner with a rare hearing condition who, after being hit with mounting medical bills, decides to put his extraordinary ears to some less-than-legal use. And while the film borrows familiar notes from The Thomas Crown Affair and Baby Driver, it’s the committed character work and lead performance that ensure a mostly clean getaway.

With its breezy banter between Woodall and Dustin Hoffman’s mentor figure Harry, alongside Roher’s jazzy, quick-cut editing style, Tuner quickly becomes a very easy film to like. It’s equally easy to get wrapped up in Niki’s everyman world, too. There’s a quiet confidence to Woodall here, completely assured in what he does for work, yet refreshingly unassured in how he handles people, with the actor note-perfect at jumping between the two.

Not since Whiplash has a film made audiences so aware of every note, key or click.

The world Niki inhabits only becomes more engaging once he crosses paths with pianist Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), in what is, crucially, a genuinely convincing budding romance. Where other films would reduce this to a secondary plot point, Tuner gives it real importance. Woodall and Liu dance through Roher’s dialogue with ease; romantic, yes, but also allowing time for two people who experience the world through sound to slowly use words to show us who they really are, a pairing of two actors who have long hovered around leading roles and have finally been given the space to properly shine.

Tuner’s next star is its sound design. Not since Whiplash has a film made audiences so aware of every note, key or click. Whether it’s a piano performance or Niki hearing each increasingly deafening turn of a safe dial, Roher makes sound feel tactile and always dialled up. The film plays many scenes from Niki’s point of view, with every raised voice or pin-drop pulling us deeper into his world. It not only creates some genuinely nerve-crunching tension, but makes us feel Niki’s disorientation and sensitivity in a way that brings us even closer to him.

If there’s a flaw in this grand heist, it’s that Tuner can’t quite get away with all the genres it’s trying to pull off. Its crime antics are never as convincing as the drama and romance the film invests so heavily in, and as those increasingly far-fetched hijinks take centre stage in the third act, the film does lose some of its cool. Still, when the loot on display has this much character and charm, it’s hard to be dissatisfied. It may not be 18-carat gold, but Tuner is still a damn good watch.

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2

The wait for a cinematic successor to Daniel Craig’s James Bond has been long, but the gap between 007 games has been even longer. After a 14 year hiatus, Hitman developers IO Interactive have accepted the mission, bringing the famed Secret Service agent back to gaming with an original story that’s entirely divorced from its movie counterparts. At its best, it makes for a thrilling action-espionage tale, though some refinements in certain areas would not go amiss.

It helps that IOI has chosen to focus on Bond’s origins, a hitherto unexplored period in his onscreen life that covers his recruitment into MI6, his training, and his first globetrotting mission across approximately 14 hours. Once the latter truly kicks off, the escalating narrative is at once Bondian and slightly convoluted, with too much talk of quantum computers and AI that threatens to encroach on the fun. And while the true villains don’t leave much of an impression, the level design is almost always strong, while the transitions between stealth and climbing segments, all-guns-blazing battles, and cinematic cutscenes are seamless. Hitman meets Uncharted may sound reductive, but it’s also accurate (and complimentary).

Gameplay leads into thrilling cutscenes that wouldn’t feel out of place on a big screen.

When it does come time to take enemies down, there are multiple ways to get creative and achieve objectives, whether you opt for stealth and guile or gunplay and gadgetry. The forward momentum the game actively encourages is when things really click into place, with the gunplay feeling especially slick and impactful. The melee combat is less smooth; while the use of environments to aid you mid-beatdown is wonderfully satisfying and makes fights feel more dynamic, the counter system – especially with large groups of enemies – is at times sluggish and clunky. The gameplay often leads into some thrilling cutscenes that wouldn’t feel out of place on a big screen, and there are a handful of moments that make you feel like Bond too, from a cool and chaotic plane sequence to a mission that has you driving a bin lorry through Kensington.

Patrick Gibson’s Bond performance is giving more Eggsy from the Kingsman franchise than the experienced and hardened agent we all love and recognise at this stage. That makes sense for a raw, pre-00 Bond, and there are still enough building blocks in place – his charm, instincts, and rule-breaking tendencies remain intact – that it’s believable both character and actor will grow into the role. It’s a good thing, too; First Light is being billed as the first chapter in an ongoing James Bond game universe, and it has more than enough going for it for us to want to see – and play – what happens next.

We were all thinking it: Paddington – and Paddington 2, and Paddington In Peru – were all pleasant watches, but they could have done with more swearing. Maybe Paddington could have told Mr. Gruber, “Fuckity-bye” as he left the antique shop; or Mrs Brown could have called the kindly bear an “omnishambles” after he wrecked their Windsor Gardens house for the umpteenth time. Well, good news: Paddington 4 officially has a writing duo, and none other than Armando Iannucci – of The Thick Of It, and Veep, and The Death Of Stalin pedigree – is one half of it, the other being his regular collaborator Simon Blackwell.

The news was confirmed by Variety, who also reports that Paddington In Peru director Dougal Wilson is in talks to return behind the camera for a fourth outing of British bear shenanigans. While Iannucci and Blackwell are known for penning some of the most foul-mouthed creations in comedy history, their appointment continues the Paddington tradition of drawing from British comic greats, following in the footsteps of Paul King and Simon Farnaby (who directed and wrote on the first two films).

Quite what the fourth film will entail remains to be seen – it was announced earlier this year at CinemaCon, but details are currently scarce. Perhaps it’ll involve a farewell to Brown children Jonathan and Judy, with actors Samuel Joslin and Madeleine Harris now in the mid-20s; or maybe it’ll be another globetrotting adventure after Peru took Paddington back to his homeland. Either way, expect Peter Capaldi's Mr. Curry to have some particularly brutal lines this time. Here’s hoping Iannucci and Blackwell can cook up something great, like a delicious batch of marmalade.

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC

If you've played a Forza Horizon entry in the last decade, you've already put the pedal to the metal in some of the coolest cars while zooming around the world's most picturesque locales. But developer Playground Games has somehow outdone themselves with Forza Horizon 6, a superb sequel that not only further refines and polishes the series' genre-defining formula, but crams even more enhancements and content beneath its hood.

As expected, this latest entry retains the franchise's rewarding behind-the-wheel gameplay, nailing the sweet spot between accessible arcade-style racing and deeper, simulation-like mechanics. Of course, a massive selection of optional assists and customisation options also allow players of all stripes to lean further in either direction, tailoring the experience to their skill level and preferred playstyle.

Expansive, diverse, dense, and incredibly detailed, the game's richly realized Japan setting is as fun to experience as a camera-toting tourist as it is for a speed limit-obliterating adrenaline junkie.

But whether you buckle-up as a returning racer or you're revving your engine for the first time, you can expect to tear up the blacktop around the series' biggest, most beautiful open-world yet.

Expansive, diverse, dense, and incredibly detailed, the game's richly realized Japan setting is as fun to experience as a camera-toting tourist as it is for a speed limit-obliterating adrenaline junkie. And that's before you account for the immersion-ratcheting variety fuelled by changing seasons, weather patterns, and a day/night cycle that seems to frame every location — from Tokyo's neon-soaked streets to the postcard-perfect Japanese Alps — in the absolute best light.

Whether you want to casually take in the sights — or take tight turns at insane speeds while white-knuckling the wheel — there's never any shortage of things to do in Horizon 6. If it's competition you crave, there are countless courses, contests, events, and challenges, all tied to the campaign's Horizon Festival, allowing you to rise through ranks, collect hundreds of cars, and even chase a towering mech through Tokyo.

Equally layered and deep are the game's "Discover Japan" activities, which are less about crossing the finish line first, and more about exploring and appreciating the vast island nation's landmarks, culture, and personality. That's not to say this side of the game isn't packed with its own unique thrills and skill-testing tasks. While this more exploratory side of the experience will have you completing fun food-delivery challenges, it also hosts Touge Battles: incredibly intense one-on-one races on some of the map's most perilous mountain roads.

Tying everything together is Forza Horizon 6's pair of rewarding progression systems. Whatever you choose to do among the game's hundreds of activities, it all continually fuels your progress, either within the competitive Festival or the Discover Japan activities. This results in a constant drip of rewards, unlocks, and upgrades — from the 550-plus cars and customisation options to garages, houses, and even estates where you can build your own tracks - that significantly elevate the progression path beyond just simple character growth.

Forza Horizon 6 is the best entry in an already stellar series, retaining — but refining and polishing — what's worked in previous instalments, while also significantly building on the franchise's rock-solid foundation with a ton of fresh inclusions. A must-play for racing game fans, as well as complete newcomers seeking an accessible entry point into the genre, Playground Games' latest lap is a rubber-burning blast.

All hail the Alien Queen! For the legendary Sigourney Weaver, star of some of the finest sci-fi films of all time, is our esteemed guest on this week's episode of the Empire Podcast, as she tells Chris Hewitt all about starring in her first Star War, The Mandalorian And Grogu. [44:47 — 58:17 approx] Then, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to discuss their predictions for the biggest movies of the year; cast their eye over the week's movie news, including a shocking development in the hunt for the new James Bond and a welcome update on Netflix's Cliff Booth movie release plans; and review The Mandalorian And Grogu, Jack Ryan: Ghost War, Finding Emily, Tom & Jerry: Forbidden Compass, and Passenger. Oh, and the team eat some burgers, but thankfully they don't bang on about it. Enjoy.

And if all of the above isn't quite enough Empire Podcast for you, then there's plenty more where that came from. You can listen to this week's episode (which, if you're counting, is #718) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Shameless Plug, which sees Chris Hewitt and our intrepid leader, Nick de Semlyen, deliver a monthly behind-the-scenes deep-dive into the making of the world's biggest movie magazine. This month, the duo become a trio as James Dyer joins Nick and Chris to discuss how our Aliens 40th Anniversary issue came to be, and just how exactly the team managed to get James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn and Jenette Goldstein to come together on Zoom in celebration of the ultimate sci-fi blockbuster sequel.

Want to make sure you never miss out on the latest movie news, reviews, and Empire exclusives again? Click here to add Empire as your go-to source on Google Feed.

The Boys is dead, long live The Boys — or, at least, the Vought Cinematic Universe. (Hey, it's what Clara would've wanted!) Yes, less than a week since the finale of Eric Kripke's r-rated superhero series landed on Prime Video, Amazon have gone full Vought and released the first trailer for Vought Rising, the streamer's upcoming post-WWII set prequel series. For those craving more of Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy and some impeccably presented Golden Age clobber, check out the new trailer below;

Tantalisingly described by showrunner Paul Grellong and The Boys creator and executive producer Kripke at SDCC 2024 as "a twisted murder mystery about the origins of Vought in the 1950s, the early exploits of Soldier Boy, and the diabolical maneuvers of a Supe known to fans as Stormfront (Aya Cash)," we've long since known — and hoped — Vought Rising would have something truly diabolical in store for fans. And this first trailer — which offers glimpses of a more idealistic Soldier Boy, his fascist former lover Clara Vought/Stormfront, Elizabeth Posey's Forces' sweetheart styled Private Angel, Mason Dye's fighter pilot inspired Bombsight, and Will Hochman's naval hero Torpedo — doesn't disappoint. Anachronistic needle drops, blood spatter, torture, satirical swipes, and our old friend Compound V are all present and correct as the trailer teases a thorough examination of Vought's grim origins and how the Soldier Boy we meet in The Boys came to be.

Also set to star KiKi Layne, Jorden Myrie, Nicolo Pasetti, Ricky Staffieri, and Brian J. Smith, Vought Rising has plenty of intrigue surrounding it — not least in terms of how it may illuminate information that comes to light in The Boys' final season surrounding the nature of Soldier Boy and Stormfront's relationship. We can look forward to going back to where supes began when Vought Rising hits Prime Video in 2027, by which point we may have finally processed the events of that final episode.

What with EO, Cow, and Kedi, cinema seems more interested in the inner lives of animals than ever before. György Pálfi’s nail-biting drama Hen is the latest in this creaturely canon, offering a bird’s-eye-view of human affairs. With the help of their plucky protagonist, the Hungarian filmmaker and co-writer Zsófia Ruttkay take a cold, hard and sometimes darkly comic look at casual human cruelty.

The film’s opening sequence makes this starkly clear from the outset. A visceral close-up of a chicken mid-laying cuts to mechanised conveyor belts ferrying eggs (and, soon enough, fuzzy yellow chicks) through their various life stages — contrasting the vitality of these living beings with the bleak, metal-clad emotionlessness of mass-scale farming. The prodigious fowl of Pálfi’s title is one of many birds destined to be discarded.

The result is an understated, remarkably moving portrayal of the hen’s emotional existence.

But a second shot at life arrives when a farmer fortuitously leaves a window in his vehicle open, and the heroic hen bolts for freedom. In a series of what can only be described as action sequences, the hen wends its way through protests, markets and shops, and navigates a close call with a fox, gradually getting its bearings in this unfamiliar, manmade world. Pálfi’s drama relies heavily on the star power of its animal protagonist — played by eight talented real-life chickens — and cinematographer Giorgos Karvelas’ roving camera honing in on minute details in the hen’s behaviour and the outer environment. The result is an understated, remarkably moving portrayal of the hen’s emotional existence.

This endearing birdie often eclipses the humans of the tale, though. The wayward hen winds up being taken in by the gentle-natured proprietor of a seafood taverna (Yannis Kokiasmenos); in turn oppressed by his mobster son-in-law (Argyris Pandazaras). Their portion of the story is significantly leaner, meaning the connection the film tries to make between human and animal suffering doesn’t feel robust. Yet this hardboiled parable is fascinating — and, with help from Szőke Szabolcs’ droll score, funny — at every turn, and is sure to make you think twice next time you’re in the egg aisle of the supermarket.

“Why don’t we just wait here for a little while… see what happens?” It was with this eerily ambiguous line, delivered coldly by Kurt Russell’s R.J. MacReady, that John Carpenter’s The Thing ended, in iconic fashion. Fans of the film have waited a good long while since 1982 for its reevaluation. Upon release, the film was a critical and commercial failure; now, 44 years on, it is widely and correctly lauded as a masterpiece — an achievement emphatically confirmed with The Thing Expanded, a vast celebratory ‘making of’ documentary.

This comes from writer-director Ian Nathan, who has crafted it in the same mould as his previous documentary, Aliens Expanded. (Full disclosure: Ian Nathan is a former editor of and writer for Empire magazine. This had no bearing on the writing of this review.) Like that previous film, this is stuffed to the gills with detail, overflowing with several new talking-heads interviews, and as such arrives with a runtime that far outlasts that of the film it is discussing. Where The Thing was a thrifty 109 minutes, The Thing Expanded — as the name suggests — runs to a buttock-threatening 312 minutes, or just over five hours.

This is something clearly aiming to be the definitive text on the film, and it’s hard to see what ground it couldn’t have covered.

For some viewers, that might mean it’s better treated as a miniseries than a movie, something to be digested — like the alien chest of Norris-Thing, devouring a pair of arms — in bitesize segments. But for fans of Carpenter’s sci-fi, it is worth the patience. This is something clearly aiming to be the definitive text on the film, and it’s hard to see what ground it couldn’t have covered.

The interviewees are the stars here. Nathan assembles practically everyone involved in the film still alive and willing for on-camera chats. John Carpenter, Kurt Russell and the surviving cast, most notably, make significant contributions; Carpenter — these days having a reputation for being more reclusive and irascible — is found in a happy, amiable mood, clearly proud as punch to still be talking about a film that critics mauled at the time. (Pleasingly, his interview is conducted with him sitting next to a scale model of Mrs Pickman from In The Mouth Of Madness.)

Key crew-members appear, too, including cinematographer Dean Cundey, editor Todd C. Ramsay, and producers Stuart Cohen and Larry Franco (who doubled as the Norwegian firing shots at the dog in the opening scene), and there’s below-the-line talent too, including make-up artist Margaret Beserra and Erik Jensen, the line producer on the special make-up effects unit. That’s not even mentioning the legion of famous faces waxing lyrical about the film, from Frank Darabont and Guillermo del Toro (in conversation with each other, for some reason) to Stephen Colbert (who declares it his favourite film), Eli Roth and Matthijs van Heijningen Jr, director of the much-maligned 2011 prequel. Along with writers, journalists, authors, an astrobiologist and even a winter manager at the South Pole (who shows the film to new arrivals every first goddamned week of winter) added to the mix, it amounts to nearly 30 contributors on screen.

So, few stones go unturned. While some stories might be familiar to die-hard MacReady-mad fans, there’s a ton of fascinating details uncovered. Nathan’s approach is chronological, but allows for plenty of diversions, with clips from important influences and reference points, from the claustrophobia of 12 Angry Men to the important sci-fi groundwork laid by Dark Star and Alien.

Tantalisingly, we hear of some of the tensions that existed on the largely male set. David Clennon, who played Palmer, offers this gem: “Peter Maloney was the right guy to play Bennings, I think.” Before adding: “And that’s not necessarily a compliment.” (Russell, diplomatically, calls him “sweet”.) The stifling masculinity of the shoot seemed to have got to them all. “It’s grim on an all-male set, let me tell you,” notes Carpenter.

Yet this is not an all-male documentary, with great insights from superfans like critic Anne Billson and filmmaker Issa Lopez, who point out that the only female voice in The Thing, the chess computer that MacReady tinkers with in an early scene, was voiced by Carpenter’s wife at the time, and posit the theory that the Thing itself is female — a writhing, twisting symbol of male fear and paranoia.

All that gorgeously practical writhing and twisting is given a full tribute, too — though Rob Bottin, the special make-up effects designer and “smartest man on the film” according to producer Stuart Cohen, is sadly not interviewed, having retired from the industry. His presence looms large, though: rather than share space on a Mount Rushmore of make-up artists, he “would have his own mountain”, says Darabont. We do get a good idea of just how ingenious his work was — among the most mind-blowing nuggets of trivia, we learn that 62 puppeteers operated the climactic Blair-Thing, and that the team regularly went to a local rendering plant to collect dogs and cats that had been euthanised or found roadkill, which would subsequently be taken to a taxidermist for use in the film.

There are tons of eye-popping details like this, more than even the most die-hard Thing fan would have previously encountered. The Thing Expanded’s enormous length might put off those who aren’t entirely die-hard, to be fair — but it is worth the time, even for casual fans. Like the great DVD extras of yore — the Lord Of The Rings Special Editions and their ilk — this is really a masterclass in filmmaking and film appreciation, an earnest and nerdy celebration of great art. “People write to me all the time, they know every frame of the film,” says Thomas G. Waites, who plays Windows. After watching The Thing Expanded, you’ll feel like you know practically every frame, too.

Streaming on: Prime Video
Episodes viewed: 8 of 8

In his New York office, private investigator Ben Reilly — wholly inhabited by Nicolas Cage — receives a client who believes his wife is cheating on him. The supposed cuckold is in the advanced stages of middle-age, and a stout fellow at that. Not a looker. So much so that when he hands Reilly a photo of his very beautiful, much younger partner, the droll gumshoe double-takes. “You a rich man?” inquires Reilly, indelicately trying to make sense of it. Later, having learnt more about the woman in question, Reilly comments to his secretary, “The only thing I can say with any certainty is that she isn’t married to that syphilitic walrus.”

Spider-Noir contains multitudes. Set in 1933, it is film noir with a keen wit and a sharp bite, its lead character (played, we must again stress, by Nicolas Cage) a variation on Spider-Man — except Reilly is more Humphrey Bogart than Peter Parker, lobbing out sardonic put-downs instead of friendly-neighbourhood wisecracks. It is an absurdly brilliant, brilliantly absurd concoction, on paper a ridiculous idea but in execution, genius. It is uncompromisingly hard-boiled, rattling along with rat-a-tat-tat dialogue, wall-to-wall with private dicks, shady dames and super-villains. And if you’re a fan of Nicolas Cage losing his shit, oh boy.

This isn’t the Spider-Man Noir from the comics, or the one from the animated Spider-Verse films, which Cage voiced; it takes its cue from all that, but then runs — and runs, and runs — with it. Here, he is The Spider, possessed of all the arachnid advantages we’ve come to expect, but when we find him in 1933, he’s hung up his woolly mask, scarred by his failure to save the life of his girlfriend five years earlier. Instead, he’s thrown himself into his PI work, although that soon involves run-ins with a motley crew of super-powered undesirables, all borrowed from the comics, and all here connected to the non-powered but very powerful mobster running New York’s underbelly: the snarling, cigar-chomping Silvermane (a particularly Irish Brendan Gleeson, providing genuine menace). Some ugly, brutal gangster violence goes down with this guy. It ain’t for kids.

It just gets better and better, with a finale that delivers on every level.

The show really is none more noir, shot in the most gorgeous black-and-white, although it was simultaneously filmed in colour for philistines who might want that option. In monochrome, this New York is as romantic as it is dangerous. Blinding-white sheets of rain blast onto the streets. Sunlight smashes through Art Deco windows. Frames are painted by cigarette smoke. There is high-contrast lighting and rich shadow-play, accenting the themes: just as duality is a mainstay in noir, so it is here. Ben Reilly/The Spider provides that in (Sam) spades, and this show never met a mirror it didn’t like.

What makes it truly noir, though, is the sad heart pumping through it. Reilly is classically nihilistic. Still, his abandonment of costumed heroism doesn’t last too long, and let’s just say that from the start, it’s hard to deny the simple thrill of seeing Nicolas Cage web-sling his way around a skyscraper. The actor is having the time of his life here, munching on the scenery like he hasn’t eaten in weeks: he resists delivering conservative line-readings at the best of times, and this show lets him run amok. One morning, when Reilly is still drunk, and hungover, he says, “I need scrambled eggs, sausages… and… a biscuit,” like he’s simultaneously caressing and mocking the English language. A sequence in which he is finding his way with his powers again, contorting his limbs, clicking his bones, is maximum kabuki. Elsewhere, Cage’s facial expression, as Reilly stumbles while trying to improv some Latin, is a facial expression quite possibly never seen before.

It’s a miracle that all of this works so well together. And it is full of surprises: one later episode, outstandingly titled ‘Nightmare On A Gurney’, serves up hallucinatory, Buñuelian stuff, going psychologically and biologically deeper than any other Spider-Man outing has. It just gets better and better, with a rug-pulling season finale that delivers on every level, with Nicolas Cage in the middle of it all, fulfilling a lifelong dream he possibly didn’t know he had, with every pore of his body, every restless, fizzy atom of his being.

Van life, as it’s known, is a subject that’s ripe for a horror movie. Alone on the highway, far away from normality, its practitioners are free to go where they like, yet always trapped in the samemetal box. So it proves for our newly engaged heroes, Maddie (Lou Llobell) and Tyler (Jacob Scipio). “If we can survive six weeks on the road, we can survive anything,” says Tyler. Here’s hoping.

Sparely scripted by T.W. Burgess and Zachary Donohue (The Den), and stylishly directed by Norwegian André Øvredal (The Last Voyage Of The Demeter), Passenger takes a spooky concept, then puts the pedal to the metal so there’s no time to question it.

A fantastic opening sequence — all blaring horns, red warning lights and expertly timed jump-scares — introduces half-glimpsed antagonist the Passenger (Joseph Lopez), a creepy old man who’s given to popping up unannounced in the back of vehicles. Imagine It Follows retooled for Jeremy Clarkson and you get the idea.

Delivers some skin-prickling set-pieces.

Things step up a gear when the Passenger begins stalking Maddie and Tyler. Alone in an empty car park, she finds herself menaced by an ominous figure, unexplained footsteps and all manner of automotive trickery, the camera twirling tense pirouettes around her to create a sense of all-pervasive dread.

“The road can be a scary place,” warns grizzled van-lifer Diana (Melissa Leo), who might have stepped straight out of Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland. She’s not wrong. While the film is many milessouth of subtle, and any attempt at characterisation is jettisoned early on, Øvredal directs the hell out of it, skirting the idea’s potential silliness to deliver some skin-prickling set-pieces.

If things run out of steam a little during the climax — after all, most supernatural phenomena are best left under-explained — it doesn’t ruin what went before. In a strong year for original horror, Passenger is a trip to remember.

Over the last two decades, Jason Clarke has quietly staked his claim as one of Australia's greatest acting exports. From Lawless and Zero Dark Thirty to Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and Mudbound, and from First Man to Oppenheimer to A House Of Dynamite, the man virtually never misses (shh, Terminator Genisys never happened!) And now, per Deadline's reporting, it looks like Clarke may be reuniting with the director of one of his formative films, Public Enemies. Yes, Clarke is currently circling a role in Michael Mann's hotly anticipated crime sequel Heat 2.

While no cast deals have been locked in yet for Michael Mann's follow-up to his 1995 crime epic, Deadline has multiple sources corroborating the potential Clarke casting coup. And, what's more, those self-same sources continue to indicate that Leonardo DiCaprio and another Public Enemies star, Christian Bale, remain in the conversation to play pivotal roles in the film.

For those unfamiliar with Heat 2, Mann's Meg Gardiner co-authored 2022 novel (which takes place both before and after the events of the first film), it's very much a book of two halves. One half is dedicated to charting the younger years of rookie cop Vincent Hanna and up-and-coming crook Neil McCauley and his gang in the 1980s, while the other follows Hanna's pursuit of an on-the-run Chris Shiherlis in the present as past actions intersect with present consequences. The sequel book does also introduce an all-new antagonist, the outright evil and downright psychopathic home invader, murderer, and rapist Otis Wardell. Who Clarke — perhaps most well known for portraying villains — would prospectively play in the movie remains unknown.

With production due to get underway on Heat 2 this year, we fully expect some concrete casting confirmations to start pouring through on Mann's cat-and-mouse sequel as cameras get closer to rolling. Even going on little more than a book and some whispers of names looking to get involved in the action, we're starting to feel the heat around the corner once again...

You are a visitor to the Empire website. You are here for some exciting movie news. You must find a buzzy announcement regarding two in-demand filmmakers and a globally beloved book series they are set to adapt. If you decide to go with this article's gimmick, read on. If you think it's already run its course, read on anyway because it's actually pretty cool news. Yes, as you may have figured out, Deadline is reporting that Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett — aka Ready Or Not and Abigail directorial duo Radio Silence — are tackling a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' adaptation at 20th Century Studios.

Created by Edward Packard back in 1979 and comprising, in its original run, 184 books in which readers could become hyperspace travellers, Cold War spies, ghost hunters, and even monsters, the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' series is, by nature, a source of infinite storytelling possibilities. As such, we have no plot information on Gillet and Bettinelli-Olpin's movie, and couldn't even hazard a guess as to what they might have in store. What we do know however is that the duo will be working from a script penned by Andor and The Disaster Artist scribe Mike Bissell, and that we'll likely have a little bit of a wait on our hands before this one reaches our screens: Radio Silence are currently hard at work preparing to bring back The Mummy (no, not the Lee Cronin one, or the Tom Cruise one — the proper one!)

Given the cultural influence of 'Choose Your Own Adventure' on everything from video games like Life Is Strange, The Walking Dead, and Detroit: Become Human to Netflix's Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, The Daniels' Possibilia, and much more besides, the prospect of Radio Silence heading back to the source and doing their thing is very exciting. If you agree, proceed to get hyped. If you disagree, leave this page forever — we thank you for your click. The End.

If you’ve seen Obsession, chances are you’re… well, obsessed. Curry Barker’s studio debut is a top-notch horror that proves a major new talent has arrived – no wonder he’s been handed the keys to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre by A24 (plus he’s already shot upcoming feature Anything But Ghosts for Blumhouse, due in 2027). As you’ve likely heard, Barker rose up via a YouTube channel – named ‘that’s a bad idea’ – alongside collaborator Cooper Tomlinson. The good news is, that means he has plenty of pre-Obsession films which are freely available for you to watch online.

From an all-out feature to ultra-creepy shorts, it’s worth burrowing down the digital Curry Barker rabbit-hole – especially if Obsession got your blood pumping – and seeing the formative works that turned him into one of the most exciting new filmmaking talents around. Here are five other Curry Barker films you can watch right now, for free.

Milk & Serial (2024)

It’s on the short side for a full-on feature (roughly 60 minutes), but if you’re looking for a second helping of Curry, then make Milk & Serial your first port of call. Made for just $800, this smart, twisty found-footage horror takes the ‘YouTube prank video’ format and warps it to sinister ends. (Frankly, all YouTube pranks are sinister.) Curry stars alongside Tomlinson, playing ‘Milk’ and ‘Seven’, respectively – two roommates who host a prank channel together. The film slyly blurs the boundaries of what is and isn’t a practical joke as the duo attempt to out-do each other, with seriously dark ends. Of all his early work, Milk & Serial is the project that most shows what Curry would be capable of with a feature film.

The Chair (2023)

This short – which runs at about 25 minutes – is more akin to Obsession, since it depicts a relationship torn asunder by supernatural meddling. And it’s also a ‘cursed object’ film, in which Reese (Anthony Pavone) brings home an old wooden chair he finds in the street, much to his girlfriend Julie’s (Haley Schwartz) disdain. Her creep-factor with the freaky furniture might be justified though: Reese suddenly finds that a week of his life has disappeared from his memory, and his nightmare has only just begun. It’s creepy stuff, packing a lot into a brief runtime – while Julie switching between sweet and sinister has shades of Obsession’s Nikki.

Warnings (2023)

This atmospheric 20-minute chiller has a great hook: Sean (played by Barker) finds an ominous Sharpie-written note – ‘I’M BEGGING YOU TO STOP’ – on his car on Halloween, and soon finds his grip on reality unravelling as he finds other notes appearing elsewhere too. There are some particularly eerie dream sequences in Warnings, and it boasts the spookiest on-screen walk since Reese Shearsmith emerged from that tent in A Field In England.

Enigma (2023)

Here’s something much sweeter, albeit with an apocalyptic bent – billed as a psychological thriller, Enigma is more of a bittersweet melancholic character drama, as Adam (Tomlinson, who penned this one too) stews away in his apartment while the days tick down to the end of the world. Despondent and unsure how to spend his final days – ordering Papa Johns and eating buckets of Ben & Jerry’s isn’t the worst shout, to be fair – he finds a modicum of hope in the embers of a lost relationship. The result is on a different tonal register to Barker’s other shorts, with a heartfelt core.

Heavy Eyes (2022)

Barker’s shortest short takes one of his signature moves – the uncanny dream sequence – and lets it play out across five minutes. He plays Seth, applying for jobs at home while his mum works late at the hospital. Except, odd noises in the house suggest he’s not alone, and there are more nightmarish implications at play. While maintaining a strong psychological bent, this is Barker playing at pure horror tropes, and succeeding in short form; proving he can do nuts-and-bolts spookiness in a matter of minutes.

Good news for anyone who loves Maika Monroe in scream queen mode: there’s more where that came from. Ever since the double-whammy of It Follows and The Guest made her a genre favourite – continuing more recently in the likes of Watcher and Longlegs – it’s been clear that Monroe has an affinity for tales of terror. And in Victorian Psycho, it seems she’s the one unleashing bloody havoc on polite society, in a 19th Century-set horror thriller. Check out the trailer here:

The film – from Sanctuary director Zachary Wigon – sees author Virginia Feito adapt her own novel of the same name, with Monroe playing Winifred Notty, a governess with violent tendencies. When she moves to a new estate, Ensor House, she struggles to keep her urges at bay, the longer she spends with the Pounds family. Wigon has assembled a great cast for this one – as well as Monroe, the film stars Thomasin McKenzie, Jason Isaacs, and Ruth Wilson, as well as Hamnet’s Jacobi Jupe, and Wednesday Season 2’s Evie Templeton.

Victorian Psycho is screening imminently at Cannes, so expect first screening – or, screaming – reactions soon. UK audiences will get to see it when it comes to cinemas this autumn, though no date is yet confirmed.

In the upcoming I Love Boosters, Boots Riley’s extravagant, satirical stab at the fashion industry, she plays noble shoplifter Sade — who undergoes molecular restructuring and time-travel to invent the perfect outfit. Not a conventional second goes by.

For the past few years, the 34-year-old Londoner has chosen to work with directors who aren’t afraid to confront the darkness of humanity, and who back it up with provocative, daring visions. But her career is about more than just ticking off the likes of Bong Joon Ho (sci-fi comedy Mickey 17), Steve McQueen (semi-autobiographical school drama ‘Education’, part of anthology Small Axe) and Zoë Kravitz (eat-the-rich satire Blink Twice) from her bucket list — she’s worked with enough esteemed directors to know how to sniff out a good one. “It’s a trend I noticed amongst filmmakers,” she says, kicking back in a London photo-studio after Empire’s shoot in April. “The more open they are, the more curious they are, the better the work.”

Ackie has dabbled in franchise fare: she wielded a bow and arrow on furry-alien horseback in Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker. She delivered full-bodied commitment to the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody. She picked up a BAFTA for her breakthrough as a repressed murderer in Channel 4’s The End Of The F***ing World. But of late, she has been pushing more and more against convention.

This October, we’ll see her in DC’s Clayface — a comic-book film, but one written by Mike Flanagan and directed by Speak No Evil’s James Watkins. And with I Love Boosters, Ackie could shape-shift under costumes that grew more elaborate with each passing day, and deliver an anti-capitalist rallying cry all at once. It was just what she needed to feed that hunger for rebellion.

———

EMPIRE: You work with filmmakers who have a lot to say and have singular ways of expressing those ideas. Is that something you’ve felt drawn to?

NAOMI ACKIE: The thing is, I love talking about big ideas. I come from a family [where] around the dinner table, we always end up talking philosophy and politics and religion and faith and the world. That feels like a really natural part of the way that I communicate. And then when it comes to projects, I think big concepts allow me to be way more specific about performance, because if you’re working with someone who’s like, “Hey, here’s the entire world — this is going to be your specific task, to build this world out,” that feels way easier for me than being part of a story where I can make any decision I want about who the character is. When it’s a very specific [world] with a very specific message and the message matters more than the character, that’s when I know exactly what I need to do.

That aligns with I Love Boosters, where your character has a very specific role in a very specific world.

I was like, “This is a bit of me!” Boots is so incredibly specific [in] his world-building. All the films and projects he’s made belong in the same world, and yet tell different stories. There is this element of magic realism and absurdism that I’m really in love with. I like to play on that scale. If I think about Mickey 17, that has a level of surreal absurdity to it. Strangely, I even think about The End Of The F***ing World. The message sits stronger, I think, when the world is more specific. Those big-question ideas like I Love Boosters, which is essentially about people coming together to fuck up shit.

I Love Boosters is essentially about people coming together to fuck up shit.

What was it like being privy to Boots Riley’s creativity, which seems so boundless?

Some parts of the script, I was like, “I don’t know what it’s going to look like.” There are images within there where I was like, “I guess I’m gonna have to just go with it.” You can’t quite visualise some of the stuff and yet it really works. In my career, I really trust whoever’s leading. Luckily for me, the people I have been able to work with I really respect, and I think if you surrender to someone’s vision, and you say, “Okay, what do you need [from] me to help flesh out this idea that you have?”, then the acting becomes in service to a story, and less about you. It’s an important tool so that you can hold onto your ego and constantly remind yourself that this is not about you. This is about a character, supplying something to the story and to a message that could possibly enlighten people down the line.

What did you see as your character’s function in this story? In this world, the ‘boosters’ (shoplifters) are rebelling against the system but are also attracted to it.

Sade is the grounding force. [Keke Palmer’s] Corvette is a big dreamer and we need big dreamers in the world. Much like myself when I was younger, sometimes dreaming big makes you very individualistic and selfish. That’s why you need really important grounding forces in your life to remind you that it’s not just about you. Your special talent isn’t there just to show off. It’s useful for potentially building community, and I think my character’s influence in the film is this reminder that community is the most important thing. What is the point of being celebrated as the best fashion designer in the world if you’re fucking people over? There’s no joy in that. I think she’s the one who delivers that message to Corvette.

Mickey 17 also has a very specific world that you got to play around in. (Set on a planetary colonisation mission, Ackie plays the loyal partner to Robert Pattinson’s Mickey and his numerous disposable clones.)

Bless Rob, I think he was knackered on that job! He did not get an easy time. There were details within those sets and within the costumes that I don’t even think people really got to see. You know when our characters get arrested and they get put into the prison cells? There were these water bottles that were shaped like [the ones for] a gerbil in a cage. I revel in people’s creativity.

Mickey 17 is funny and ambitious, but the most moving thing about it is that it’s actually really romantic. Your character Nasha finds her person and loves every version of him, even the parts of himself he doesn’t like.

I love the fierceness of the love. I love how brash Nasha is and how much she will fuck a bitch up to protect that love. I might do it in the future, but it doesn’t feel like me to do a really classic romantic film, because that’s not how I see relationships. I think romantic relationships are beautiful because they’re quite messy and visceral. It’s got its own complete DNA structure that can’t be replicated. The thing that another human being brings out of you is so specific and it can be just the most wonderfully eye-opening experience. Mickey 17 is probably the most romantic I will ever get.

You also mentioned The End Of The F***ing World. Was it tricky to find your character, Bonnie?

That was probably the hardest to find. Once I did, it clicked, but I remember getting the breakdown for Bonnie. It said something like “odd”. I remember that key word. Playing odd is not possible. It’s so subjective that you have to try many different things. With Bonnie, we actually did get rehearsals for that one, and that was really helpful because I needed to figure out how she moved in the space. I realised through rehearsal that if I placed my energy backwards, so, like, energetically I’m trying to move away from everyone that I see, it did something to my eyes. I could pretend to try and be a human being and everything was kind of dead. So really, instead of her being odd through other people’s eyes, she feels odd in her own body.

At one point you had considered giving up on acting, but then you won the BAFTA for The End Of The F***ing World. Did it mean something to you to win at that point in your life?

It was transition time. I won the BAFTA during Covid. The laptop was on a cardboard box because I was moving house. The thing about awards is they are always so subjective. It’s a group of people in a room who might all happen to agree that this is their favourite performance, but that doesn’t really mean much. It’s a great compliment and it’s an amazing message of, like, “You’re doing something good.” To be honest, that validation happened when I got nominated, not necessarily the winning. It gave me a bit of a confidence boost when I needed it.

Do I want to do a kick-butt film? Yes.

Did Star Wars come at that transitional time of your life?

I filmed it before [The End Of The F***ing World], but The End Of The F***ing World definitely came out first. That was so funny because it’s like, the movies! People are like, “We’re gonna make you a star!” I was 26 and I was thrust into this giant world where they were like, “Your life is going to change,” and it didn’t.

This is a mad story. I had done Star Wars, [but] it hadn’t come out yet. I had auditioned and gotten one of the main parts for the Game Of Thrones prequel, ‘The Long Night’. I did the pilot, and I had a great time and my part was really cool. I was like, “Wow, now I’ve got Star Wars AND Game Of Thrones.” And then a Marvel audition came along and I was in the last round for that. I was talking to my family, like, “Guys, this could be it for me. I’m going to be some sort of Comic-Con legend.” And within the same week, I found out that I didn’t get the part in Marvel and the Game Of Thrones [show] wasn’t going ahead. My dad had to take me on a drive around London because I was crying my eyes out. But I think back now and I’m grateful, because I wouldn’t have the career I have now. I have so much freedom. I’ve just been a part of a DC [movie]. It comes around.

You’ve mentioned before that you grew up watching Marvel movies, hoping you’d be in them one day.

As I’ve gotten older, the things that I want to do or express have changed. Do I want to do a kick-butt film? Yes. All I want to do is play a role where I get to wear something really cool and kick people’s arses. It’s a goal and I want to achieve it. I don’t know when in my life, but I want to achieve it. I have huge respect for those films. I adore doing combat stuff.

You were able to do combat in Star Wars, at least.

God, that was fun. There was even more — I think they cut some of Jannah’s (Ackie’s character) stuff. But all of that was a huge lesson for when you’re approaching physical work. I just finished doing a boxing film (Ruth Greenberg’s sports drama Sugar, co-starring Eve Hewson). It was eight months training in boxing. It’s exciting stuff. The beginning of those skills that I learned in Star Wars have paid off ten years later.

The DC film you have coming up is Clayface. On paper, it sounds like something really different because you’re working with director James Watkins and screenwriter Mike Flanagan, who both have horror backgrounds.

This is what I mean — the right things find you. My love will always be smaller films. I really love genre films, and I love acting in genre films. The fact that it’s the DC world with this indie influence and this genre-led influence feels like the world I belong to. This project was so much fun to make and the community there was incredible. It was the same kind of deal with Rob on Mickey 17. Tom [Rhys Harries, who plays Clayface] went through a lot more than I did. The thing I love about genre work is that you know what the criteria is, and your job is to push it to its furthest limit. So this mash-up [between] a horror film and a comic-book film is interesting. I think it’s really smart of DC, because it brings in horror lovers, comic-book lovers. We’ll see what happens.

In the past you’ve talked about the difficult journey you had with I Wanna Dance With Somebody, but what were the lessons you took from that experience that informed your choices moving forward?

The most positive thing about playing Whitney was I realised that I love getting very specific about the body. I heard this song the other day, and it really made me want to learn how to do samba. I was like, “Oh, maybe I’ll tell my agents I want to do a film that centres around dance so that I can learn how to dance.” With Whitney it was like this crash course into a skill of how to be a superstar singer. But there was so much joy in the time it took to do it, in the same way that there’s so much joy in the seven months of horse-riding training I had to do for Star Wars. Or the eight months of boxing training [for Sugar]. There was a lesson there of letting go of the idea of perfection and also digging in, getting your hands dirty, and doing the work. You can’t shortcut those things and the result always ends up on camera. I remember feeling certain things, and the body’s starting to do it before your mind does it. It just feels like magic. My boyfriend said that when we first met, I was still dancing like Whitney.

You’ve worked with so many incredible, experienced directors. Where does Steve McQueen rank in that?

Very highly, and I hope he hires me again. I was on that project for, like, two days. (Ackie plays a child psychologist in Small Axe’s ‘Education’, McQueen’s five-film anthology centred on the lives of West Indian immigrants). It was a really quick thing for me, but I got to observe him and he’s so encouraging and specific. I think that’s my favourite quality: if a director is specific, I feel like I can do anything, because all I need is a good note. Steve McQueen is incredible. He has the power to access these worlds that not a lot of people get to see and he expands it. He’s just so sensitive to story, and what he was doing was a huge feat. The fact that this was a world that was real, for one. It’s historical, and it is a culture that not a lot of people get access to. It’s a really hard thing to pull off, and he pulled it off incredibly.

Conversely, you’ve also worked with a number of first-time directors. Recently you starred in Zoë Kravitz’s Blink Twice and Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby, which overlap slightly in themes around power and sexual violence, but they also bring levity in their own distinctive ways. How did you find walking that tightrope of joy and darkness in both films?

I’m always attracted to things that can hold many things in the same space, because that’s what life actually is. Sorry, Baby feels extremely grounded and extremely real, and then obviously Blink Twice is a little bit fantastical, but only a little bit. But even so, the world that Zoë created within Blink Twice was extremely vivid and very visceral. The thing that actually makes it easier to access the tougher ideas, the darker elements, is that you have this brightness, because it gives you somewhere to go. It’s what they say about Shakespeare: don’t play the tragedy. And sometimes there’s a mistake made with these really dark things, that you have to hold that atmosphere constantly. The most effective thing for an audience, I think, is when they are able to slightly forget that things are maybe going to go a bit wrong. Those things feel more real than just staying in the darkness. Or doing comedy. I don’t think I’d do well in a comedy.

No?

Not without it having some level of something else to it. Some people can do it because they’re funny. I’m not funny. I did Blink Twice and then Sorry, Baby came up and I remember talking to my team and being like, “Do I want to do another film that covers this subject?” Because the subject means a lot to me. Would it cross the same lines? And it just didn’t feel like it did, partially because my character [in Sorry, Baby] was there to support Eva’s character and that felt different. But it also felt like [Blink Twice] is about the trauma and what happens immediately after. Sorry, Baby is about the healing process. It felt like looking at the same thing from different perspectives. Those are cool projects. Who knows what I’ll be up to next time?

This article was originally published in the Summer 2026 issue of Empire Magazine. Naomi Ackie was photographed exclusively for Empire at Loft Studios, London, on 13 April, 2026. I Love Boosters is in US cinemas from 22 May and arrives in UK cinemas later this year.

There is a school of thought that Tom and Jerry are godlike beings, locked in a battle that can never truly end. No matter how often either is flattened, blown up or electrocuted, they cannot abandon one another. They are the immovable force and unstoppable object of philosophical exploration; their struggle is every being’s struggle for ease and security and being neither beaten nor eaten alive. Clearly, that’s something that the makers of their latest film, Tom And Jerry: Forbidden Compass, wanted to emphasise, because it feels like a fight for survival just to sit through it.

The opening is upbeat, pop-soundtracked nonsense, like a thousand other kid films, as Jerry makes his way across Manhattan (for some reason) to visit a museum where Tom stands guard. But very quickly the pair are magically shifted via an item on display, the titular compass, to Gold City in the “Far East”, according to extensive introductory subtitles. This enlightened settlement is under attack from Mega Rat but its guardian, Phoenix Master, is focused on earning his way back into heaven. Both are keen to get their hands on the compass that Tom now wears around his neck, and so begins a relentlessly scored running battle with no ebb and flow, and no sense of real pace, that goes on for most of the film.

You can’t be this loud, for this long, and yet leave people this sleepy.

Tom and Jerry are technically present throughout, but barely involved in any of the major moments. It’s really about showcasing Chinese design and characters, with the two visitors largely reduced to onlookers and occasional sources of (barely needed) extra chaos. Given their cartoon’s popularity, following extensive airing on Chinese TV in the ’80s and ’90s, this begins to look like cultural appropriation of the two Americans, shoehorned into a local story with no real contribution to make.

The character design of the titular pair doesn’t work in this 3D style, and some of the other characters, notably Mega Rat, are ugly but not in a way that feels purposeful — just inept. The animation and environments are pretty enough, and it might make you want to go on holiday to China, which may have been the principal aim. But the storytelling is simply bad. You can’t be this loud, for this long, and yet leave people this sleepy. These two forces of absolute chaos deserve better. They deserve to create mayhem that matters.

Streaming on: Netflix
Episodes viewed: 8 of 8

Mere months after Stranger Things bowed out with its fifth and final season, the Duffer Brothers return to Netflix as executive producers of a new show that flips their signature hit upside down — replacing the kids with pensioners to face off against an otherworldly threat. If Stranger Things was a love letter to the ’80s, The Boroughs, created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, is about people in their eighties — or at least, around that age — centring an older generation for a horror-fuelled sci-fi story of their own.

Where Stranger Things introduced an ensemble of pre-teen unknowns to an unsuspecting public, The Boroughs comes with a healthy pedigree of experience and background. This show is stacked with talent, perhaps more than any other title streaming this year. Alfred Molina, as Sam, is on fantastic, crabby form in the lead, teasing out the loneliness and heartbreak that lurks just beneath the surface. “I was an engineer, but now I’m a prisoner,” he drily tells a transition manager upon arriving at retirement community The Boroughs, described by one character as “a special town just for grown-ups”. To his relief, it’s not long before Sam strikes up new friendships — relationships that you’ll root for from the get-go.

A place you’ll be more than happy to retire to.

Geena Davis, Clarke Peters, Alfre Woodard, Bill Pullman and Denis O’Hare all play a vital role in the story too, each bringing their own unique quirks — and a surprising amount of horniness — to the table. The unique selling point of The Boroughs is this older perspective, reminding us just how rare it is to see the singular outlook of those in their autumn years foregrounded in big-budget genre fare. It’s just as rare to see this many big players aged 60 and above shine as part of an ensemble on screen too, even if the writing on the show itself doesn’t always match their calibre.

For at times, the show’s genre thrills falter somewhat. Early reveals that come too soon and pacing issues in the middle undercut the impact of what could have been a gripping mystery. For better and for worse, this isn’t just “Stranger Things, but for older people”; despite being understandably foregrounded in the press and marketing, the Duffers are strictly on executive-producer duties only. The budget doesn’t quite match Stranger Things in its heyday, either, with various effects and prosthetics that often underwhelm, even if that initial monster design comes out creepy in all the right ways. Still, if all of Netflix’s money was spent on the cast, it was money well spent, because even with its flaws and that pesky monster rattling around, The Boroughs is a place you’ll be more than happy to retire to.

And away we go! While we still can't quite wrap our heads around the fact that David Fincher has directed a full-on, Quentin Tarantino penned and Brad Pitt starring sequel to QT's 2019 alt-history Tinseltown epic Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, we are incredibly excited for it. And following that fleeting, never-to-be-seen-since Super Bowl trailer for the movie unofficially known as The Adventures Of Cliff Booth, Netflix has today confirmed that the Hawaiian shirt sporting stuntman's return is getting an IMAX cinema release and hitting Netflix this year. Check out the announcement below;

There you have it! Booth's big-screen comeback is filling the slot previously held by Greta Gerwig's Narnia and getting an exclusive two-week IMAX cinema run from 25 November, ahead of a 23 December Netflix streaming drop just in time for Christmas. And what's more, while we still don't have a full, official synopsis for The Adventures Of Cliff Booth yet (pretty much all we do know is that the movie's set to catch up with a Rick Dalton-free Booth in late 70s LA, where he's earning a living as a Hollywood fixer), we do have a principal cast list to get excited about. Per Netflix's announcement, Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Peter Weller, Matt Groove, JB Tadena, Corey Fogelmanis, and Karren Karagulian are all taking a trip back in time with Fincher's movie.

With Netflix having given the likes of KPop Demon Hunters (belatedly) and Stranger Things (reluctantly) theatrical releases in recent months, and Greta Gerwig's Narnia still set to hit IMAX cinemas itself in the New Year, it's heartening to see that Fincher and Tarantino's unexpected but hotly anticipated team-up is following suit. It also gives Tarantino — whose current side quest is mounting a West End production of his first original play, The Popinjay Cavalier — a chance to release a new movie without it counting as his final movie. The crafty sod.

With Father’s Day fast approaching, dad-friendly content is suddenly filling our screens. In the coming weeks, get ready for an onslaught of action movies, World War II documentaries and _Top Gear_knock-offs. Sure enough, right on time, Jack Ryan — the CIA analyst-turned-super-spy originated by Tom Clancy in his bestselling novels, and Hero To All Dads – is back. Having served four workmanlike seasons on Prime Video, John Krasinski returns to the role for Jack Ryan: Ghost War, his first feature-length outing and the first for the character since 2014’s largely forgettable (and similarly vaguely titled) Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

Krasinski is now by far the longest-serving steward of a character whose sensible-spook suit has previously been filled by the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine. He seems as comfortable as he did with Jim in The Office, playing him with dependably steady competence, quiet calm and a dash of natural amiability. But Ghost War feels like the weakest entry in his series, a franchise now seemingly running on fumes.

At the end of the last season, Jack had resigned his post as Deputy Director of the CIA and was attempting to live a life outside the spy game. When we rejoin him, he’s back behind a desk, applying his considerable brain to the private sector. Naturally, his ol’ pal James Greer (Wendell Pierce), the agency’s new Deputy Director, decides to pull him back in for One Last Job, recruiting him as a freelancer for a meeting with a contact in Dubai. (The reason why it simply had to be Jack Ryan, and not any one of the many CIA agents still at the agency, amounts to simply: well, the film is called ‘Jack Ryan’.)

Naturally, the Dubai meeting does not go to plan and soon Jack is forced to contend with the mysterious Liam Crown (Max Beesley), a snarling Northerner in the Ed-Harris-in-The-Rock villain template: a disgruntled decorated military vet who turns to terrorism to make his point. Except, it’s not entirely clear what his point is, beyond nebulous statements about “sending a message”. This is one of those films with a plot both needlessly convoluted and actually quite stupid, if you think about it too much.

Essentially plays like an extended episode.

So opaque and exposition-heavy is the script, in fact, that there is practically no room for any character beats. Jack gets a cursory, “I just want a normal life!” moment. Sienna Miller earns a thankless role as an MI6 agent whose one and only personality trait is to chain-smoke cigarettes. Michael Kelly’s Mike November is relegated to weak comic-relief duties. (The most unintentionally funny part of the film is that there is a pivotal, frequently referenced character called Nigel; with the greatest of respect to all Nigels, that is not a name that belongs in an action film.)

To its credit, the film attempts to place the plot within a political context, the villain positioned as a product of the post-9/11 War On Terror and its ugly ramifications. But the overall politics feel wobbly at best; Clancy was obviously as hawkish as they come, but talk of American ideals and “national pride” seems tone-deaf and somewhat outdated with the current situation in the United States. Instead, its most notable position seems to be accepting fairly brazen product-placement for Emirates Airlines and the UAE as a whole. (“Dubai is one the most technologically advanced cities in the world!” coos one character.)

At least the action is serviceable enough. The film’s high-point comes with a genuinely tense car-chase and shoot-out across central London; if you can look past the geographical crime of action moving from Greenwich to Westminster in seconds, it’ll raise the pulse here and there. Sadly, by the end, it devolves into thoughtless empty gunfire exchange, devoid of tension, excitement, or logic. It doesn’thelp that it rarely feels cinematic, with dull head-and-shoulders framing and flat TV lighting.

Ultimately, Ghost War is simply following a recent trend of TV shows-turned-films that look and feel almost exactly like the TV version — a generous runtime, and a bit of extra cash in the budget, sure, but essentially playing like an extended episode. (See also: Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, Karate Kid: Legends, The Mandalorian And Grogu). Dads deserve better

Now here's one for you: as a director, how do you recast an Oscar-nominated actor who's just starred in an Odyssean epic for your secret new sci-fi blockbuster? The answer, at least if you happen to be Everything Everywhere All At Once directorial duo The Daniels anyway, is you find yourself an Oscar-winning actor who's just about to star in the Odyssean epic. Yes, according to Deadline, The Odyssey star Matt Damon is reportedly in talks to replace Ryan Gosling in Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's upcoming Universal sci-fi joint.

Fresh off the back of his winning turn in Phil Lord and Chris Miller's Project Hail Mary, Ryan Gosling had been announced as the lead for the Daniels' latest at the beginning of last month, with production due to get underway in Los Angeles this summer. However, barely a week later, Gosling swiftly exited the project, with various sources citing 'scheduling conflicts' as the reason for the Canadian's premature departure. According to Deadline's sources, Damon — who had been planning some well deserved time off after shooting The Rip and The Odyssey last year — met with Kwan and Scheinert about the film recently, giving the duo a tentative thumbs-up. Should a deal close for Damon to star, that originally planned summer shoot will go ahead just as soon as the in-demand actor finishes the press tour for Christopher Nolan's inbound IMAX epic.

Though details on Oscar winners The Daniels' latest remain strictly hush-hush for now, we do know a little about what the guys are cooking over at Universal. Deadline notes that the film is predominantly eyeing younger stars for its wider ensemble. Elsewhere, the movie was described by Daniel Kwan as "a fun sci-fi, action comedy with a big heart" that's "very existential" in a recent Collider interview — all of which fit the bill for Damon, who of course led Ridley Scott's 2015 sci-fi smash The Martian. With Kwan and Scheinert's film still slated for theatrical release on 19 November, 2027, watch this *ahem* space for more updates in the weeks and months to come.

Middle-earth is no stranger to the world of video games. Back in the era of Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings trilogy, the films received a series of tie-in hack-and-slash games that were surprisingly above the bar for licensed movie games at the time (and allowed you to gleefully tear through orcs as Gandalf). In more recent years, the franchise has seen the highs of the Shadow Of Mordor series, which blended Assassin’s Creed-style gameplay with Monolith’s (RIP) incredible Nemesis System. Then there were the lows, namely The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which the less said about, the better.

However, those looking for a big Middle-earth RPG in the vein of Skyrim or Avowed may finally be in luck, as Warhorse Studios – the team behind the critically acclaimed Kingdom Come: Deliverance series – has announced on social media that it is working on an “open-world Middle-earth RPG”, alongside a new Kingdom Come game. Details are scarce, but it’s safe to assume this may not be set during the events of The Lord Of The Rings, and could instead explore another part of Tolkien’s wider fantasy world and timeline.

Warhorse seems like a very strong fit for Tolkien’s world, given its approach to immersive worlds and realistic melee combat from the Kingdom Come: Deliverance series – it’s easy to imagine how that might look when blended with Hobbits, Orcs, Elves and more. Given how strict the studio has traditionally been about historical accuracy, this would mark a major departure for Warhorse as it heads into fiction territory, but considering its strength in telling expansive, grounded stories, the One Ring appears to be in very safe hands. And, with a new season of The Rings Of Power arriving this year, alongside an all-new Lord Of The Rings film next year, it seems there will be no shortage of Middle-earth any time soon.

It may be hard to believe, but it's somehow been three years already since Michael B. Jordan's knockout directorial debut Creed III hit cinemas, delivering a haymaker at the box-office and swiftly spawning talk of a sprawling new Creed-verse from MBJ's Outlier Society label. Now, per Deadline's reporting, one of Jordan's spin-off-of-a-spin-off plans (lest we forget, the Creed series is itself a Rocky off-shoot) — namely Prime Video bound elite boxing academy series Delphi — has actually revealed its line-up and entered production in Los Angeles.

Hailing from showrunner Marco Ramirez (The Defenders, Daredevil), Delphi "follows a group of gifted young boxers in an elite academy fighting to achieve their dreams and reach the pinnacle of the sport." Among Delphi's young boxers will be dysfunctional brothers Santi (Benji Santiago) and Nico Torres (Juan Castano), and introverted, anxious, yet incredibly talented wunderkind Kai Katsaros (Victoria Vourkoutiotis). They're joined by Demián Bichir as tough-love Torres family patriarch (and gym owner) Hector; André Holland as boxing strategist and Delphi Academy lead instructor Teddy ‘T-Bone’ Parker; Andre Royo as walking boxing encyclopaedia Elmer Tatum, a man who 'can predict a final outcome based on what the fighters had for breakfast'; Sofia Black-D’Elia as accountant with elite boxing academy trainer ambitions Bobbi Weiss; and Wood Harris as Little Duke, legendary trainer of Apollo Creed and current trainer of Delphi Academy's new contenders.

Ramirez is cooking already here with a rock-solid ensemble of instantly intriguing-sounding characters and a hooky Cobra Kai-ish premise, and that's even without knowing anything about the rest of the series' regulars: Niles Fitch's Dante, Dasan Frazier's Remy, Graham Patrick Martin's Jackson, Brittany Adebumola's Mina, Rene Moran's Iggy, Okieriete Onaodowan's Freddie, and Breanna Yde's Ana. We look forward to finding out whether Michael B. Jordan and co's latest entry in the expanded Rocky universe is gonna fly now — or if it's got the streaming equivalent of a glass jaw — whenever it eventually lands on Prime Video.

If you’re something of an online cinephile – and if you’re here, then you surely tick both of those boxes – chances are you’ve heard all the hype around Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie. The big-screen outing of Canadian comedians Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol has been one of the most acclaimed movies of 2026, a hugely-hyped comedy film that hit cinemas in the US and Canada at the start of the year. But it’s been all quiet on the UK release front – until now.

Finally, Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie has a confirmed release date in the UK and Ireland, set to hit cinemas here on July 3, with some previews on July 1 too, having been picked up by Vertigo Releasing. That means, after months of waiting, there’s only a month and a half more waiting to go until we get one of the year’s most talked-about movies. The film – directed by Johnson, who also directed 2023’s Blackberry, and is behind the camera too on upcoming Anthony Bourdain movie Tony – is the latest escalation of his and McCarrol’s comedy project, which began as a YouTube mockumentary series in 2007, and became a TV sitcom in Canada in 2017.

Here’s hoping that this Canadian comedy lives up to the hype – be sure to bring your own box of Timbits.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away — specifically, November 2019 — Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin first stepped into a seedy cantina in the Outer Rim. Set during the fragile peace of the Star Wars’ New Republic era — the Weimar-esque interwar years, post-Vader, pre-Ren — The Mandalorian was an unusual offering. Star Wars’ first foray into live-action TV (notwithstanding the Star Wars Holiday Special or Ewoks: The Battle For Endor), this was a series with no major star, no legacy characters, no lightsabers.

That feels like a long time ago. Legacy characters and sabers (dark or otherwise) have since snuck their way into the series, while Pedro Pascal’s profile has risen faster than the Millennium Falcon bombing it down the Kessel Run. The show’s scope and scale was never small, so it makes sense that Mando and Grogu have found their way to the big screen; still, the series seemed to find a natural conclusion at the end of Season 2, when Din tearfully left his little green mate in the capable hands of one L. Skywalker. Since then, it’s felt a little like treading water, with a third season that introduced lots more Mandalorians but fewer compelling stories. That feeling isn’t entirely shaken off in this feature-length tale, which doesn’t add much to the canon.

The first half of the film rattles along at a merry old pace with some stirring action, and characters both old and new peppering the background.

Instead, it’s a back-to-basics adventure, obeying the founding principles of the show: blending elements of Westerns and old Saturday-morning one-reels into a ripping-yarn caper, while studiously avoiding getting bogged down in complex lore or anything too deep. It begins confidently in this manner, with Mando — introduced heroically in the shadows — engaging in some satisfying gun-slinging and cowboyish drawls (“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold,” he snarls, nodding to the pilot episode.)

The first half of the film rattles along at a merry old pace with some stirring action, and characters both old (Star Wars Rebels’ furry blue pilot Zeb, voiced by Steve Blum, makes his film debut here) and new (Sigourney Weaver adds another nerd notch to her CV as Colonel Ward) peppering the background. Mando is now working full time as an “independent contractor” for the New Republic: still a bounty hunter for hire, but exclusively for the good guys. This is how he enters the orbit of the Twins, the Hutt gangsters desperate to retrieve their roided-up nephew Rotta (voiced by Jeremy Allen White), son of the fearsome Jabba.

Rotta is the film’s first stumble: while the twins speak in traditional tongue-twisting Huttese, Rotta bafflingly speaks Galactic Basic with a New York accent, with which he whines about being a nepo baby (nepo-Jabb-y?) while getting a droid-based sports massage. Rotta might be a fan-favourite from his appearance in the original Clone Wars film, but here his presence begins to make the film feel repetitive — quite literally, sluggish. Time and time again, Mando is forced to fight reams of CGI aliens where the stakes rarely rise above, “How is Mando going to get out of this pickle?”

Just when you think the film has forgotten the second character named in its title, the pace abruptly slows in the third act, when Mando takes a backseat to the Artist Formerly Known As Baby Yoda. There is a lovely, bucolic, near-wordless sequence in which Grogu takes the lead, demonstrating quiet tenderness, resilience and leadership that belies his mere 50-something years. While the film sometimes coasts on his cuteness — the introduction of multiple equally adorable Anzellans adds to this feeling — it never forgets that he remains its greatest asset.

What it does slightly forget to do, though, is move the story forward in any meaningful way. Oddly, it feels like the least consequential Mandalorian chapter yet, with previous episodes from the TV incarnation — or even segments of the much-maligned Book Of Boba Fett — having more impact on the narrative. It’s thinner than skimmed blue milk, with longtime series stewards Jon Favreau (director and co-writer) and Dave Filoni (co-writer and new Galactic Emperor of the entire franchise) largely playing it safe. Perhaps after the relative disappointment of The Rise Of Skywalker, this is all it needed or was intended to be. The Mandalorian And Grogu is, primarily, For Kids, as George Lucas always insisted Star Wars was, and on those modest terms, it finds the way.

In brightest day, in blackest night, no HBO Max trailer shall escape Empire's sight. Let those who worship DC Studios' might, beware its power... Lanterns' light! Yes, Chris Mundy, Tom King, and Damon Lindelof's HBO detective series Lanterns — the ring-wielding Green Lantern Corps' first proper outing in James Gunn's DCU — is well on its way. And now, along with a newly confirmed 17 August premiere date, we have a whole new trailer for the show, which is about to introduce us to Kyle Chandler's grizzled Lantern Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre's charismatic up-and-comer John Stewart. Check it out below;

Okay, now there's a trailer. As we saw in the last Lanterns teaser, Lindelof and co's new show is set to see Chandler's Hal Jordan and Pierre's John Stewart butt heads as they reluctantly team up to solve a grizzly crime — a decent enough hook in and of itself. But as we perhaps didn't see so much last time, this also looks to be a series with licks of comedy, hints of cosmic shenanigans afoot, and bigger aspirations than merely 'What if DC did True Detective?' Here we see Chandler's Lantern using his Power Ring to conjure counterfeit cash and conjure force fields. We see Hal Jordan suiting up — and seemingly heading off-world — while John Stewart faces the institutional biases of the law and fights to prove his worth as a member of the Corps. And we hear a simple but important question, 'Are you afraid?', being asked as unseen threats circle and John Stewart tries Hal's Power Ring on for size. Oh! And three-time Oscar nominee Laura Linney's just joined the cast, as if it wasn't stacked enough already.

The official logline for Lanterns — which also stars Kelly Macdonald, Jason Ritter, Nathan Fillion, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Ulrich Thomsen, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Jasmine Cephas Jones — reads as follows. "[Lanterns] follows new recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Lantern legend Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland."

Where exactly is the threat coming from in Lanterns? Can Hal Jordan and John Stewart set aside their differences long enough to solve the series' mysteries? Could we even see one of them break bad and end up on the wrong side of the supe divide? And will Guy Gardner ever get a better haircut in this DCU? We guess we'll find out when Lanterns hits HBO Max on 17 August...

Streaming on: Disney+

Episodes viewed: 5 of 12

Remember when hair was bigger? When shoulders were padded? When TV was fun with a capital “F”? In its second season, Rivals continues to delight in the hedonism of Dame Jilly Cooper’sracy book series with ’80s flair and cheeky schoolboy antics. Bums abound in this preposterously silly yet addictive adaptation, where it feels like everyone is having a good time in the way only two (or more) people can. But beyond all the willies and hairspray, Rivals’ second helping manages somehow to go deeper.

Amid the melodramatics and endless shagging, Season 2 expands the world of Rutshire to spotlight many secondary female characters who were previously sidelined. Beyond the central rivalry, it’s women like Sarah Stratton (Emily Atack) and Lady Monica Baddingham (Claire Rushbrook) who intrigue the most now, as they navigate the inherent misogyny that’s unavoidable both at work and home. Rupert Campbell-Black MP (Alex Hassell) also moves past caricature into something more nuanced in his evolving relationship with Taggie (Bella Maclean), which felt a bit one-note before.

As such, it’s tempting to suggest that Rivals has become more serious, maturing in its second year. While that is true to some degree, have no fear: men still rip their pants and shirts off with soothing regularity, while debauchery continues to (Buck's) fizz with wild abandon. This time, however, the writing juggles comedy, drama and sheer horniness with more finesse.

One standout kitchen sequence in Episode 2 ambitiously combines all three, calling to mind British sitcoms of yesteryear. The only occasional drawback is that all this excess sometimes proves a tad, well, excessive. Plus, certain elements (such as a key storyline for Gary Lamont’s Charles Fairburn) do feel slightly rushed. Still, watching acting royalty like David Tennant chew on the scenery (and his cigar) remains delightfully fun with a capital “F”. And that's something we’re in short supply of these days.

Cannes 2026 is in full swing and, with it, comes one hell of a line-up of films. One of them is the latest feature from South Korean director Na Hong-jin, who previously brought us the serial killer thriller The Chaser, the action thriller The Yellow Sea, and the haunting horror epic The Wailingback in 2016. Now, after a 10-year absence, he returns with an all-new sci-fi actioner, Hope, which debuted at Cannes last night alongside the release of its first trailer, which you can watch below:

Now, there’s a lot to unpack here: aliens, shoot-outs, some incredibly intense horseback chases, and what looks like a collection of absolutely bonkers action sequences. Although the plot is being kept relatively under wraps, the film’s official synopsis reads:“A mysterious discovery is made on the outskirts of a remote harbour town. The residents find themselves in a desperate fight for survival.”

It all looks very intriguing. There’s a dash of A Quiet Place about the whole thing, but it also looks set to deliver some huge action spectacle. Either way, this is a big-budget South Korean sci-fi film from one of the country’s most talented auteurs, so it’s definitely worth getting excited about.

The film stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Squid Game favourite Hoyeon in lead roles. Perhaps even more intriguing, though, is the fact that Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Taylor Russell also appear in currently undisclosed roles. Everything surrounding the film is being kept very hush-hush, so it remains to be seen exactly how they fit into the story. Neon is handling the UK release, although the film does not have a release date yet, we do know it will be hitting US cinemas in the Winter. Keep your eyes peeled, though — we’re hoping to see much more from Hope very soon.

Live from Empire, it’s Saturday night! Sorry, we’ve always wanted to say that. But Saturday night it is, and with it has come the final episode of Saturday Night Live UK’s triumphant first season. Eight weeks ago, the air was thick with apprehension, scepticism, even some mild pre-emptive second-hand cringe about the notion of an SNL UK. Pessimism, lest we forget, is the British national pastime. But then, nary a coy Princess Di impression and some 45 Seconds With Fouracres later, the tide started to turn… the laughs started flowing… and suddenly we found ourselves witnessing a new generation of British comedy stars being born before our very eyes.

Over the last 56 days, we’ve watched this misfit crew — Hammed Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi, and BTS superfan Paddy Young — go from strength to strength, flexing their funny bones alongside a stacked cadre of guest hosts. From George Fouracres’ Mario being put on blast by Aimee Lou Wood’s Princess Peach, to British themed pubs with Jamie Dornan, to Jimmy Fallon gatecrashing Nicola Coughlan’s opening monologue, it’s been a blast.

Now, as the curtain closes on Saturday Night Live UK Season 1 and the long wait begins for SNL UK Season 2’s arrival in September, we thought it high time to give this formidable cast their flowers. And so, without further ado, here are Team Empire’s picks for SNL UK’s 12 funniest moments (so far). Got what it takes, our list…

SNL UK’s 12 Funniest Moments (So Far)

12)  Pub Song

Two weeks into Saturday Night Live UK’s run, the series’ writers could’ve been forgiven for pacing themselves a little — playing the SNL hits, as it were. And play the hits they did… just not how we could’ve ever expected. New Zealand comedy pop duo Two Hearts — aka Joseph Moore and Laura Daniel — outdid themselves with ‘Pub Song’, an earwormy banger all about Brits abroad and their obsession with finding a British themed pub (pub, pub). Come for Al Nash rapping and Annabel Marlowe busting a move; stay for Jamie Dornan reigniting his Barb And Star musical flame. It's the British-themed pub, pub, pub, pub, it's run by Harry and Jane… JK

11) Traitors: A Very Confident Mistake

Even before SNL UK’s first episode aired, there was a collective sense that the show would have to do a Traitors sketch sooner or later: after all, it is the biggest thing on British telly right now and a bona fide global phenomenon. But how do you parody a show that’s already a self-generating meme goldmine? By confronting the series’ very real, sort-of problematic issues with racial bias by renaming it ‘Great Big Crab Man’ and then having its contestants fail to recognise the very obvious Great Big Crab Man in favour of repeatedly pointing the finger of blame at Riz Ahmed, that’s how. From Celeste Dring’s spot-on Claudia Winkleman impression, to the wildly misspelled namecards, to George Fouracres’ heavily made-up Crab Man, it’s a laser-targeted banger. JK

10) Looking Theroux The Mirror

One of the infrequent but always brilliant recurring bits on SNL's mothership show is the 'Meet The Family' sketch. You know the one: they take that week's host — Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, Christopher Walken — and have the cast serve up their own impressions until the star themself walks in and the crowd goes wild. Capping off a great season with an unexpected guest spot, SNL UK did its own version of this SNL classic with the one and only Louis Theroux. The giggles begin the second Larry Dean and Al Nash raise their hands to their chins and start trading "Shall we get started?"s and "Should I be saying that?"s. They ratchet up when the ever-delightful Ncuti Gatwa steps into frame. And then Louis himself walks in, and the four of them start talking in unison, and it's uncanny, and mad, and utterly remarkable. JK

9) Undérage: The Anti-Aging Cream

SNL is no stranger to parody ads, so what better way to kick off the season than with 'Undérage Girls'? Yes, you heard that right. The cast’s pre-recorded debut featured an anti-ageing cream that works just a little too well. Come for Tina Fey, Emma Sidi and Celeste Dring’s uncanny recreation of model-led make-up adverts; stay for Jack Shep’s boom operator calling Al Nash a “sick bastard” as he poses with Fey’s ‘Undérage Girl’ in a comedy of escalating silliness that feels quintessentially SNL. In case anyone was worrying SNL UK would just try and copy its American sibling, getting a 'nonce' drop in the first pre-record really set the tone for the rest of the series. HS

8) Live From QVC’s Jewellery Store

The beauty of a ridiculous SNL sketch lies in how straight-faced its performers play it — something never more clearly on display than in Emma Sidi, Nicola Coughlan and Ayoade Bamgboye’s reactions to Sidi’s Kirsty Frapp and her very unsubtle “personal issues” (namely a giant extended index finger). Not only is this sketch bang-on in capturing the over-familiar personalities and uncanny valley of daytime shopping channels, it somehow gets funnier and funnier as it ascends into absurd body horror, elevated by Sidi’s perfectly pitched Essex accent. We dare you to try not to laugh at the side-splitting delivery of the line: “What is wrong with my f*cking hand?” HS

7) Night Time Incident

Sometimes all it takes to make a memorable bit of sketch comedy is a timely (and slightly mundane) subject and an absolutely barmy out-of-left-field twist. ‘Night Time Incident’ delivers precisely that. Taking the yearly ritual of putting the clocks forward as its starting point, this week two worldie quickly devolves into demented, horror-tinged chaos as we learn that Jools Holland (of Hootenanny fame) is some kind of boogieman bogeyman who imprisons the souls of those who forget to change their clocks in his sinister ‘boogie-woogie wonderland’. George Fouracres, Al Nash, and Paddy Young (in a rare excursion from the Weekend Update desk) all deliver outstanding heightened Hollands, and the punchline — ‘lose an hour, not your dad’ — is a doozy. JK

6) Weekend Update (All of it)

It is a truth (almost) universally acknowledged that Colin Jost and Michael Che’s Weekend Update is SNL US’ most consistently funny segment. And Blighty’s version, anchored impeccably by breakout stars Ania Magliano and Paddy Young, more than measures up. Over the past eight weeks, Magliano and Young have nimbly handled local council elections, ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the Epstein files, and BTS’ reunion, making the kind of jokes you just don’t see on British telly anymore with a well-placed giggle and a smoulder. They’ve also had some very special guests, too. The father and son that still do skin on skin is an Empire fave, as are Jack Shep’s hairy-chested Scrimpch and Ayoade Bamgboye’s Martin Lewis obsessed fertility expert. (Now there’s a sentence we never thought we’d write.) JK

5) DadSwap

Daddy issues find a new meaning in this Apple-coded advert for Dad Swap, an app allowing users to swap their dads for new ones that have similar interests. The kicker is that halfway through the ad it’s revealed that most users have developed romantic feelings for their new father figures (“technically it is allowed!”). Is it a decidedly cursed turn? Sure. But it's also one that yields hilarious results as we watch Al Nash, Jack Whitehall, Annabel Marlow, and more shamelessly flirt with their new dads, all while George Fouracres' app creator slowly recognises the monstrosity of his creation. HS

4) Shakespeare And His C*nty Little Earring

Who better to deliver SNL UK’s first c-bomb than Shakespeare himself, showing off the c*ntiest earring in all of Stratford-upon-Avon? The show’s take on the tragedy of Hamnet sees how London life changes Britain’s most famous thespian, imagining what happens when Shakespeare fully assimilates into Zone 1 life, from returning in Paul Mescal-coded running shorts to the sound of a stolen Lime scooter screeching outside as he barrels through the door. This is a parody any Londoner can get behind, brought together by the hilarious George Fouracres, Tina Fey, and a K-holing Jack Shep. And lest we forget Larry Dean’s Hamnet, who gets a happier ending here than in Chloé Zhao's movie — revived and dancing to Rihanna. Shakespeare would be proud. HS

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Honourable Mention: Best Guest Host — Aimee Lou Wood

The staple of a great SNL host is that they truly embrace the show for what it is (looking at you Ryan Gosling), and the UK edition of the show has had its fair share of those already — from Jamie Dornan playing a kidnapper to Hannah Waddingham singing about wine to Ncuti Gatwa playing the first Black Shrek Bond. But if we're picking favourites — which we very much are here — then as the host who scatted in her opening monologue and bellowed cries of “I'm a certified card-carrying godamn weirdo,” The White Lotus and Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood with her high energy and freak flag flying unpredictability felt especially at home with the UK’s band of misfits.

Hopping from sketch to sketch with glee, she first delivers an unhinged take on a Doctor Who companion (what the f*uk is that?), a Gen Z take on the (now vaping) Famous Five, and delivers (spoilers) Empire’s top two favourite sketches of the season. Waltzing through the episode with a smile it’s hard not to have as much fun as she’s having. Scat away, Aimee. HS

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3) 45 Seconds With Fouracres

By the time George Fouracres took to the stage to ask ‘What kind of Irish is your grandad?’, it was already abundantly clear that SNL UK would not be the car-crash experiment some very vocal quarters online had been clamouring for. We’d had Shakespeare and his cunty little earring, we’d had Undérage, and we’d had Jack Shep’s Princess Di reveal, too. But ‘45 Seconds With Fouracres’ — in which Mr Fouracres plays four different Irish grandfathers in under a minute, sings an Irish rebel song, and traps Nicola Coughlan while maniacally shouting ‘Nothing is real!’ — gave Saturday Night Live UK its first truly viral moment. And what a moment! JK

2) An Italian Plumber With Princess Problems

From the moment one of the iconic Question Mark Blocks produces a tinnie (that’s a can of beer for our American readers), it’s clear SNL UK’s reimagining of the jump-happy Italian plumber is going to be something special. Taking a kitchen-sink approach to Mario and Princess Peach as a couple on the brink in their New York apartment, what unfolds is a parody featuring a chaotic Yoshi appearance, a takedown of Luigi’s beautiful mansion (“It’s a full of ghosts!”), and a sketch surprisingly well-versed in Mario lore. The whole thing is made all the funnier by Aimee Lou Wood and George Fouracres' impeccable execution of their parts... and how very close they come to breaking. Plus, an extra 1-Up for those italian accents and that ending cameo. HS

1) British Pork Advert

From the moment it was first announced, the biggest question surrounding SNL UK was, in a word, why? Saturday Night Live is a well established  American institution. Fresh British sketch comedy featuring new names on the scene died on the vine a long, long time ago. Why would anyone want a Saturday Night Live UK? In the absolutely extraordinary, twenty-plus year gestating ‘British Pork’ sketch, we got our answer. Why do we need SNL UK? Because only SNL UK has got what it takes to deliver something as niche, weird, mildly traumatising, and utterly piss-your-pants funny as this.

Inspired by a genuine ad for porcine produce from the mid 1980s (an ad that, it should be noted, standout SNL UK alum George Fouracres has been obsessed with for over two decades), the sketch sees Fouracres and co slowly losing it as they imagine how such a nightmarish bit of telly history came to be. There’s a creepy, bacon-slathered Pork Board (including SNL writer and Wrexham AFC exec Humphrey Ker). There’s Fouracres holding on for dear life as he corpses his way through a bit he clearly can’t believe has actually made it onto TV. And there’s Aimee Lou Wood, guest host extraordinaire, gurning like it’s nobody’s business as she channels the wife who’s got what it takes. It’s no wonder Saturday Night Live UK’s Season 2 renewal announcement came almost directly after this. It’s real value for money… plenty to go round. JK

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This list was created by Empire Online Writer Jordan King, Social Media Editor Harry Stainer, and Deputy Online Editor Ben Travis, and written up here by Jordan and Harry. For more laughs and more telly talk, check out our lists of the best comedy movies ever made and the greatest TV shows of all time.

When Sam Raimi makes a new horror movie, it's a kind of magic. But when Sam Raimi makes a new horror movie that's also a remake of a Richard Attenborough directed, Anthony Hopkins starring 1978 cult classic about a ventriloquist who finds himself at the mercy of his diabolical puppet? Well, in that case, it's a kind of Magic. All of which is to say that, per Deadline's reporting, Sam Raimi is remaking Magic... or, more accurately, adapting anew William Goldman's original 1976 novel. And, what's more, he's bringing Send Help writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift along for the creepy puppet ride.

As stated above, Magic was originally a 1976 book from William Goldman (yes, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, All The President's Men, and The Princess Bride writer William Goldman). The story follows a failed magician, Corky, who becomes an overnight success when he starts incorporating potty-mouthed puppet Fats into his act. But here's the rub: Fats is a murderous menace whose dominance over Corky threatens not only the magician's fragile sanity, but also his recently rekindled romance with his high school crush. In Attenborough's film, Hopkins delectably pulled double-duty as both puppet and master, resulting in an eerie, intense psychological thriller gilded by horror imagery. All we know so far about Raimi's take is that it will be a modern take on Goldman's book, though with Raimi, Shannon, and Swift at the helm of this adaptation, we think it's safe to assume we may be in for a slightly more visceral, wild experience with these guys' Magic.

“Sam is the dream director for this project — in fact, his coming aboard represents one of the truly great matches of director and material,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Adam Fogelson in a statement accompanying Magic's announcement. “The script is fantastic, and we could not be more excited to see Sam’s direction and creative vision take it to another level. We are absolutely thrilled he has chosen to direct the film.”

Having dipped his toe back into genre waters after a spell away with 2022's Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, Raimi took a deeper dive back into horror territory with blackly comic survival thriller Send Help earlier this year, finding in Shannon and Swift two writers more than capable of matching his outré horror freak. Here's hoping the trio can conjure up a treat — and that nobody's left looking a dummy — when their Magic comes to our screens.

When Sam Raimi makes a new horror movie, it's a kind of magic. But when Sam Raimi makes a new horror movie that's also a remake of a Richard Attenborough directed, Anthony Hopkins starring 1978 cult classic about a ventriloquist who finds himself at the mercy of his diabolical puppet? Well, in that case, it's a kind of Magic. All of which is to say that, per Deadline's reporting, Sam Raimi is remaking Magic. And, what's more, he's bringing Send Help writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift along for the creepy puppet ride.

Originally a 1976 book from William Goldman (yes, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, All The President's Men, and The Princess Bride writer William Goldman), Magic — for those who may be unaware — follows a failed magician, Corky, who becomes an overnight success when he starts incorporating potty-mouthed puppet Fats into his act. But here's the rub: Fats is a murderous menace whose dominance over Corky threatens not only the magician's fragile sanity, but also his recently rekindled romance with his high school crush. In Attenborough's film, Hopkins delectably pulled double-duty as both puppet and master, resulting in an eerie, intense psychological thriller gilded by horror imagery. All we know so far about Raimi's take is that it will be a modern take on Goldman's book, though with Raimi, Shannon, and Swift at the helm of this adaptation, we think it's safe to assume we may be in for a slightly more visceral, wild experience with these guys' Magic.

“Sam is the dream director for this project — in fact, his coming aboard represents one of the truly great matches of director and material,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Adam Fogelson in a statement accompanying Magic's announcement. “The script is fantastic, and we could not be more excited to see Sam’s direction and creative vision take it to another level. We are absolutely thrilled he has chosen to direct the film.”

Having dipped his toe back into genre waters after a spell away with 2022's Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, Raimi took a deeper dive back into horror territory with blackly comic survival thriller Send Help earlier this year, finding in Shannon and Swift two writers more than capable of matching his outré horror freak. Here's hoping the trio can conjure up a treat — and that nobody's left looking a dummy — when their Magic comes to our screens.

“Be careful what you wish for” is such a threadbare cliché of life and cinema that it’s hard to believe anything new can be breathed into any story using the term as its foundation — much less a thrilling horror film. Yet here’s 26-year-old writer-director Curry Barker with his Obsession. It might just become yours.

Lovesick Bear (Michael Johnston) has fancied his mate Nikki (Inde Navarrette) for yonks. Desperate to tell her he loves her, he even rehearses his declaration in front of other friends. Despite ample time spent working together in a musical-instrument shop and on the lash downing shots, Bear bottles it. One day, he drops Nikki’s necklace down a drain and while trying to find a replacement, sees a ‘One Wish Willow’ charm. He’s warned about the trinket’sundesirable effects but buys it and uses it anyway, predictably wishing that Nikki falls in love with him. And she does — to extraordinary excess.

Barker, in only his second feature after 2024 micro-budget debut Milk & Serial, proves accomplished at supplying scares, be they jump or slow-burn.

There’s a satisfying ‘snap’ when Bear uses the charm that will remind viewers of the carnage that ensues when a similar process occurs in Weapons. But where that riotous chiller caused instant aggro, the feeling here is one of creeping dread and, eventually, complete terror.

Barker, in only his second feature after 2024 micro-budget debut Milk & Serial, proves accomplished at supplying scares, be they jump or slow-burn. Navarrette is sensational as the increasingly unhinged, violent Nikki, and her outlandish actions provide many of the film’s finest moments. To go into too much detail would be to spoil — but a memorable packed lunch, an excruciating party sequence and a devastating car scene are highlights.

This blackly funny, gory take on W.W. Jacobs’ 1902 short story ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ — and the hundreds of screen versions derived from it — is obviously far from an original idea. But the way in which it twists and warps the dusty material into a startling meditation on unhealthy infatuations is hugely impressive.

Fly, you fools! Yes, that's right, Ian McKellen — the legendary English actor who is Gandalf and Magneto, get over it — is our guest on this week's Empire Podcast. John Nugent pops over to McKellen's own pub, The Grapes in Limehouse, for a lovely chat about his new film, Steven Soderbergh's The Christophers, in which he plays a bitter artist who's a 'one-off half-monster'. [46:32 - 1:00:02 approx]

Speaking of Christophers, back in the podbooth Chris Hewitt is joined by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Harry Stainer for a fun episode in which they discuss the greatest characters who joined franchises after the first film (Puss In Boots hive, assemble!), and whether event cinema is making a comeback. They also run their eye over the week's movie news, including news of a possible Tintin 2, and review Curry Barker's Obsession, The Christophers, The Punisher: One Last Kill, and Ben Wheatley's Bob Odenkirk action fest Normal. Enjoy!

And if all of the above isn't quite enough Empire Podcast for you, then there's plenty more where that came from. You can listen to this week's episode (which, if you're counting, is #717) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Interviews, which brings you even more chat with the cast and crew behind the biggest new releases. The most recent instalment sees Chris Hewitt sits down in person with James Cameron for even more Hit Me Hard And Soft chat, and then the great Guillermo del Toro, with the Mexican director coming to town to receive the BFI Fellowship and launch a season of his films at the BFI Southbank. (That is an excerpt from a longer del Toro interview which will be up on its own next week.). Finally, Sally Field and Lewis Pullman, the stars of new Netflix movie Remarkably Bright Creatures, Zoom in for a spirited chat with Chris.

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Streaming on: Netflix

Episodes viewed: 6 of 6

Working for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) might seem dull — and it probably is, for the most part — but there is another, more gripping story behind the tedious bureaucracy of it all, one that’s never been depicted on screen until now. Scottish screenwriter Neil Forsyth follows up BBC’s The Gold with another true-crime story that’s hard to believe, this time adapting a memoir that details the 11 years Guy Stanton spent working undercover to prevent drug-smuggling.

If that sounds serious, it often is. Legends — the latest in an increasingly long line of gang-based shows on Netflix (see also; Top Boy, Peaky Blinders, Narcos) — deals with the life-and-death stakes that people in way over their heads were forced to contend with, all for a job that hardly paid well considering the risk of it all. Scenes where various members of the team are almost found out are genuinely thrilling, and the impact that these drugs had (and continue to have) on the general public isn't shied away from either. Note how the operation begins because a cabinet minister’s daughter died from drugs, not because of the working-class lad who also died from an overdose on the exact same day.

Coogan’s gravelly chief shows yet another side to the acclaimed comedian...

But there is humour too, often in the banter shared among these officers who are just normal people trying to get by and find relief. As the operation escalates, some names might slip by as you try and keep up with the intricacies of it all. What you won’t forget, however, are the two leads.

Coogan’s gravelly chief shows yet another side to the acclaimed comedian, whose determination and stoic charisma just about help him pull off lines like, “The kind of legend he’s building is the kind you’re never really out of.” Don is talking about Guy (Black Bag's Tom Burke), the officer whose memoir this show is based on, the one who took to undercover life almost too well. Watching Guy try to reconcile his darker urges with doing right by his family, Queen, and country is utterly absorbing, as is Burke’s performance, both he and Coogan ably fulfilling the title’s promise.

The next James Bond movie has a home: Amazon MGM Studios. It has a director: Denis Villeneuve. It has a writer: Steven Knight. It even has not one but two high calibre producers, too: Amy Pascal and David Heyman. But still it seems there's something — some crucial ingredient in the 007 recipe — that's missing. Oh yeah! Bond 26 hasn't actually got a Bond yet. But fear not, folks, as Amazon is working on that. Today, Deadline's sources have confirmed that Oscar-nominated Hamnet, Conclave, Andor, and Game Of Thrones casting director Nina Gold is leading the hunt for the next 007. And what's more, Amazon has shared its own update via social media on the casting process for Bond. Check it out below;

“The search for the next James Bond is underway," reads the statement from Amazon MGM Studios' socials. "While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.” Lovely stuff! So we'll have our new James Bond confirmed real soon then, right? Well, not quite. Per Deadline's sources, fully fledged auditions for MI6's finest are still a way off right now as Denis Villeneuve and Steven Knight continue to polish their script for the movie. Even so, this is still a major step forward on the road to Bond 26 — and perhaps a reminder to not invest too much stock in the casting rumours that have been doing the rounds over the past few months.

While the likes of Callum Turner, Harris Dickinson, Jacob Elordi, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Tom Holland among many other have all had a spin on the rumour mill since Daniel Craig's explosive farewell in No Time To Die, it would appear that they have all been a tad premature. The real search for Bond No. 8 has only just begun. And so, by our reckoning, we're all still in with a shout. Even I, Online Writer Jordan King, am in with a shout. Nina, call me!

After Nobody and its sequel, the similarly titled Normal could easily be mistaken for the latest in Bob Odenkirk’s one-everyman-army series. And that wouldn’t be entirely wrong. While Normal sees the former Saul Goodman playing a world-worn cop rather than a retired family-guy assassin, and has a different setting (an apparently sleepy, snowy town slap-bang in Coen territory), it is very much a companion piece. Once again, Odenkirk has teamed with Nobody/John Wick writer Derek Kolstad. And once again he proves surprisingly limber as a gritty action hero, who in one sequence gets handy with a meat tenderiser during a brutal diner-kitchen brawl, and in another metes out explosive justice with a repeating grenade-launcher.

In a familiar Western-vibed plot that’s essentially Assault On Precinct 13 via Hot Fuzz, Odenkirk’s interim sheriff Ulysses is assigned to a recession-hit middle-of-nowhere which has recently lost its chief. Expecting the usual “good people, small problems”, he plans to leave the place exactly as he found it. Although, he’s a little puzzled by the station’s hugely overloaded armoury. And the fact that the little old lady who runs the yarncraft store has a police scanner. And what’s with those nine-fingered Japanese security guards? Still, he doesn’t want to rock any boats, and insists that “life’s a little easier when you care a little less”. Ulysses isn’t a cynic so much as relatably — and likably — realistic. But when a pair of out-of-towners unwisely decide to rob the bank during a blizzard, it all kicks off in a bullet-torn shitstorm, where the line between ally and enemy refuses to stay put. The time for being realistic is over.

Wheatley is as adept at bringing out Ulysses’ warmth and weariness as he is revelling in the solidly choreographed, town-trashing savagery...

To conduct all the grindhouse-style chaos that ensues, Odenkirk and Kolstad have pleasingly enlisted our very own Ben Wheatley. They evidently appreciated the Essex-born director’s ability to blend the comedically mundane with tongue-in-cheek extremity, and it’s easy to relate Normal to a few of his previous joints, not least Sightseers and Free Fire. Wheatley is as adept at bringing out Ulysses’ warmth and weariness as he is revelling in the solidly choreographed, town-trashing savagery, while also letting the story’s MAGA-era critique seep through.

Coming in at a lean 91 minutes, Normal doesn’t mess about. While its sprightly pacing is mostly to its credit, it does have a habit of highlighting a detail — Ulysses’ tragic backstory, the ostracisation of the previous sheriff’s trans kid (Jess McLeod), the presence of Lena Headey in the cast — and then not really taking it anywhere. Thankfully, this isn’t enough to derail the film’s borderline-silly fist-and-trigger antics, and it’s about as fun and subversive as you’d hope for an Odenkirk/Wheatley collab.

Now that The Batman Part II is finally ready to take flight, director Matt Reeves is wasting no time getting the bat signal lit and stacking his superhero sequel's call sheet. Over the last few days, Reeves has headed to social media to begin teasing camera tests for Robert Pattinson — aka R-Battz — and co's return to The Batman's dark, gritty Gotham City. And in the past 24 hours, the filmmaker has upped the ante, confirming key returning players and — as of today — three new additions to the Dark Knight's Bat-rolodex. Yes, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, and Charles Dance are officially heading to Gotham — and we've got the GIFs from Matt Reeves' X account to prove it. Check 'em out below;

Okay, okay, so we had heard that Stan, Johansson, and Dance were in line for Reeves' Bat-sequel before, and rumours of Stan playing iconic Batman baddie Harvey Dent/Two-Face — though, importantly, unsubstantiated as of yet — have been doing the rounds for months now. Still, it's good to get actual confirmation straight from the director himself, and to add some further fuel to the fire regarding their potential Dent family roles.

There's not much we can parse from the GIFs Reeves has shared, admittedly, mostly as the shots have come from other films. Even so, the captions suggest ScarJo is making her way into Gotham rather than arriving as a citizen of the city already. Meanwhile for Stan, who we hasten to again acknowledge has not been confirmed to play Harvey Dent, Reeves has plumped for a shot carrying an intensity that doesn't scream "I'm one of the good guys!" And as for Dance, well, he doesn't look like he'd be out of place playing Harvey Dent's dad, right? Presumably, we will be hearing a lot more about all three cast newcomers' roles as shooting gets underway on the Reeves and Mattson Tomlin-penned movie. (UPDATE: Since posting, Deadline now reports that Scarlett Johansson is set to play Harvey Dent's wife Gilda in the film. This hasn't been officially verified yet, however.)

Elsewhere, previous Reeves GIFs have already revealed that Robert Pattinson is — surprise surprise! — back as Batman, as is Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Colin Farrell as Oz 'The Penguin' Cobb, Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, Jayme Lawson as Gotham City Mayor Bella Reál, and Gil Perez-Abraham as Officer Martinez. Where exactly The Batman Part II will take our heroes and villains next as they deal with the aftermath of the first movie's floody finale very much remains to be seen — but, after many, many delays, be seen it shall be. The Batman Part II is set to swoop into cinemas on 1 October, 2027.

Now that The Batman Part II is finally ready to take flight, director Matt Reeves is wasting no time getting the bat signal lit and stacking his superhero sequel's call sheet. Over the last few days, Reeves has headed to social media to begin teasing camera tests for Robert Pattinson — aka R-Battz — and co's return to The Batman's dark, gritty Gotham City. And in the past 24 hours, the filmmaker has upped the ante, confirming key returning players and — as of today — two new additions to the Dark Knight's Bat-rolodex. Yes, Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan are officially heading to Gotham — and we've got the GIFs from Matt Reeves' X account to prove it. Check 'em out below;

Okay, okay, so we had heard that Stan and Johansson were in line for Reeves' Bat-sequel before, and rumours of Stan playing iconic Batman baddie Harvey Dent/Two-Face — though, importantly, unsubstantiated as of yet — have been doing the rounds for months now. Still, it's good to get actual confirmation straight from the director himself, and to get some (presumably test footage) glimpses of ScarJo and Stan's DC debuts. There's not much we can parse from the GIFs Reeves has shared, admittedly, but it does look like Johansson's going dark-haired here and making her way into Gotham rather than arriving as a citizen of the city already. And as for Stan, while we again acknowledge that there's been no official confirmation that he's playing Harvey Dent, he's carrying an intensity here that doesn't scream "I'm one of the good guys!" Presumably, we will be hearing a lot more about both of the cast newcomers' roles as shooting gets underway on the Reeves and Mattson Tomlin-penned movie.

Elsewhere, previous Reeves GIFs have already revealed that Robert Pattinson is — surprise surprise! — back as Batman, as is Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Colin Farrell as Oz 'The Penguin' Cobb, Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, Jayme Lawson as Gotham City Mayor Bella Reál, and Gil Perez-Abraham as Officer Martinez. Charles Dance also remains in talks to play Harvey Dent's father (which also lends credence to the prevailing Stan-as-Dent theory). Where exactly The Batman Part II will take our heroes and villains next as they deal with the aftermath of the first movie's floody finale very much remains to be seen — but, after many, many delays, be seen it shall be. The Batman Part II is set to swoop into cinemas on 1 October, 2027.

Now how's this for an un-par-alleled delight? Having dabbled in serialised comedy TV a fistful of times over the years, SNL legend and blockbuster comedy icon Will Ferrell is biting the bullet with his own self-created Netflix series, The Hawk. Following the travails of one Lonnie 'The Hawk' Hawkins (Ferrell), a fictitious former World No. 1 golfer looking to swing his way back to the top (not in that way) two decades on from his heyday, The Hawk looks — and sounds — like it could be a real hole-in-one from Ferrell. And if you don't believe us, check out the newly dropped teaser trailer below;

He looks like the natural evolution of Zoolander's Jacobim Mugatu. He offers folk 'Lonnie Juice'. When when he's not hitting innocent bystanders with his rusty drive, he's writhing in a bunker trying to dig his ball out of the sand. And his son is our Theater Camp fave Jimmy Tatro. Honestly, Happy Gilmore better watch his six because it feels like a new problematic fave golfer forged in the crucible of sketch television has just arrived. And given Ferrell's familiarity with sports comedy fare — from Blades Of Glory to Talladega Nights to Semi-Pro — we wouldn't bet against him delivering the goods with The Hawk... even if it does have an ever so slight whiff of Apple TV's Stick about it.

The official synopsis for The Hawk — which co-stars the likes of Molly Shannon, Jimmy Tatro, Fortune Feimster, Luke Wilson, and Chris Parnell — reads: "Lonnie Hawkins (Will Ferrell), 2004’s number one golfer, struggles on the back nine of his career to recapture his magic. His body says retire, but his heart says he’s not done yet. His ex-wife and his son Lance, golf’s new golden boy, know he’s through. But with one more major to win to complete golf’s Grand Slam, Lonnie refuses to believe he’s anything other than one stroke away from the greatest comeback in golf history."

With The Hawk set to make its Netflix debut on 16 July, we don't have long to wait until we find out whether Ferrell's latest comedy venture is destined to leave its sports comedy rivals green with envy — or if it's a load of old alba-dross. Fore!

In the first of Adam Sandler's Grown Ups movies, old dear Gloria Noonan-Hilliard preferred that "in life, the first act is always exciting. The second act... that is where the depth comes in." Whether Grown Ups was exciting — or indeed whether depth came in with Grown Ups 2 — is very much up for debate, but it does beg a question: what does life/a comedy franchise's third act have in store? Honestly, we don't know... but we're about to find out. Per Deadline's reporting from Netflix Upfront, Grown Ups 3 is in the works at Netflix, with Happy Gilmore 2's Kyle Newacheck attached to direct.

Penned by Adam Sandler and long-time Happy Madison Productions collaborator Tim Herlihy, Grown Ups 3 — which is entering development some 13 years after the goofy summer vacation-based franchise's last instalment — is set to reunite all of the major players from the original films, including Grown Ups 2 absentee Rob Schneider. A since-removed synopsis from Deadline's original write-up on the new film had suggested the gang would be heading to Europe for their latest adventure, but a Netflix source tells Empire that synopsis is not official and no plot details are confirmed as of yet. We do still know however that Lenny (Sandler), Marcus (David Spade), Rob (Schneider), Kurt (Chris Rock), Eric (Kevin James), and their significant others are all expected to return for the latest instalment in the franchise.

Considering the fact that Happy Gilmore 2 ranks among the most streamed movies of last year, notching up an insane 2.89 billion minuted viewed in its first week (whatever that actually means), it's no surprise that Netflix — and Sandler's Happy Madison label — have moved quickly to capitalise on a current trend in cosy comedy nostalgia. Who knows? Maybe life/Grown Ups' third act is where a decent script comes in. Watch this space!

Buzzy 2026 reimaginings of literary classics with troubled anti-heroine protagonists named Cathy are like buses: you wait years for one, and then two come along at once. And while the jury remains out on just how well Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights ultimately lived up to its hype, our hopes remain high that Zoe Kazan's upcoming East Of Eden — a seven-episode epic Netflix adaptation of John Steinbeck's multigenerational opus, starring Florence Pugh as the novel's iconic anti-heroine Cathy Ames — will deliver the goods. And if the newly dropped first teaser for the series is anything to go by, our optimism looks to be well placed. Check it out below;

"When I was a little girl, I imagined that I could grow smaller. So small that the bad things couldn’t find me, and I could disappear," says Flo Pugh's Cathy in this atmospheric first teaser for Kazan's long-gestating East Of Eden. "Because this world is so full of evil." It's an ominous opening gambit to set out the stall for Kazan's take on Steinbeck's classic, but one that immediately establishes the unique hook of this adaptation: the Trask family saga is being retold here from the point of view of Cathy Ames, the 'psychic monster' and 'malformed soul' described in Steinbeck's book. Even just in this minute-long glimpse at the series ahead, we see the way the men in Cathy's life — namely feuding Cain and Abel-like brothers Adam (Christopher Abbott) and Charles (Mike Faist) — seek to impose themselves upon her, and how she in turn resists being owned or otherwise having her autonomy compromised.

The official synopsis for Kazan's East Of Eden, which elsewhere stars Tracy Letts, Martha Plimpton, Ciarán Hinds, and — in the James Dean role of Cal Trask from Elia Kazan's 1955 classic — soon-to-be Hunger Games star Joseph Zada, reads as follows. "Pugh plays the indelible antihero Cathy Ames, whose life is intertwined with the lives of generations of men from the Trask family — notably those of Adam (Christopher Abbott) and Charles (Mike Faist) — as the characters live out the darker side of the California dream."

Given Zoe Kazan's own familial connection to East Of Eden (yes, she is grand-nepo-baby of On The Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, and OG East Of Eden filmmaker Elia Kazan), the all-star ensemble assembled, and just how long this has been in the works, things are looking promising for another stellar adaptation of one of the great American novels. We'll see whether Kazan's series is streaming paradise — or destined to see her expelled from the garden of great telly — when East Of Eden hits Netflix later this year.

As the saying goes, all good things to those who wait. And with 15 years having passed now since Laika Studios first optioned the rights to Colin Meloy's Wildwood, the Oregon-based animation outfit — and its fans — have done their fair share of waiting. But now, after months of tantalising teasers, eye-opening featurettes, and that one very cool Empire digital motion cover, the first trailer for Travis Knight's star-studded stop-motion fantasy epic is here — and it does look very good. Check it out below;

'My Tears Are Becoming A Sea' needle drop? Check. Stunningly realised woodlands, intricately detailed characters, and Narnia-like flights of fantasy? Check. A murder of crows abducting a small child in a way that's both terrifying and sort of oddly mesmerising? Check. Yeah, we're thinking Laika are back! Sure, this near-wordless first trailer for Wildwood only slightly peels back the curtain on what Kubo And The Two Strings director Knight's Chris Butler penned return to stop-motion has in store for us, but what we do glimpse — our first proper looks at heroes Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and Curtis (Jacob Tremblay), antagonist Alexandra (Carey Mulligan), the anthropomorphic denizens of Wildwood, and what looks to be one hell of a massive battle — certainly has our curiosity piqued and our attention held. Knight certainly doesn't seem to have been kidding when he told Empire that Wildwood is the 'hardest' film Laika has ever made.

The official synopsis for the movie — whose constellation of stars includes *deep breath* Carey Mulligan, Richard E. Grant, Angela Bassett, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Maya Erskine, Jake Johnson, Rob Delaney, and Jemaine Clement — reads as follows. “After her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows, headstrong teenager Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) launches a desperate rescue mission into the Impassable Wilderness—an enchanted forest hidden just beyond Portland, Oregon. Joined by her hapless but loyal classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay), Prue navigates a world of talking animals, bandits, and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition. As the pair is drawn into a conflict threatening the balance of the forest itself, Prue must discover the strength and belief she never knew she possessed. If she hopes to save her brother and protect Wildwood’s fragile future, she will have to risk everything.”

Will Prue McKeel save her baby brother? What's the deal with the boy crying on the rooftop in the rain? And will we ever get 'My Tears Are Becoming A Sea' out of our heads? We'll find out the answers to these questions and many more when we head into the woods with Wildwood on 23 October.

In case further proof was needed that time is a construct, somehow it has been fifteen years — yes, FIFTEEN years — since Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn hit cinemas, bringing Hergé's bequiffed reporter/adventurer and his adorable dog Snowy to a whole new generation. But despite the movie being a critical and commercial smash, all these years later we find ourselves still pining for the Tintin 2 that never quite materialised. And here's a plot-twist: Peter Jackson's still down for it, too. In fact, he's working on it right now.

As Screen Daily reports, Jackson — who's currently at the Cannes Film Festival having just received an honorary Palme d'Or on the fest's opening night — revealed during a career-spanning Rendezvous session this morning that not only is he still working on a Tintin sequel, but he's even been writing it while on the French Riviera. “I’ve been working with Fran [Walsh, Jackson’s screenwriting partner] on another Tintin script, I was writing it in the hotel room here,” shared Jackson. “It’s an active real thing, and I’m getting back into the Tintin world, and I actually love it.”

What's more, all being well, the plan is for Jackson to helm the Tintin sequel himself, honouring a pact he made with the first movie's director, Steven Spielberg, when The Secret Of The Unicorn came out. “The deal was that Steven directs one and I direct another,” Jackson, producer of that first film, revealed during his talk. “Steven did his film, then for 15 years I haven’t made mine. I feel very awkward about that.”

Right now, we don't know anything further about the sequel than that Jackson is working on it. It was at one point subtitled Prisoners Of The Sun, referencing Hergé's 14th Tintin adventure, which involved some magical crystal balls and a hidden Incan civilisation — but that title is over a decade old at this point and may well have changed. Still, should Jackson's long, long gestating Tintin sequel plans come to fruition, Tintin 2 — or 2 Tin 2 Tin as nobody is calling it — will mark the New Zealand filmmaker's first foray into narrative feature filmmaking since 2015's The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies. Here's hoping this film turns out a little better than one, eh? In Peter Jackson we trust.

Marvel Studios' latest Special Presentation, The Punisher: One Last Kill, may have only hit Disney+ just this morning, but our *ahem* vision is already being directed towards the MCU's next major small-screen outing. At Disney's latest Upfront presentation in New York's Javits Center, the House of Mouse confirmed that long-gestating, Paul Bettany led series VisionQuest — the final part of a trilogy that began with 2021's WandaVision and continued with 2024's Agatha All Along — is officially set to start streaming on Disney+ on 14 October, 2026.

Hailing from showrunner Terry Malala's (Star Trek Picard) and starring Paul Bettany as everybody's favourite synthezoid once more, VisionQuest is set to explore 'White Vision''s search for purpose in a post-Thanos, post-Wanda world over the course of an eight-episode run, with each episode emulating a different kind of film. Plot specifics on the show are, as we've come to expect from MCU projects, pretty thin on the ground right now — but the series' cast does provide some compelling context for what Matalas and co have been cooking.

For starters, James Spader's Ultron — aka Vision's creator — is back, promising some testy father-son relationship tension. Then there's Todd Stashwick's Paladin, a Boba Fett style bounty hunter who's after Vis; Ruaridh Mollica's Tommy Maximoff is back, too; and T'Nia Miller is aboard the VisionQuest too, playing vengeful robot — and Marvel comics deep-cut — Jocasta. They're joined by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, James D’Arcy, Orla Brady, Emily Hampshire, Lauren Morais, and actual Philomena Cunk herself, Diane Morgan. There's even rumours of Chris Pratt's Star-Lord rocking up in VisionQuest at some point, but there's been no official confirmation of that just yet, so we're confining that to the realm of wild speculation for the time being.

By the time VisionQuest hits our screens, it will have been half a decade since WandaVision came along and kicked off Marvel Studios' DIsney+ era, and over two years since Agatha Harkness headed down, down, down the road (down the witches' road) in Agatha All Along. But, with Disney hailing VisionQuest as the 'final instalment' in a decidedly unconventional streaming series trilogy, and one heck of a cast assembled, we do see the vision — and we will see the Vision on 14 October.

Marvel Studios' latest Special Presentation, The Punisher: One Last Kill, may have only hit Disney+ just this morning, but our *ahem* vision is already being directed towards the MCU's next major small-screen outing. At Disney's latest Upfront presentation in New York's Javits Center, the House of Mouse confirmed that long-gestating, Paul Bettany led series VisionQuest — the final part of a trilogy that began with 2021's WandaVision and continued with 2024's Agatha All Along — is officially set to start streaming on Disney+ on 14 October, 2026.

Hailing from showrunner Terry Malala's (Star Trek Picard) and starring Paul Bettany as everybody's favourite synthezoid once more, VisionQuest is set to explore 'White Vision''s search for purpose in a post-Thanos, post-Wanda world over the course of an eight-episode run, with each episode emulating a different kind of film. Plot specifics on the show are, as we've come to expect from MCU projects, pretty thin on the ground right now — but the series' cast does provide some compelling context for what Matalas and co have been cooking.

For starters, James Spader's Ultron — aka Vision's creator — is back, promising some testy father-son relationship tension. Then there's Todd Stashwick's Paladin, a Boba Fett style bounty hunter who's after Vis; Ruaridh Mollica's Tommy Maximoff is back, too; and T'Nia Miller is aboard the VisionQuest too, playing vengeful robot — and Marvel comics deep-cut — Jocasta. They're joined by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, James D’Arcy, Orla Brady, Emily Hampshire, Lauren Morais, and actual Philomena Cunk herself, Diane Morgan. There's even rumours of Chris Pratt's Star-Lord rocking up in VisionQuest at some point, but there's been no official confirmation of that just yet, so we're confining that to the realm of wild speculation for the time being.

By the time VisionQuest hits our screens, it will have been half a decade since WandaVision came along and kicked off Marvel Studios' DIsney+ era, and over two years since Agatha Harkness headed down, down, down the road (down the witches' road) in Agatha All Along. But, with Disney hailing VisionQuest as the 'final instalment' in a decidedly unconventional streaming series trilogy, and one heck of a cast assembled, we do see the vision — and we will see the Vision on 14 October.

“The following is intended only for mature audiences. Viewer discretion advised.” So begins the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s third ‘Special Presentation’, The Punisher: One Last Kill, marking the latest appearance of Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle. Given that we will soon see the murderous vigilante in the (presumably much more family-friendly) Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that opening statement plays like an especially notable promise: that the next 40 minutes or so will be full of the brutal and bloody mayhem we’ve come to expect from the Punisher. With a script from director Reinaldo Marcus Green and Bernthal himself, we certainly get that — but not before taking a dark, emotional, and winningly substantive tour through Castle’s fractured psyche.

When last we saw Frank, he was escaping from Wilson Fisk’s secret prison at the end of Daredevil: Born Again’s first season. When we rejoin him here, we find him mentally spiralling, at his wits’ end, tormented by haunting memories of his past. And now that everyone connected to the deaths of his family have paid in blood, he’s struggling to find reasons to go on living. He’ll need to figure it out quickly before it’s decided for him —there’s a price on his head, and it seems everyone in his comically crime-ridden neighbourhood is out to collect.

When it comes time for the Punisher to unleash hell, the symphony of violence that follows is ruthless and visceral.

For fans of the Punisher’s Netflix era, Castle’s internal trauma will be broadly familiar territory. But that doesn’t make this any less of a compelling watch. Frank’s biggest battle has and always will be with himself, and it’s here that Bernthal is at his vulnerable best, making you feel every ounce of Castle’s hopelessness. The gravesite conversations with the ghosts of his wife and kids in particular is the kind of deep, soulful work that stays with you.

When it comes time for the Punisher to unleash hell, the symphony of violence that follows is ruthless and visceral. Not only do fists, bats and axes fly, but there’s an abundance of skilful gunplay too. In one sequence, which evokes scenes from The Raid and John Wick, Frank repeatedly runs out of ammo before finding another weapon to fire, escalating for minutes on end. Crucially, it isn’t all action for action’s sake; there are key character moments embedded within the chaos, and it feels right that Castle works out his emotions best while in the heat of conflict.

All in all, this (beautifully) bearded man-of-few-words take on the Punisher is a far cry from the clean-shaven and quippy one teased in Brand New Day. It also feels like the truer, more authentic version of the fan-favourite anti-hero. Here’s hoping we won’t have to wait too long before we see him back in his natural element.

In the first episode of Ahsoka Season 1, Rosario Dawson's twin-saber wielding Togrutan heroine Ahsoka Tano tells would-be Padawan Sabine that "I go where I'm needed." And while it feels like Star Wars fan favourite Ahsoka — or, as we know her best, Snips — has been gone a real long time now (it's been three years since her solo series' debut), it looks like Lucasfilm CEO and series showrunner Dave Filoni has decided she needs to be back on Disney+ very soon. Per Deadline's reporting from Disney's Upfront presentation today, Ahsoka Season 2 is finally set to hit our screens in early 2027.

Since learning that Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker would be returning in Ahsoka Season 2 — and getting our first proper look at Rory McCann as Force-sensitive mercenary Baylan Skoll — at Star Wars Celebration Japan last year, communications from a galaxy far, far away have gone pretty quiet. But, taking to the stage at New York's Javits Center today, Rosario Dawson confirmed the timeframe for Ahsoka's return, promising those in attendance that "this season, the battles are bigger and the stakes are higher." We'll say! Though we've yet to get a proper trailer for Ahsoka Season 2 just yet, Empire was at the series' Celebration panel last year, where we learned that not only are Ahsoka Tano and Baylan Skoll — and Admiral Ackbar and Grand Admiral Thrown — set to face-off this season, but, as our heroes find themselves battling across two galaxies, there'll be more Mortis Gods revelations, more Dathomirian Witch shenanigans, and even some giant metal machines to contend with out in the uncharted territories of Peridea. So bigger battles and higher stakes then, just as Dawson promises.

With Disney and Lucasfilm having somewhat pumped the brakes on their live-action Star Wars streaming series plans in the last nigh-on two years, only releasing Andor Season 2 and Skeleton Crew in the last 23 months, all eyes will be on Ahsoka Season 2 now to see how Filoni handles the return of one of the saga's greatest characters after a lengthy absence. But before then, there's the small matter of The Mandalorian And Grogu to attend to — and that's just days away now. Here's hoping the Force is strong with Star Wars' long-awaited big screen comeback on 22 May, and just as strong when Ahsoka Season 2 rolls around early next year. This is the way...

Considering the fact that a third 28 Years Later movie was confirmed to be in the works at Sony nearly half a year ago now, there's been an awful lot of speculation about whether 28 Years Lat3r (as nobody is calling it) will actually happen. Despite being a critical hit, Nia DaCosta's 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple — the follow-up to last year's Danny Boyle directed, franchise-reviving 28 Years Later — bowed to a box office showing the director herself recently told Empire she was 'disappointed' by, and Sony execs have been real quiet about Boyle's planned trilogy capper since Christmas. But hope springs eternal, and a new Instagram post from series star Alfie Williams — aka Spike — has caught our eye. Check it out below;

Well we don't know about you, but it is kind of hard to see what else could prompt Alfie Williams to upload a photo of himself training with his bow and arrow alongside a caption reading 'It's great to be back!' If the young star had said it's great to be back training, or that it's great to be back down at his local archery club, then fair enough, maybe we'd be inclined to chalk it up to bait and carry on with our day. But the declaration — 'It's great to be back!' — feels like it can mean only one thing. And following the tense climax of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, in which *SPOILER WARNING* our boy Spike and former Jimmy Ink Kellie (Erin Kellyman) find themselves running for their lives from the Infected, straight into the path of Cillian Murphy's Jim and his daughter *SPOILER ENDS*, there's no doubting that this is a story that knows exactly where it's heading next.

Now, until we get official (re)confirmation from Sony that 28 Years Later is going to get the Danny Boyle directed trilogy closer it was always meant to have, we'll resist giving in to speculation and rumour millery. But if Alfie Williams is back in training, and it is for a return to the Rage-ravaged world of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's creation, then that's all very good news to us. Until we hear more though, excuse us while we go crack out the black eyeliner, conjure up a big ol' circle of fire, and rock out to 'The Number Of The Beast'. Woe to you, oh earth and sea...

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC

Nostalgia isn’t memories, it’s feelings; emotions connected to life’s milestones eternally more resonant than the blunt reality of events. That’s especially true for the brief, almost liminal space between finishing school and stepping into adulthood — and a sensation that Mixtape captures perfectly.

Set in the late ‘90s, it charts the friendship between three teenagers on the eve of a final party. Music-obsessed protagonist Stacy Rockford knows the perfect song for any occasion, creative genius Van Slater is two decades late for true hippy status, while Cassandra Morino is a wannabe rebel trapped by her authoritarian parents’ suburban perfectionism. If those archetypes sound suspiciously familiar, it’s because Mixtape is unashamedly inspired by John Hughes’ filmography. It’s not a straight cover though, also sampling Kevin Smith’s Mallrats and Allan Moyles’ (vastly underrated) Empire Records for a pitch-perfect vibe of disaffected youth.

This is about feelings though, not cold mechanics, and there Mixtape utterly succeeds.

Told over a single day, the story sees the trio ostensibly hunting booze for the rager, but really they’re dragging out their final night before the world intrudes. Trinkets scattered about bedrooms — a photo here, a trophy there — spark memories, each one a playable recollection of their time together, and it’s with these that Mixtape goes off on some Bueller-esque whimsical tangents.

These sequences are brief but gloriously weird: an interactive awkward first kiss, controlling both tongues; guiding a stoned Van around as the camera warps; stomping through an abandoned theme park like a kaiju. They’re often bizarre, sometimes trippy, but all evoke a beautifully misspent youth.

Every beat is set to a track on Rockford’s painstakingly curated setlist, each introduced to the camera with an explanation of its importance. Appropriately, it’s filled with achingly cool period hits, such as Lush’s ‘Monochrome’ and The Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Love’, but travels back through New Wave delights like Devo’s ‘That’s Good’, or the extremely niche, borderline hipsterish inclusion of Harpers Bazaar’s ‘Witchi Tai To’. Despite Rockford’s High Fidelity-worthy cooler-than-thou musical tastes, every song fits each scene perfectly, reframing even Stan Bush’s brilliantly cheesy ‘The Touch’ (from 1986’s Transformers: The Movie) into a laser-targeted attack on the feels.

Mixtape does stumble in places. Each of those playable memories feels little more than a Warioware microgame, while the visuals — a pseudo-stop motion evocative of Into The Spider-Verse — work beautifully for those bespoke experiences, but the deliberately low frame rate makes controlling Rockford in-between feel like manoeuvring a juddering marionette.

This is about feelings though, not cold mechanics, and there Mixtape utterly succeeds. Coming-of-age outings are rare in gaming, but this pulls it off with barely a dud note. Mixtape is a short, almost dreamlike experience that plays like a memory you wish you had.

News about the imminent return of any epic fantasy series would doubtless be a precious thing, but news about the imminent return of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power's return? Well, that is a most precious, precioussss thing, indeed. And it's exactly what we've got for you. Following teases late last year of Sauron's return and Elendil wielding Narsil in the next chapter of Prime Video's billion-dollar Rings prequel, today Amazon announced at its annual Upfront event that The Rings Of Power Season 3 is coming this year: 11 November, 2026 to be precise. And they even gave us our first official photo of the upcoming season — check it out below;

Raven-black hair. Morgoth's crown. The glow of a forge's flame. The side-profile of one Charlie Vickers. If we didn't know any better, we may be given to suspect that we're about to see the Dark Lord Sauron dabbling in another spot of ringmaking in the next season of The Rings Of Power. Luckily for us, we do know better, because there's a full-on synopsis already out there that confirms our suspicions quite emphatically. It reads as follows: "Jumping forward several years from the events of Season Two, Season Three takes place at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron, as the Dark Lord seeks to craft the One Ring that will give him the edge he needs to win the war, bind all peoples to his will – and at last rule all Middle-earth." That'll be a yikes from us! (And a yikes for Sauron if he happens to read The Lord Of The Rings before The Rings Of Power finishes...)

While it's a smidge too soon for a full cast list or trailer for The Rings Of Power Season 3 just yet (July's San Diego Comic Con may be a reasonable shout for one or both of those), we have already learned of a few stars heading to Middle-earth as J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay's prequel series barrels towards the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Stranger Things' Vecna, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Supacell star Eddie Marsan are both joining the cast, with the former expected to play "a handsome high-born knight" and the latter 'a Scottish-accented character with a brother.' (Yes, leading theories still favour Bower playing either Galadriel's as-yet-unseen husband Celeborn or uber-powerful elf Glorfindel, while Marsan seems a shoo-in to rock up as Durin's oft-mentioned brother and advance his claim to Khazad-dûm.)

With The Rings Of Power having really gone its own way over the course of a both figuratively and literally very heavy metal second season, it'll be fascinating to see how Payne and McKay up the ante with Season 3. And we don't need a palantir to do that at this point. 11 November, 2026 we're heading back to Middle-earth, precious.

Ki-ki-ki, ma-ma-ma — ki-ki-ki, ma-ma-ma... Now, received wisdom would have it that those iconic sounds from Harry Manfredini Friday The 13th score are syllabic representations of Jason Voorhees' voice in his mother's head saying "kill her, mother!" We put it to you that it's actually short for "keep, keep, keep, making, making, making Friday The 13th projects," which is what we imagine the folks at Peacock and A24 heard while shooting upcoming prequel series Crystal Lake. But now the voices may hush, as Crystal Lake is in the can and officially has a release date!

Hailing from creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer Brad Caleb Kane (Tokyo Vice, Fringe), Crystal Lake is due to hit Peacock stateside on 15 October. Admittedly, Thursday the 15th doesn't quite have the same ring to it as Friday the 13th, but it is releasing two weeks before Halloween, making for some suitably spooky seasonal programming nevertheless. Plot specifics on Kane's long-gestating series are still being kept pretty hush-hush for now, but we do know that the show will see Linda Cardellini play a younger Pamela Voorhees, introduced here as 'a mother who gave up a singing career to raise a special needs child and takes a dark turn when she loses her son.' Said child — said son — is, of course, Jason Voorhees, the restless spirit who becomes a hockey mask wearing, hack-and-slashing machine in each of Friday The 13th's sequels. Joining Cardellini in the cast for this one are William Catlett, Devin Kessler, Cameron Scoggins and Gwendolyn Sundstrom.

Despite jesting at the vast quantities of Hollywood horror sequels/reboots at the top of this piece, it's worth noting that by the time Crystal Lake hits Peacock on 15 October (and hopefully somewhere accessible here in the UK soon after), it will have actually been almost 18 years since the Voorhees' last appearance. Here's hoping this return to Crystal Lake works out a little better!

When it comes to tackling stories of theme parks going rogue, adapted from Michael Crichton penned source material, suffice it to say that David Koepp has some previous. As the man who gave us the scripts for both Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park: The Lost World, the legendary screenwriter knows exactly what to do when the doo-doo hits the jacked-up-fun-fair fan, because he's the one who put it there in the first place. And now, per Deadline's reporting, it looks like Koepp is ready for some more Crichton shenanigans as he's been tapped to write a new Westworld movie at Warner Bros.

Originally a Crichton written and directed 1973 movie (then, later, a seven-time Emmy-winning prestige Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy HBO series), Westworld takes a thrilling 'What if?' premise — what if there existed a robot-filled theme park where humans could live out their wildest historical (mostly Old West) fantasies, and what if said theme park had a bot go rogue and start turning said fantasies into visceral, violent realities? — and delivers a sharp sci-fi treatise on the perils of getting what you wished for. While the OG movie starring Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, and James Brolin was more of an out-and-out gung-ho action-thriller, Nolan and Joy's series took a more philosophical approach to its own story of violent delights and violent ends, delving into artificial consciousness and what it means to be human. Where David Koepp's Westworld will fall on that spectrum very much remains to be seen, but it's a hell of a spectrum to consider wherever his script eventually settles.

While we have no kind of synopsis, casting news, or release timescale for Warner Bros.' Koepp-penned Westworld just yet, one interesting nugget of info is buried in Deadline's reporting: 'a major filmmaker is circling.' Now, there are a lot of major filmmakers out there, and Koepp has worked with a lot of 'em (Sam Raimi on Spider-Man; Brian De Palma on Mission: Impossible; Steven Soderbergh on Black Bag.) Most recently however, Koepp has re-teamed with Jurassic Park director Steven Spielberg — on sci-fi blockbuster Disclosure Day. And remember how Spielberg's been talking up making an original Western in recent months? Well, Westworld has a sci-fi Western thing going on, and while it is technically an existing IP, it does have a lot of room for originality. Okay, so that might be a bit of a reach, but still... major filmmaker has got our curiosity piqued. Put it this way: we'll be there for rope-drop when the park reopens!

What happens when you take the director of the best movie of 2025 (Sinners), the newly minted Oscar-winning star of one of the other best movies of 2025 (Weapons), and set them to work together on a reboot of one of the greatest TV shows of all time? Frankly, we don't know — but we are about to find out, folks. Per Deadline's reporting, Ryan Coogler's upcoming The X-Files reboot at Hulu has just set its guest stars — and leading a starry array of supporting players is none other than Aunt Gladys herself, Amy Madigan!

In recent months, we've already learned that Himesh Patel will be playing the (figurative) Mulder to Danielle Deadwyler's (figurative) Scully in Coogler's Hulu-bound reboot pilot, with the duo set to play a pair of chalk-and-cheese detectives 'assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena'. And now we've got another eight names in total to add to the project's exciting call sheet, including the above-mentioned Madigan. Also seeking the truth and dabbling in unexplained phenomena in Coogler's retooling of Chris Carter's cult classic series will be Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster, Devery Jacobs, Lochlyn Munro, Tantoo Cardinal, Joel D. Montgrad, and — last but not least — Sofia Grace Clifton.

Set to be written and directed by Coogler, with Jennifer Yale serving as showrunner, although The X-Files reboot may still seem like a bit of a pipe dream to some (especially those of us still licking our Buffy: New Sunnydale wounds *sigh*), with each new casting announcement we find ourselves wanting to believe just that little bit more that this thing is actually happening. Let's face it, who doesn't want to see Oscar winner Ryan Coogler direct Oscar winner Amy Madigan in a prestige reimagining of the show that gave us Vince Gilligan, the Scully effect, and that one episode with the invisible pregnant elephant? Yeah —nobody, that's who!

"Reacher said nothing." Pick up any one of Lee Child's thirty-odd Jack Reacher novels and you'll find those words repeated over, and over, and over again. But while Reacher may not be much of a talker (in the books anyway), it turns out Amazon has got plenty to say about the crimefighting giant and his on-screen future. Ahead of Reacher Season 4's Prime Video premiere later this year, Amazon has today confirmed that Alan Ritchson's former military man and perpetual absolute unit will be back back back for Reacher Season 5, which has just officially gotten the green light.

With its third season having given Prime Video its biggest streaming series hit since Fallout Season 1 just last year, and a fourth season already locked in before that, Reacher has become one of the biggest franchises in Amazon's arsenal over the last half-decade. And with Season 4 set to adapt Lee Child's 13th Reacher novel, 'Gone Tomorrow', in which the big fella finds himself 'drawn into a complex and deadly game that pits him against ruthless foes from the highest echelons of power', the stakes are only getting raised higher and higher with each successive season of writer-showrunner Nick Santora's show. (As if we'd have it any other way.)

“From Lee Child’s globally beloved novels to its standout on-screen adaptation, ‘Reacher’ has evolved into a true powerhouse franchise,” Amazon MGM Studios' head of global television Peter Friedlander said in a statement accompanying today's announcement. “The series’ ability to combine high-octane action with compelling character storytelling continues to resonate with tens of millions of viewers around the world. We’re excited to move forward with a fifth season ahead of Season Four’s debut and to build on this incredible momentum. We’re grateful to our outstanding creative partners, cast, and crew — Nick, Alan, Lee, Skydance, and CBS Studios — for continuing to bring this world to life in such a bold and compelling way.”

With 25 more Reacher books at Amazon and Nick Santora's disposal, Alan Ritchson showing no signs of becoming any less of a brick dookie-house anytime soon, and the streaming figures — and critical/fan reception — only trending in one direction, Reacher can say nothing all he likes. We say: bring it on!

Dominic Toretto may live his life a quarter-mile at a time, but Vin Diesel — the man who has given the Fast & Furious franchise's talismanic petrolhead life these past 25 years — most assuredly doesn't. Not only is Mr. Diesel gearing up to release blockbuster saga closer Fast Forever in cinemas on 17 March, 2028, and not only is Mr. Diesel about to put the pedal to the metal at the Croisette with a 25th anniversary screening of The Fast And The Furious at the Cannes Film Festival later this month, but now he's only gone and announced that four — yes, four! — Fast & Furious live-action TV series are in the works at Peacock.

As Variety reports from this morning NBCUniversal upfront presentation in New York, Vin Diesel took to the stage alongside Jimmy Fallon to announce the ambitious set of new projects that are set to expand the F&F universe. “For the last decade, we have realized that the fans have wanted more,” Diesel said. “They wanted us to expand the legacy characters, their stories. And for the last decade, the desire has been for us to enter the TV space that Fallon has mastered. And I had to wait till it was right… It became right when Donna Langley started to oversee it all, because that’s when I knew that the integrity of the characters, the international appeal, what makes us all feel like family would be protected in the TV space… The news that I have here today is that Peacock is launching four shows from the ‘Fast and Furious’ universe.”

Now, we don't know what these four new Fast And Furious shows will look like yet, who will star in them, or what stories they will tell, but we do know that A) Vin Diesel has promised they'll honour the franchise's legacy, B) Vin Diesel will serve as producer, and C) Sons Of Anarchy's Mike Daniels and Shades Of Blue's Wolfe Coleman will serve as co-showrunners and executive producers on — and write the pilot for — at least one of them. Stay tuned for more news just as soon as we get it — the Fast family (faaaaamily) is about to get a whole lot bigger!

For a show named after the noun for your teenage years, Adolescence — and Adolescence bagging major telly awards — sure doesn't get old, does it? Having already cleaned up at the Emmys, Golden Globes, National Television Awards, Actor Awards, Film Independent Spirit Awards, and just about every other gong-giving ceremony out there, Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham's dizzying one-shot Netflix drama picked up another four awards at last night's glitzy BAFTA TV Awards 2026 — including Limited Series, Lead Actor for Stephen Graham, Supporting Actress for Christine Tremarco, and, making BAFTA history as its youngest ever recipient, Supporting Actor for 16-year-old Owen Cooper.

During a two-hour telecast from the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in London, hosted by Greg Davies and featuring performances from AURORA and Cat Burns, 29 statuettes were handed out in total. While Adolescence swept the major categories on the night, there was no shortage of worthy winners spread across the evening's other key races. ITV1's groundbreaking deaf-waitress-turned-police-lip-reader crime drama Code Of Silence bagged Drama Series; Seth Rogen dedicated Apple TV satire The Studio's International Series win to the late Catherine O'Hara; Narges Rashidi deservedly landed Lead Actress for British-Iranian factual drama Prisoner 951; and, in a crowd-pleasing moment worthy of a hearty A-HA! (and perhaps even a 'back of the net!"), Steve Coogan took home Male Performance in A Comedy Programme for the brilliant How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge).

Elsewhere on the night, Alan Carr's Celebrity Traitors triumph was crowned the year's most memorable TV moment, while the Academy also took the time to honour Dame Mary Berry with the BAFTA Fellowship and Martin Lewis with BAFTA's Special Award, with both recipients offering touching speeches as they paid tributes to lost loved ones and celebrated receiving richly deserved recognition for their work.

Find the full list of the night’s major winners below. [Winners highlighted in bold.]

Drama Series

Code Of Silence (ITV1)

A Thousand Blows (Disney+)

Blue Lights (BBC One)

This City Is Ours (BBC One)

International

The Studio (Apple TV)
The Bear (Disney+)
The Diplomat (Netflix)
Pluribus (Apple TV)
Severance (Apple TV)
The White Lotus (Sky Atlantic)

Limited Drama

Adolescence (Netflix)
I Fought The Law (ITV1)
Trespasses (Channel 4)
What It Feels Like For A Girl (BBC Three)

Leading Actress

Narges Rashidi - _Prisoner 951 (BBC One)
_Aimee Lou Wood - _Film Club (BBC Three)
_Erin Doherty - _A Thousand Blows (Disney+)
_Jodie Whittaker - _Toxic Town (Netflix)
_Sheridan Smith - _I Fought The Law (ITV1)
_Siân Brooke - Blue Lights (BBC One)

Leading Actor

Stephen Graham - _Adolescence (Netflix)
_Colin Firth - _Lockerbie: A Search for Truth (Sky Atlantic)
_Ellis Howard - _What it Feels Like for a Girl (BBC Three)
_James Nelson-Joyce - _This City is Ours (BBC One)
_Matt Smith - _The Death of Bunny Munro (Sky Atlantic)
_Taron Egerton - Smoke (Apple TV)

Supporting Actress

Christine Tremarco - Adolescence (Netflix)
Aimee Lou Wood - The White Lotus (Sky Atlantic)
Chyna McQueen - Get Millie Black (Channel 4)
Emilia Jones - Task (Sky Atlantic)
Erin Doherty - Adolescence (Netflix)
Rose Ayling-Ellis - Reunion (BBC One)

Supporting Actor

Owen Cooper - Adolescence (Netflix)
Ashley Walters - Adolescence (Netflix)
Fehinti Balogun - Down Cemetery Road (Apple TV)
Joshua Mcguire - The Gold (BBC One)
Paddy Considine - MobLand (Paramount+)
Rafael Mathé - The Death of Bunny Munro (Sky Atlantic)

Female Performance In A Comedy Programme

Katherine Parkinson - Here We Go (BBC One)
Diane Morgan - Mandy (BBC Two)
Jennifer Saunders - Amandaland (BBC One)
Lucy Punch - Amandaland (BBC One)
Philippa Dunne - Amandaland (BBC One)
Rosie Jones - Pushers (Channel 4)

Male Performance In A Comedy Programme

Steve Coogan - How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) (BBC One)
Jim Howick - Here We Go (BBC One)
Jon Pointing - Big Boys (Channel 4)
Lenny Rush - Am I Being Unreasonable? (BBC One)
Mawaan Rizwan - Juice (BBC Three)
Oliver Savell - Changing Ends (ITV1)

Scripted Comedy

Amandaland (BBC One)
Big Boys (Channel 4)
How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) (BBC One)
Things You Should Have Done (BBC Three)

Single Documentary

Grenfell: Uncovered (Netflix)
Louis Theroux: The Settlers (BBC Two)
One Day In Southport (Channel 4)
Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire (BBC Two)

P&O Cruises Memorable Moment

The Celebrity Traitors - Alan Carr wins (BBC One)
Adolescence - Jamie Snaps at the Psychologist (Netflix)
Big Boys - I didn't make it, did I? (Channel 4)
Blue Lights - The police are warned of an ambush plot to silence a key witness (BBC One)
Last One Laughing - Bob Mortimer and Richard Ayoade's speed date (Prime Video)
What It Feels Like For A Girl - Byron leaves for Brighton to start Uni, where she introduces herself as Paris (BBC Three)

BAFTA Special Award

Martin Lewis

BAFTA Fellowship

Dame Mary Berry

And for the BAFTA Television Craft Award winners, announced at an earlier ceremony last month, please head on over to the BAFTA website.

Slip inside the eye of your mind, don't you know you might find... some exciting Oasis news! It's hard to believe it's been almost a year already since the guns fell silent, the stars aligned, and Noel and Liam Gallagher finally stopped scrapping long enough to get back on stage. And now, whether you were there on Gallagher Hill or half the world away, the Oasis Live '25 experience is heading to a screen near you very soon. Today, Disney has confirmed that an as-yet-untitled official Oasis reunion documentary, created by Steven Knight and directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace (Meet Me In The Bathroom), is heading for cinemas and Disney+ this year.

Per Disney's press release, Knight and co's rock'n'roll star documentary — which will feature 'unprecedented on stage and backstage footage' from the Gallagher brothers' Live '25 tour and the duo's first on-camera interviews together in over 25 years — is heading for IMAX cinemas worldwide on 11 September ahead of a Disney+ streaming launch later this year. “I genuinely cannot wait for the world to see this film,” said Knight in a statement accompanying Disney's announcement of his movie's release plans. “I believe it captures the spirit and emotion of a global cultural moment and does justice to the wit and genius of two exceptional people. I wanted to tell the story of the brothers and the band, but just as important, the story of the fans whose lives the music has touched and sometimes changed forever. It is also the story of how music and songwriting can unite generations, cultures, countries and in a time of spite and division, give us all some reason to hope.”

The Gallagher brothers and their exploits — both in Oasis and in their solo careers beyond that fateful night at Rock en Seine, Paris in 2009 — are no stranger to cinema screens. Over the years, fans have had Liam Gallagher: As It Was, Supersonic, and bone-rattling 2021 concert movie Oasis Knebworth 1996 to remind us that the lads will live forever. But after the sold-out stadium phenomenon of last year's reunion tour, it's a fair bet we'll be feeling supersonic when Knight, Southern, and Lovelace's access all areas documentary hits the big screen later this year. It's gonna be, in a word, biblical. C'mon!

This week's Empire Podcast sees Alex Godfrey sit down for an audience with music superstar Billie Eilish and her co-director on her new concert movie, Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard And Soft: The Tour, one James Cameron. Blimey! Then Alex slides into the podbooth to join Helen O'Hara, James Dyer and host Chris Hewitt for a fun-filled episode in which they discuss Karl Urban's killiest characters, the best movie farmers, a whole bunch of trailers (including The Odyssey, Evil Dead Burn, and Resident Evil), and review the aforementioned Billie Eilish movie, The Sheep Detectives, Remarkably Bright Creatures, and Mortal Kombat II, a Helen-led review that may be more fun than the film. Oh, and what the hell is Thrawnhub? Enjoy!

And if all of the above isn't quite enough Empire Podcast for you, then there's plenty more where that came from. You can listen to this week's episode (which, if you're counting, is #716) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Interviews, which brings you even more chat with the cast and crew behind the biggest new releases. The most recent instalment sees Chris Hewitt sits down in person with James Cameron for even more Hit Me Hard And Soft chat, and then the great Guillermo del Toro, with the Mexican director coming to town to receive the BFI Fellowship and launch a season of his films at the BFI Southbank. (That is an excerpt from a longer del Toro interview which will be up on its own next week.). Finally, Sally Field and Lewis Pullman, the stars of new Netflix movie Remarkably Bright Creatures, Zoom in for a spirited chat with Chris.

Want to make sure you never miss out on the latest movie news, reviews, and Empire exclusives again? Click here to add Empire as your go-to source on Google Feed.

Platform: PS5

The first thing that strikes you in Saros isn't a barrage of lethal, orb-like projectiles — plenty of those come later — but its eye-popping visual presentation, immersive sound design, and absorbing storytelling. That's saying something, as developer Housemarque's latest sci-fi third-person shooter is another roguelite, a subgenre that's typically recognized for its player-punishing, progress-stripping difficulty rather than its cinema-rivaling qualities.

Make no mistake, much like the studio's tough-as-nails Returnal, Saros will see you regularly meeting your demise and losing hard-earned ground before being sent back to the starting line to do it all over again. But even after your first dozen or so unceremonious deaths, you probably won't be comparing Saros to similar games as much as you'll be appreciating its parallels to the likes of Alien, The Thing, and the works of H.R. Giger.

[...] it never feels like you're just juggling systems and mechanics; instead, you're naturally progressing through a compelling sci-fi yarn you want to see to its conclusion.

Players don the space armor of protagonist Arjun Devraj (superbly performed by Rahul Kohli,) an elite soldier sent to a monster-infested, eclipse-plagued planet to find out what happened to a missing mining colony. Of course, things go sideways real fast, and it's not long before Arjun and his crew find themselves at the center of a sanity-decaying cosmic nightmare. And that's before the above mentioned sun-obscuring event kicks in, transforming an already terrifying place into an absolute hellscape.

While Saros' focus on storytelling immediately separates it from many of its contemporaries, it deserves equal credit for organically blending its narrative with its incredibly polished gameplay. As in Returnal, its bullet hell-fueled deathloop is actually part of the plot, as are the many ways in which Arjun can grow more powerful with each run. So, whether you're sent back to the beginning following a thumb-blistering boss battle or are prepping for your next attempt by investing in upgrades, it never feels like you're just juggling systems and mechanics; instead, you're naturally progressing through a compelling sci-fi yarn you want to see to its conclusion.

It doesn't hurt that Saros is far more accessible than its predecessor and peers, scaling back the tedium, repetition, and controller-chucking frustration that often comes with even the highest-regarded roguelites. In terms of difficulty, it's more than capable of repeatedly handing you your backside. But it refreshingly balances its steep challenge with a number of permanent upgrade paths and other quality-of-life features — such as allowing you to skip completed areas — that lead to you feeling noticeably stronger with each run.

Still, Saros is no pushover, and even as a more approachable entry in the notoriously difficult subgenre, it won't be one for the faint-hearted. But, if you're a new roguelite recruit seeking a great entry point — or a more seasoned fan craving a fresh take that prioritises presentation and story as much as enemy-obliterating flow-state shooting — this outstanding shooter is absolutely worth a trip to the deadly, sun-deprived planet for.

Where once music divas became film actors, it is now de rigueur for the biggest stars to direct: less Diana Ross and more Barbra Streisand. In recent years, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift shaped their own music for the screen, maintaining control of their creative vision. Two-time Oscar-winner Billie Eilish now follows, but does something different for her third concert movie. While there’s a clear sense here that she has a guiding hand, she has also recruited James Cameron as co-director, giving this a unique mix of intimacy and clear-eyed distance.

Filmed over four nights, mostly in Manchester, this does a superb job of capturing Eilish’s skills as a performer, running the gamut from rabble-rouser to cult leader to angelic preacher. She’s a fascinating figure, dressed like early Eminem and running around the stage like the Beastie Boys in the ’90s, but capable of breaking hearts like Adele. You don’t have to know the set-list well for this to make you reflect on her idiosyncratic energy and the unusual place she has carved out in the pop landscape. As she conducts the crowd like a maestro, it’s obvious that she’s speaking to something necessary, and bringing outsiders into her orbit by rejecting the usual pop posing.

Cameron includes only a few minutes of behind-the-scenes interview and scene-setting with her, but he chooses his moments well.

Cameron includes only a few minutes of behind-the-scenes interview and scene-setting with her (for more on Eilish's backstory, check out 2021 doc The World's A Little Blurry), but he chooses his moments well. It’s genuinely interesting to see how she reaches the stage, what shaped her performance choices and why some very good dogs play a key role. He also marshals his battalion of cameras as expertly as you’d expect, capturing all the dazzling light and fire effects in a way that justifies the 3D surcharge. But importantly, he doesn’t neglect Eilish herself or the fans in his pursuit of a pretty image.

This is not a revelatory, in-depth documentary about Eilish as an artist, no Shut Up & Sing or Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster. But it’s a well-crafted concert film with just enough insight to satisfy. There’s also something quite touching in Cameron’s constant deference to his co-director and her vision for the work. If the famously fiery Cameron can accept co-billing with a pop star because he sees a talent worthy of respect, think what the rest of us have to learn from this Gen Z iconoclast.

Steven Soderberg seems to be on something of a hot streak at the moment. The prolific director’s latest film — his 37th! — comes barely a year after his last effort, the supremely satisfying spy thriller Black Bag, and he stays in London for The Christophers, a similarly sharp experience, though less flashy and fast.

This is a film which benefits from three elements. There’s Soderbergh’s careful, sly, unshowy direction, which keeps things compelling. There’s the delicious original script by Ed Solomon (Bill & Ted and Men In Black), full of poison-tongued dialogue and rug-pulling turns. And there are sublime performances from its leads, Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel, both absolutely at the top of their game.

Save for a couple of brief appearances from James Corden and Jessica Gunning, this is very much McK-versus-Mic. It plays a little like 1972’s Sleuth, in which two acting titans (Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier) duke it out in a big house for a battle of psychological warfare, one-upmanship and smack talk.

Coel is fabulous here: with this and Mother Mary, she seems to be finding a new groove as a leading woman.

McKellen plays Julian Sklar, an ageing artist and painter once considered the brightest talent in Britain, before consigning himself to a needlessly cruel TV art show and recording cheap Cameo-style video messages for cash. Coel, meanwhile, plays Lori Butler, an art-restorer and frustrated young painter living in a studio squat, hired by Julian’s children (Corden and Gunning, both playing it a bit too broad) as a fake assistant for him — in actuality, recruited to make forgeries of the titular Christophers, Julian’s great unfinished-paintings series, to sell after his death.

Solomon’s script finds delightful tension in the generational, racial and gender divide between the two characters — there are some excruciating exchanges about polyamory (“I was once in a throuple,” Julian offers, unhelpfully) — and in their wildly different philosophies on art and life. Their dynamic dances around, from exploiter to exploitee and back again, both standing their ground, the film never accelerating anywhere too surprisingly, but never quite landing where you might think.

Coel is fabulous here: with this and Mother Mary, she seems to be finding a new groove as a leading woman. And McKellen is genuinely superb, shambling around the house with elderly bluster yet delivering broadsides with the precision of a master draughtsman. He is cantankerous, yet also sad and wistful, finding many shades of a man being forced to take stock towards the end of his life, confronted with disappointments and regrets. It is full of pathos and passion and perspicacity, and while we know it won’t be his last role — he’s suiting up for Gandalf again as we speak — it would make for a beautifully bittersweet swansong for the 86-year-old actor, should he ever decide to consider taking his Equity pension.

To many members of Generations Alpha and Z, Iron Maiden are likely the band whose banging tune ‘The Trooper’ made for iconic graduation-day music during the final episode of Stranger Things. Others — over 18, at least — might know them for the frenzied riffs that accompany Ralph Fiennes’ satanic freak-out in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. But if you really want to get The Number (Of The Beast) on one of the biggest outfits in heavy metal, this dynamic documentary is a fine start.

Directed by Malcolm Venville (44 Inch Chest, documentary miniseries Theodore Roosevelt), Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition will also please hardcore fans, placing their extended-family, through-thick-and-thin relationship with the band front and centre as it opts for a chronological trawl. It’s all here, even if, at 106 minutes, it’s a whistle-stop tour: bassist Steve Harris forming Maiden in 1975, as an alternative to punk; vocalist Paul Di’Anno fired two albums in because his rock ’n’ roll lifestyle impeded Harris’, well, burning ambition; new vocalist Bruce Dickinson powering the terminal-velocity years of ’82-’88 (five albums, non-stop touring, global success — despite minimal airplay); Dickinson, burnt out, leaving in ’93, then rejoining in ’99, post-grunge; Dickinson’s recovery from throat cancer in 2015; drummer Nicko McBrain’s stroke in 2023…

Some viewers might feel that Venville’s chronicle plays it too coy [...] but Maiden’s brand has always been professionalism and decency.

Some viewers might feel that Venville’s chronicle plays it too coy — Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster goes far deeper and uglier — but Maiden’s brand has always been professionalism and decency. A shy, down-to-earth bunch when they’re not shredding it on stage, they eschew the spotlight, letting zombie-like mascot Eddie, created by artist Derek Riggs, hog their album covers. It’s the same here: Maiden offer their voiced thoughts but aren’t interviewed on camera; Eddie stalks his way through the ace animated sequences that punctuate electrifying footage and impassioned talking heads, including Chuck D, Lars Ulrich and super-fan Javier Bardem.

If there’s a theme, it’s that music provides escape and community. Maiden were forged during the Winter Of Discontent, amid strikes, inflation and unemployment, and one startling sequence sees the band take their 1984 world tour to Poland, behind the Iron Curtain. It’s here, as thousands of oppressed fans lose their shit in front of a wall of armed guards, that Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition goes up to 11.

In news that will comes as no surprise to anyone who watched Chloé Zhao's emotional tour de force Hamnet — or indeed the press tour for Chloé Zhao's emotional tour de force Hamnet — it looks like stars Paul Mescal and freshly minted Oscar winner Jessie Buckley are already gearing up to fall in love and break our hearts on the big screen once again. As Deadline reports, the stars and IRL best pals are set to reunite in Hold Onto Your Angels, an epic new romance from Oscar-nominated Beasts Of The Southern Wild director Benh Zeitlin.

Set to be introduced to potential buyers at Cannes later this month ahead of a prospective February 2027 shoot, Hold Onto Your Angels is set to see writer-director Zeitlin return to the bayous of South Louisiana for a love story that sounds poles apart from Mescal and Buckley's last team-up. Per the description shared by Deadline, Zeitlin's latest “follows a hell-bound outlaw (Mescal) and a ferocious shepherd of lost souls (Buckley) who fall in catastrophic love as their crumbling bayou paradise drags them under.” Honestly, Zeitlin had our curiosity at 'hell-bound outlaw', our attention at 'ferocious shepherd of lost souls', and our tickets bought by the time we got to 'catastrophic love'.

"Hold On To Your Angels is the most impossible love story I’ve ever witnessed — an outlaw romance for the end of America, set on the crumbling edge of South Louisiana," shared Zeitlin in a statement accompanying the movie's announcement. "I’ve been dreaming of telling it since its hero, Pam Harper, walked into an audition for Beasts of the Southern Wild seventeen years ago. It’s a love letter to an endangered way of life — and a rallying cry for empathy across a fractured planet."

Added production company Plan B: "“Benh Zeitlin absolutely stunned us and the world at large with the cosmic sorcery of Beasts Of The Southern Wild. With Hold On To Your Angels, Benh has set his powerful mix of intense realism, myth, and magic against the large scale of an epic love story. This is a writer/director with a vision for the ages and we could not be more proud to be by his side to make this film with Jessie and Paul.”

Just how exactly Zeitlin's fantastical sounding latest will take form is anybody's guess at this point: if Beasts Of The Southern Wild taught us anything, it's that Zeitlin is a filmmaker who very much marches to the beat of his own drum. Suffice it to say however, with Mescal and Buckley leading and Benh Zeitlin at the helm, hold onto your butts before you Hold Onto Your Angels — it's gonna be a must-see.

Actors and filmmakers often talk about making movies as bonding experiences for the cast and crew alike. And clearly that must've been the case for star Charlize Theron and director Baltasar Kormákur as they set about making this year's cat-and-mouse Netflix streaming sensation Apex out in the Australian Outback, as the duo have already set their next project together. Per Deadline's reporting, Kormákur is set to produce and direct an adaptation of Stan Parish's unpublished novel Six Clean Kills at Universal, with Theron aboard to produce and prospectively star.

According to Deadline, Theron had actually been circling Six Clean Kills for some time before today's announcement, and having enjoyed the adrenalised experience of working with Kormákur on Apex, this project has provided the perfect opportunity to work together again as soon as possible. Admittedly, we don't actually know what the source material for Six Clean Kills is about just yet, but it wouldn't feel like too far of a stretch to suggest the talent involved and the nature of the title suggest this probably isn't likely to be a rom-com or a nature documentary. What's more, not only are Kormákur and Theron best known for cerebral films often set within action-thriller territory, but Parish's last novel, Love And Theft, was itself a full-on international heist thriller.

Now, it's worth noting that we're not likely to see Six Clean Kills hitting cinema screens anytime soon — Theron is currently shooting Amazon 'culinary thriller' Tyrant with Julia Garner and Demi Moore, while Kormákur is in production on true story inspired Netflix joint The Big Fix with Mark Wahlberg and Riz Ahmed. That being said, after the throwback action movie thrills of Apex (seriously, it's one of the best Netflix movies we've had in a good while), we're sure that Six Clean Kills will be *ahem* summit worth waiting for.

It’s an odd experience, to find yourself thinking, “I’d really like to see more Putin.” Yet that is what you’ll likely feel during Olivier Assayas’ long, broad-scoped and often plodding account of the man’s rise to power and the remoulding of Russia into the rogue nation — sorry, “sovereign democracy” — it is today. Adapted from a satirical Italian novel (by Giuliano da Empoli) about a fictional spin doctor loosely based on one-time First Deputy Chief Vladislav Surkov, The Wizard Of The Kremlin is less concerned with the Russian President than the people who enabled his ascent amid the turmoil of the Soviet collapse, and consolidated his position through some pretty audacious political chicanery. In this sense, Assayas’ film has value as a kind of semi-documentarian account of a geopolitically tumultuous era, and how the self-interest of oligarchs garrotted Russian democracy and created a surly, grey-faced monster. If you’re not already aware of the details, it’s a timely eye-opener.

However, the movie’s framing and structure leave much to be desired. The entire story is couched as an unconvincing conversation between Surkov avatar Vadim Baranov (Paul Dano) and an American journalist (Jeffrey Wright), making it lean far too heavily on expository voiceover. Assayas takes an unadventurously chronological approach, clumsily segmenting the film into chapters while trying to fold in an unaffecting love story, with Alicia Vikander popping up in a variety of looks as Baranov’s opportunistic inamorata, who barely makes a dent on the narrative.

Dano sure-handedly underplays every scene, conveying the sense of a highly intelligent man whose air of faint, supercilious amusement and self-confidence are honestly felt, even if the web he’s so expertly spinning will ultimately trap him along with everyone else. But he is a cold fish of a protagonist, ultimately less interesting than the machinations he devises.

A film that drags on for longer than it should.

Far more compelling is the “Tsar” of this Slavic tragedy, bravely portrayed by Jude Law without a lick of prosthetics and no attempt to do an accent. Still, it is quite a transformation, as Law-Putin scowls, struts and manspreads his way to supreme power, fists clenched and mouth turned down throughout. There’s no big, grandstanding scene, but Law impresses by teasing evidence of his character’s deep-seated frustration and chilling us with Putin’s almost listless ruthlessness.

There are also even one or two laughs, such as the moment he gruffly asks Baranov, “What is Daft Punk?” But he is in too few scenes, making the part more of an extended cameo in a film that drags on for longer than it should — especially when he’s not on screen.

If you haven’t been watching Saturday Night Live UK, what have you been doing? Going out, on a Saturday night, having fun IRL? Fine, good for you. But for the rest of us, SNL’s British experiment has proved a real success, assembling a mega-talented young lineup who have delivered several instantly iconic sketches. (This week’s pork advert skit was one for the ages.) It seems the powers that be at Sky – and SNL boss Lorne Michaels – are happy too, as there are set to be many more sketches to come.

It’s been confirmed that SNL UK has been picked up for Season 2 – and it’s going to be a super-sized return, with a 12-episode order. Season 1, which currently has two remaining instalments to come, will total eight episodes, itself an extension from the initial order of six eps. And if fans are sad to be saying goodbye to the likes of Jack Shep, Al Nash, Emma Sidi, George Fouracres and Hammed Animashaun in the next two weeks, there’s good news: the wait for Season 2 won’t be a long one. The show will be back in September, heading into early 2027. “I’m incredibly proud of our team and the show. It keeps getting better every week,” says Lorne Michaels in a statement. “I’m grateful to Dana Strong and Sky for believing in and supporting SNL UK. I’m excited for the season ahead.”

For now, let’s relish these final two Season 1 episodes, and start manifesting a third ’45 Seconds With Fouracres’.

Streaming on: Netflix
Episodes viewed: 7 of 7

Any new Man On Fire adaptation has some big shoes to fill. A.J. Quinnell’s 1980 novel of the same name has been brought to screens twice before — the most notable being the 2004 Tony Scott film starring Denzel Washington as John Creasy, an alcoholic ex-mercenary who paints a masterpiece of death all over Mexico City. Created by Kyle Killen, this Netflix series quickly establishes itself as its own thing. And a typically excellent lead performance by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II keeps proceedings compelling, even amid some uninspired plotting.

One thing that remains consistent between this and previous Man On Fire iterations is Creasy’s connection with his young charge. In the Washington film, a young Dakota Fanning was Creasy’s protectee. This time around, it’s Poe (Billie Boullet), a rebellious teen who’s orphaned after her family is murdered. At its best, their dynamic is sweet, emotional, and refreshingly honest, with each helping to pull the other out of a darkness that constantly threatens to swallow them whole.

A slight cut above many thrillers of this ilk.

There’s also an effort to make this feel big. While the quality of the action is mostly serviceable, one set-piece on a runway is impressively ambitious. And with much of the action taking place in Rio, the series makes full use of its location, where a sense of authenticity shines through, and its inhabitants. In that regard, Alice Braga brings warmth and guts to Valeria, a driver who comes to Creasy and Poe’s aid. And the most pleasant surprise of the season is Iago Xavier as Vico, a street-smart gang-leader who proves to be much more than a cliché.

While there’s plenty that works well, much of Man On Fire’s plot (which has been re-worked to incorporate elements of Quinnell’s second Creasy novel, The Perfect Kill) feels by the numbers. In addition to being exceedingly predictable — no prizes for guessing who the bad guys behind the bad guys are — there are multiple frustrating and silly plot contrivances, with characters making dumb decisions that feel designed to extend proceedings unnecessarily.

It is the central performance from Abdul-Mateen II which steadies the ship. Creasy starts the series by attempting suicide, having been broken by PTSD; his journey back to the light, fighting not just for vengeance but to live — which Abdul-Mateen II navigates with deeply felt precision — is patient and hard-won. And that makes this a slight cut above many thrillers of this ilk.

When it comes to head spinning franchise chronologies, Planet Of The Apes takes some beating. Since that breathtaking Statue of Liberty denouement to Franklin J. Schaffner's original 1968 movie, we've had four direct sequels (Beneath The, Escape From, Conquest Of, and Battle For The Planet Of The Apes), a modern reboot trilogy (Rise Of, Dawn Of, and War For The Planet Of The Apes), the first chapter of a planned sequel trilogy to the reboot trilogy (Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes), and that Mark Wahlberg one. Still following? Cool. Because now we're getting a new Planet Of The Apes movie that isn't connected to any of the others!

Per Deadline's reporting, The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman and that movie's co-writer, Josh Friedman (also, notably, a writer on Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes and Avatar: Fire And Ash), have signed on to tackle a new, as-yet-untitled original Apes movie for 20th Century Studios. And while Deadline is quick to state that the nature of this new film and its potential connection to the wider Apes universe is unconfirmed, it is believed that this won't be a follow-up to Wes Ball's $397 million grossing critically and commercially successful Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes. In fact, the future of any sequels to that movie, set 300 years after Caesar breathed his last, remains very much up in the air at the moment — not least because Wes Ball is currently still off battling bokoblins as he gets his Legend Of Zelda movie ready for release next year.

Precious little else is known about Shakman and Friedman's take on Planet Of The Apes at this point beyond the fact it's in development, so we've no plot details, casting, or even rough timeframes for shooting or release to offer up just yet. We do at least know that longtime Apes producers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver are aboard the latest instalment in the nearly $2 billion grossing franchise. Who knows, by the time this next chapter in the saga of apes and man hits our screens, maybe we'll have finally wrapped our heads around how everything does or doesn't connect and what exactly Tim Burton was thinking back in 2001. Maybe...

There's just no stopping Matthew Lillard right now — and honestly, who'd even want to? Following a crowd pleasing return to the role of Stu Macher in Scream 7 earlier this year, an impressive showing in Cross Season 2 back in February, and a hell of an entrance into the MCU as Daredevil Born Again Season 2's slippery spy Mr. Charles, Lillard is about to add another major franchise role to his infinity gauntlet of IP appearances. Per Deadline's reporting, Lillard has landed a role in James Gunn's upcoming Superman sequel, Man Of Tomorrow, at DC Studios.

Currently in production ahead of a planned 9 July, 2027 cinema release, Man Of Tomorrow is set to see David Corenswet's Man of Steel team up with arch nemesis Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) to take on classic silver age comic book supervillain Brainiac (Lars Eidinger). Further plot details on the movie are being kept under wraps for now, as is the role Lillard is set to play in Gunn's self-written and directed Supes sequel. We do however know who will be starring alongside the former Shaggy Rogers when he makes his DCU bow. Adria Arjona is set to play Maxima, an alien queen with a serious Supes obsession in Marvel comics, in the film, while Lanterns star Aaron Pierre is bringing his Green Lantern, John Stewart, from the small to the big screen for Gunn's latest blockbuster.

The DCU newcomers join a slew of returnees including *deep breath* Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), Guy Gardner (Nathon Fillion) and Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific). We'll find out what's in store for them — and just who exactly Matthew Lillard is playing — when Man Of Tomorrow hits cinemas next summer. But before then, there's no shortage of big screen DC goodness to look forward to. Supergirl is due to take off on 26 June, while James Watkins' very intriguing body-horror Clayface is heading our way just in time for Halloween on 23 October. Superhero fatigue, you say? Clearly James Gunn never got that memo!

Hear ye, hear ye muggles — HBO Harry Potter news coming at you faster than a Nimbus 2000! Sure, we may still be seven months or so out from the release of Mark Mylod and Francesca Gardiner's Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone on HBO Max, but that hasn't stopped HBO from moving quickly to confirm the future of its ambitious Wizarding World reboot. Per Deadline's reporting, the TV and streaming giant has already given the greenlight to Harry Potter Season 2 — presumably soon to be officially titled Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets after the second book in JK Rowling's boy wizard saga.

As confirmed by Deadline, the second season of Harry Potter — which is due to begin filming later this year ahead of The Philosopher's Stone's Christmas release — will bring with it a little bit of a shake-up on the creative side of things. While Francesca Gardiner is set to continue as the series' showrunner, for the saga's second instalment she won't be going it alone: Season 1 writer and fellow Succession alum Jon Brown is being promoted to co-showrunner for Season 2 as Harry (Dominic McLaughlin), Ron (Alastair Stout), and Hermione (Arabella Stanton) prepare to tackle giant spiders, bloody basilisks, and Moaning Myrtle.

“As we have laid out our plans for the overlapping production schedules to finish season one by Christmas and to return to production for season two this Autumn, it has become clear that bringing on a co-showrunner is the key to maintaining our momentum,” said Gardner in a statement following Brown's appointment as co-showrunner. “I’ve loved working with Jon from the very first day we met on Succession through to these recent times together on Harry Potter. Not only do I have huge admiration for his writing, but he’s also a brilliant collaborator and a lovely person. We are lucky to have him.” Added Brown in his own statement: "I’m incredibly excited to be collaborating with Francesca as co-showrunner. It has been a joy to write on Philosopher’s Stone and I’d like to thank Francesca and HBO for putting their faith in me to continue this remarkable journey. Seems you’re never too old to get your invitation to Hogwarts.”

At the time of writing, production on Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone — whose veritable constellation of stars includes Nick Frost, Paapa Essiedu, John Lithgow, and Janet McTeer among others — is still actually underway. But with that Christmas Day release date looming, and plans for The Chamber Of Secrets quickly coming together, it won't be long before we're back aboard the Hogwarts Express for the beginning of another seven-year stint at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

It’s a big year for fighting video games getting the big-screen treatment. In October, Street Fighter will hadouken its way back into cinemas. Before that comes another round of Mortal Kombat. 2021’s reboot film was a solid enough re-introduction to the franchise and its characters, but with no actual fighting tournament to speak of, it all felt like a prologue to the main event. In that respect — and a couple of others — Mortal Kombat II, directed by the returning Simon McQuoid, offers more to chew on than its predecessor, even if it remains largely nutrition-free.

The most noticeable upgrade is the sequel’s change in lead protagonists. Instead of the bland Cole Young (Lewis Tan), we get Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) and Johnny Cage (Karl Urban). What heart the movie has is due to Kitana, who bears a personal grudge against evil Outworld emperor Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford). Rudolph isn’t given much room to truly delve into her character’s difficult history or her bond with her sister and fellow Kombatant Jade (Tati Gabrielle), a tantalising storyline that’s itching for more focus. Still, there’s a suitable grit and determination to her Kitana that shines through, and her bladed steel fans are certainly put to creative use. As for Cage, Urban teases out every bit of humour he can as a washed-up Hollywood actor who’s suddenly pulled into the world of Mortal Kombat, and it works more often than not.

The fatalities are pleasingly gory when they arrive...

But any Mortal Kombat film knows its audience’s primary concern is the fighting tournament itself — which we actually get to see this time — and in that regard the sequel by and large delivers. The fatalities are pleasingly gory when they arrive, and though some of the CGI and excessive green-screen is off-putting, there’s just enough variety and inventiveness to keep each battle entertaining. The high point comes when Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) faces off against his old ally Kung Lao (Max Huang), the former’s fire powers clashing with the latter’s lethal razor-rimmed hat against a colourful backdrop. It’s a flawless, satisfying meld of hard-hitting, innovative choreography and special-effects wizardry that other brawls — which run the gamut from decent to impressive — can’t match.

Elsewhere, the balance between the serious and the stupid isn’t quite as tight. A lot is made of the huge stakes in Mortal Kombat — every loss and every death Earthrealm’s champions suffer is potentially devastating. At the same time, this sequel traffics in necromancy and resurrections to such a degree that death also doesn’t seem to matter all that much in this universe. True to the games or not, it’s a strange mix that makes it difficult to fully emotionally invest in proceedings.

Thankfully, just as he did in the first movie, Kano (Josh Lawson) is on hand to constantly and entertainingly remind us how ridiculous all of this is. Indeed, he might as well be breaking the fourth wall given the Deadpool-esque nature of his jokes and one-liners, which are consistently hilarious. Lawson is a blast in the role, and the knowing nods to the absurdity of Mortal Kombat helps everything else go down a little easier.

In 1971, Warner Bros. released two films on either side of the Atlantic that have gone down as being among the most controversial in cinema history. Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, adapted from Anthony Burgess’ novel, drew critical acclaim and outrage for its ultraviolent brand of nihilism, but made it to screens in one piece. Ken Russell's The Devils on the other hand, a positively blasphemous adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s 1952 historical novel The Devils of Loudun starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, had to be hacked down mercilessly in the edit to achieve a theatrical release. But now, 55 years later, 'The Russell Cut' of The Devils is finally about to be unleashed.

Per a press release issued by Warner Bros. earlier today, the director's cut of Ken Russell's The Devils is, in an instance of poetic happenstance, set to be the inaugural release from the studio's new 'Clockwork' imprint. A new 4K restoration of the movie that's been 'cut to Ken Russell’s specific direction', the director's cut of The Devils is set to make its world premiere in the Cannes Classics strand of the Cannes Film Festival later this month. Then, for the rest of us, we can look forward to seeing the film release in cinemas globally later this year, with the BFI partnering on the movie's UK release.

For those who haven't seen The Devils in any of its existing forms, the movie — long since championed by the likes of Mark Kermode and Guillermo del Toro, garlanded with Venice Film Festival and U.S. National Board of Review Best Director nods, and legendary among horror movie lovers for its boundary-pushing content and borderline mythic missing scenes — is set in 17th century France and details the ‘true’ story of a group of Ursuline nuns’ experience of demonic possession, the mass exorcisms which followed, and the public trial and burning of one Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed). Exploring themes of religious manipulation, absolution, institutional and moral corruption, the dark side of power and the strength of the human spirit, The Devils may shock in content but only as much as it awes in its artistry. From Derek Jarman’s neofuturistic, Metropolis inspired set designs, to Peter Maxwell Davies’ unholy score, to Reed and Redgraves’ career-defining performances, it's a hell of a thing to behold — at times quite literally.

Ken Russell's director's cut of The Devils — the long awaited and now soon to be publicly seen for the first time ever 'Russell Cut' — is due to hit cinemas stateside for one week only on 16 October, 2026. International rollout of this historic cinema release will follow soon after. So say your prayers, make your peace with your chosen higher power, and be prepared: The Devils is coming, and you don't want to miss it.

If there's one thing we've learned to expect from an Ari Aster movie it is, cliché as it may sound the unexpected. From lamppost decapitations and satanism to sunshine and folk horror (Hereditary and Midsommar), and from penis monster fuelled anxiety trips to pure COVID chaos (Beau Is Afraid and Eddington), no two Aster movies are the same. And for his next move, per Deadline's reporting, Aster is set to team up with none other than Scarlett Johansson on a secretive new A24 movie, simply titled Scapegoat.

Despite the fact ScarJo is one of the most booked and busy actors in Hollywood just now, with shooting only just wrapped on Mike Flanagan's The Exorcist retooling and The Batman Part II looming on her horizon this summer, the two-time Oscar nominee wasn't going to miss a chance to work with Ari Aster. According to Deadline's sources, after reading Aster's Scapegoat screenplay, Johansson was so intent on making the movie — whose plot, as you may expect, remains firmly under wraps — that the film's producers were willing to commit to filming later this year to accommodate her schedule and land Aster his leading lady.

Having starred in both The Phoenician Scheme and Jurassic World Dominion last year and released her directorial debut, Eleanor The Great, Scarlett Johansson could've been forgiven for pumping the breaks this year and taking a breather. Instead, she's doubling down on new projects. Along with Scapegoat, The Batman Part II, and The Exorcist, ScarJo has already got James Gray's Paper Tiger and Brad Bird's long-gestating Ray Gunn in the can (and, in Paper Tiger's case, in the Cannes — film festival that is.) Here's hoping Scapegoat works out well for Johansson and Aster. And hey, if it doesn't, we're sure they can find someone else to blame it on. Now if only there were a word for that...

It’s been 40 years since Aliens proved exactly what a sequel could do – and it’s lost none of its power in the intervening decades. The new issue of Empire is a massive celebration of James Cameron’s stellar sequel, and it’s about to burst onto newsstands. (You can order a copy online here, too.)

But first, here’s a sneak peek inside its pages…

Aliens At 40

Game over, man! Empire reunites James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn and Jenette Goldstein for an epic 14-page interview, looking back on the making of Aliens, and their enduring friendship.

Toy Story 5

‘You’ve got a friend in me’ doesn’t just apply to Woody and Buzz. As Toy Story 5 approaches, Empire sits down with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen to talk 30 years of working together on Pixar’s childhood saga.

The Boys: Season 5

The most shocking show on television is about to go out with a bang. The Boys creator Eric Kripke, and stars Antony Starr, Jack Quaid, Karl Urban, Erin Moriarty, team up for a group Empire interview reflecting on a decade of superhero sex, gore, and swearing galore.

Scary Movie

Wazzuuuup! Cinema’s most successful horror spoof franchise returns, with decades of material to lampoon. Empire speaks to returning creatives Marlon and Shawn Wayans about why the world needs to laugh.

A.I. In Hollywood

It’s the biggest conversation in Hollywood right now: is A.I. going to make or break the movies? Empire speaks to industry insiders about the good, the bad, and the ugly of a seismic technological shift.

Naomi Ackie

Beyond Star Wars and Whitney Houston, British actor Naomi Ackie has emerged as a force in uncompromising films like Sorry, Baby, Mickey 17, and Blink Twice. Ahead of a starring role in Boots Riley’s bold I Love Boosters, Ackie talks through her career so far in a major new Empire interview.

First Word

In this month’s news section, we explore why cinema is looking to the skies right now; RSVP with director Olivia Wilde on her fiery thriller The Invite; explore the foundations of Masters Of The Universe’s Castle Grayskull – and call Saul himself, Bob Odenkirk, for the Pint Of Milk interview. And much more.

Final Cut

In the home entertainment section, we talk to 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple director Nia DaCosta on her stellar sequel and its box office performance; go role-by-role with Ben Whishaw through his career; dig into the spoilers of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man with director Tom Harper; give Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar the Masterpiece treatment; rank the Jurassic movies; and much more.

Reviews

In this issue, you’ll find reviews of John Carney’s latest music-based movie, Power Ballad, Ben Wheatley’s action film Normal, Steven Soderbergh’s art thriller The Christophers, rock-doc Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, gritty survival thriller Apex, rural murder-mystery The Sheep Detectives, and plenty more.

By the time Anthony Bourdain died, aged just 61, in 2018, the six-time Emmy award-winning celebrity chef and writer had long since crossed the rubicon into the realm of pop cultural legend. A thrill-seeker and a humanist with rockstar swagger and a try everything attitude to life ("Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride," he once wrote), Bourdain burned bright and carried that heat constantly, with many of his highs — and lows — captured either on camera or in print. With A24's borderline anti-biopic Tony however, director Matt Johnson (Blackberry) and star Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) are set to shift our attention to Bourdain's formative years as a 19-year-old living and working in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Check out the trailer below;

The old adage goes, "If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen." But as we see in this first trailer for Tony, it seems more like it was a case of "if you can't handle the heat, get into the kitchen" for Anthony Bourdain, who we see here missing out on a prestigious writing fellowship, dropping out of college, and hitting the bottle (and his bedroom wall) before landing a life-changing gig working in a seafood restaurant under Antonio Banderas' head chef, Ciro. "You work in a kitchen before?" asks Ciro as we see Bourdain fumble pots and pans. "Yeah," deadpans the budding chef. Cue Bourdain earning his spurs in Ciro's kitchen with new bud Sal (Leo Woodall) as he navigates a fiery relationship with love interest Nancy (Emilia Jones), develops his punk-rock approach to cooking, and begins what would go on to be a life- and career-long inquiry into the human spirit — both in himself and the world around him.

“We chose to support Tony because it is not a standard biopic and doesn’t attempt to summarize a life,” shared Bourdain's estate in a statement explaining their support for Johnson's film. “Guided by the vision of director Matt Johnson, the film depicts one transformative summer in 1975 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is an interpretation, as that part of Tony’s life will always remain somewhat unknown." Continuing, the estate praises Tony's representation of Bourdain and its potential to remind viewers of its subject's adventurous spirit. “We appreciate the portrayal of Tony’s complexity, his intellectual appetite and his conviction — qualities that eventually took him around the globe and endeared him to so many," they write. "We hope this film serves as a reminder that every journey has a start, and that audiences see the beginnings of the man who taught us how to be better explorers on our own paths.”

We look forward to seeing what Matt Johnson, Dominic Sessa, and co have been cooking when Tony arrives in cinemas this summer. Until then, we're off to binge all of Parts Unknown again... as if we really needed an excuse.

Here at Empire, we believe that all films are important, of course. Undeniably though, there are ‘important films’, awards-worthy dramas that tackle serious issues, destined to possibly change the world. But who decided that can only be bestowed upon stony-faced biopics and ten-tissue weepies? Enter Scary Movie (aka ‘Scary Movie 6’), the long-awaited return of the super-successful horror spoof series, with original creators the Wayans back at the helm, and two decades of modern horror greats to lampoon. What if Scary Movie can heal the world?

“People want to feel good again,” Marlon Wayans tells Empire, as he readies to release Scary Movie’s comeback. “It’s been a long time since we felt good, and laughter is bonding, and when was the last time we all came together as a country, as a world, to just sit down and laugh at each other and with each other?” Penned alongside his brothers Shawn Wayans and Keenen Ivory Wayans, Marlon hopes that the new Scary Movie can unite everyone in its no-holds-barred humour – even in an era where comic boundaries are more rigid than before. “It’s okay if the audience goes [wincing sound], ‘Ooooooh!’” he says. “If they go, ‘Oooooh!’, you don’t turn away from that. You go, ‘Okay they’re listening. Now let me keep digging until I find the laughter.’ There’s no fear in comedy. You can’t be timid.”

This time around, the Wayans have plenty of ammo: the Halloween requels, a decade of A24 arthouse horror, a slasher resurgence, an entire Conjuring saga, and – of course – the revival of Scream itself. Though, Shawn Wayans left it to his brothers to get into the more nightmarish end of the 21st Century horror spectrum. “I don’t have the strongest stomach for horror,” he admits. “When it gets too dark, it makes the hair on my arms stand up and I’m just like, ‘Yo, this is creepy, man.’” Sounds like everyone could use a big laugh.

Read Empire’s full Scary Movie feature – speaking to the Wayans on their journey with (and without) the comedy franchise, and its glorious return – in the Aliens issue, on sale Thursday May 7. Pre-order online here. Scary Movie comes to UK cinemas from June 5.

To quote one Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Instagram post from earlier this afternoon, "COUSINS! PRIMOS! CUGINI!!! Get ready for GARY!!!!" Well we would get ready for Gary, Mr. Moss-Bachrach, but the thing is that Gary is already here. "And just what exactly is Gary?" we hear you cry. Well, it's only a whole flippin' surprise extra episode of FX kitchen "comedy" The Bear, centred around fan favourite front-of-house manager Richie, that stealth dropped on Disney+/Hulu this afternoon, that's what. Check out Moss-Bachrach's enthusiastic announcement post below;

With The Bear officially set to end with Season 5 sometime next month, the clock's starting to wind down on FX's beloved culinary series. But before then, before The Bear's doors close for good, Moss-Bachrach has teamed up with co-star — and here co-writer — Jon Bernthal to deliver a flashback episode that follows cousins Richie (Moss-Bachrach) and Mikey (Bernthal) as the duo head out on a work trip to Gary, Indiana. Per the episode's official press release, 'Gary' is an 'intimate and revealing' hour-long special that "illuminates the two friends’ complicated relationship, uncovering new layers of Mikey’s mental state while offering crucial insight into the man Richie is when audiences first meet him in season one — adding emotional context that reframes their story from the very beginning.”

Directed by series creator Christopher Storer, 'Gary' comes as Bernthal and Moss-Bachrach are enjoying a stellar run in a critically acclaimed new stage production of heist classic Dog Day Afternoon. And having already wolfed down this latest, unexpected helping of The Bear, we can safely say you'd have to be barking mad not to jump on Disney+ and get 'Gary' watched right now. Off you pop!

If you thought you saw a sick new horror trailer last week with the release of our first look at Zach Cregger's Resident Evil, you'd be dead right. If you thought you'd get another, far gnarlier and nastier new horror trailer this week though, then you'd also be dead right — or Deadite, perhaps. Yes, following that astonishing one-shot first Evil Dead Burn teaser drop a fortnight ago, the full trailer for Infested director Sébastien Vaniček's first foray into the Evil Dead universe is now here. It's not for the faint of heart, but you can check it out below if you dare;

'Family is the root of all evil' reads the wicked tagline for Evil Dead Burn, and it certainly looks to be the case in this first trailer for French filmmaker Vaniček's upcoming horror thrill-ride. Three years on from 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, which took a cheese grater to the flesh of Sam Raimi’s cinematic baby in the best way, Vaniček is serving up some kitchen-based nastiness of his own here. In a trailer that sees carseat headrest impalement, severed fingers, smashing heads (we'll be playing that mirror-shot on repeat for a long time at Empire HQ!), and ill-advised molten-wax-into-mouth pouring, it's the sight of a poor sod falling victim to Chekhov's dishwasher that has us feeling real queasy. At the top of the teaser we see said dishwasher innocuously being loaded before an undead arrival interrupts proceedings; by the end of it we're watching a dude fall back onto all the sharp objects before being pushed down into them by a ravenous Deadite. It's cruel. It's grim. It's very Evil Dead!

The official synopsis for Evil Dead Burn — whose cast includes Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, and Luciane Buchanan — reads: "After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home. As one by one they are transformed into Deadites—turning the gathering into a family reunion from hell—she comes to discover that the vows she took in life... live on even in death."

Executive produced by franchise talisman Bruce Campbell and Evil Dead Rise mastermind Lee Cronin, with Sam Raimi himself producing, all the seals of approval you could want are already stamped on Sébastien Vaniček's film. We'll find out just how groovy Evil Dead Burn proves to be when we crack open the Necronomicon once more on 10 July. All together now — Kanda, estrata, kandos. Turus, indoctus. Skarindus, kanda, amantos, kanda.

Make no mistake: just because it’s for a video game and not for a film, ‘First Light’ is no lesser Bond song. The theme tune for 007 First Light – the new, official, story-driven James Bond game – is an absolute blast of pure MI6 goodness, tapping up two almighty talents. On vocal duties is Lana Del Rey, the mega-star whose alluring Americana-steeped balladry has made her one of the biggest talents of recent decades (and who, right from her first single, had a few things to say about ‘Video Games’). And she’s teamed up with legendary Bond composer David Arnold, to bring those unmistakeable 007 vibes.

Arnold’s legacy has spanned several eras of Bond, from Pierce Brosnan’s ‘90s films (Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough) and Daniel Craig’s reinvention of the character (Casino Royale). With First Light, he wanted to blend Rey’s talents with the bombast of a stellar Bond song. “You’ve got these verses which are more gentle and exposed, with the sweetness of Lana’s vocal,” he tells Empire. “Then you get what is best described as musical violence. When the brass comes in, it’s like something’s kicked off. They call them stabs for a reason. It’s pretty vicious and it’s an amazing sound.”

The legendary composer found Lana Del Rey to be the perfect partner for a song that blends subtlety and sharpness. “I was so thrilled when she said yes because it makes a big difference when you have someone who brings that kind of style and elegance,” Arnold says. “She’s in her own universe of creativity. But she did take a step into our world a little bit. She didn’t shy away from the slightly more brash aspects of what a Bond song can be.”

In a post-No Time To Die world, the future of Bond is being kept tightly under wraps; Amazon’s MGM Studios is steering the next era, with a new 007 yet to be cast, and Denis Villeneuve currently in line to direct. Should the desire be there, Arnold would be happy to bring some instant Bond energy on the score. “If I got asked, I’d do another one,” he says. “But the chances of those things lining up are so rare. They will be making their own decisions about the sort of movie they want to make and the sort of music they want for it. And I trust them to make the right decision. I’m excited to see what they do, whether I’m involved or not. I’m happy either way!” Game on.

Read Empire’s full David Arnold interview in the Aliens issue, on sale Thursday May 7. Pre-order a copy online here. 007 First Light arrives on PS5, Windows and Xbox Series X|S from May 27.

Here at Empire, we believe that all films are important, of course. Undeniably though, there are ‘important films’, awards-worthy dramas that tackle serious issues, destined to possibly change the world. But who decided that can only be bestowed upon stony-faced biopics and ten-tissue weepies? Enter Scary Movie (aka ‘Scary Movie 6’), the long-awaited return of the super-successful horror spoof series, with original creators the Wayans back at the helm, and two decades of modern horror greats to lampoon. What if Scary Movie can heal the world?

“People want to feel good again,” Marlon Wayans tells Empire, as he readies to release Scary Movie’s comeback. “It’s been a long time since we felt good, and laughter is bonding, and when was the last time we all came together as a country, as a world, to just sit down and laugh at each other and with each other?” Penned alongside his brothers Shawn Wayans and Keenen Ivory Wayans, Marlon hopes that the new Scary Movie can unite everyone in its no-holds-barred humour – even in an era where comic boundaries are more rigid than before. “It’s okay if the audience goes [wincing sound], ‘Ooooooh!’” he says. “If they go, ‘Oooooh!’, you don’t turn away from that. You go, ‘Okay they’re listening. Now let me keep digging until I find the laughter.’ There’s no fear in comedy. You can’t be timid.”

This time around, the Wayans have plenty of ammo: the Halloween requels, a decade of A24 arthouse horror, a slasher resurgence, an entire Conjuring saga, and – of course – the revival of Scream itself. Though, Shawn Wayans left it to his brothers to get into the more nightmarish end of the 21st Century horror spectrum. “I don’t have the strongest stomach for horror,” he admits. “When it gets too dark, it makes the hair on my arms stand up and I’m just like, ‘Yo, this is creepy, man.’” Sounds like everyone could use a big laugh.

Read Empire’s full Scary Movie feature – speaking to the Wayans on their journey with (and without) the comedy franchise, and its glorious return – in the Aliens issue, on sale Thursday May 7. Pre-order online here. Scary Movie comes to UK cinemas from June 5.

When it was first announced that Danny Boyle and Alex Garland were returning to the world of 28 Days Later, it was made clear that their plan extended beyond one film. They envisioned 28 Years Later as a trilogy, with the first film to be helmed by Boyle himself, and the second chapter – The Bone Temple – to be directed by Candyman’s Nia DaCosta, shot back to back and later to be followed by Part Three. But while 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple both received rapturous critical acclaim (and love from audiences too) the second instalment struggled at the box office. Released in January, The Bone Temple amassed $58 million worldwide, just over a third of 28 Years Later’s $151 million haul.

As DaCosta tells Empire, the drop-off in turnout came as something of a surprise to all involved. “It’s so funny, because literally every barometer we use in the industry to determine whether or not a movie is good, and people like it and want to see it, was through the roof, and yet our box office wasn’t there,” she says in a major new interview, reflecting on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. “I made a great film, and I’m really proud of it, and people liked it.” While fans only had to wait a matter of months between the two films hitting cinemas, DaCosta queries whether it was “maybe too soon, because people were like, ‘Oh yeah, I saw that last summer!’ I’m like, ‘No, no, so there’s a sequel!’”

While The Bone Temple’s box office numbers proved underwhelming, DaCosta can stand by her work. “My friend said to me years ago, ‘Nia, your career is for you to enjoy,’ and I really have been trying to put that into practice and take that to heart over the course of the past few years,” she says. “And so when this came out and it didn’t do as well in terms of the money it made, I was disappointed. But I also was like, ‘I’m so happy that when people find the film, they’re going to enjoy the film.’ I wish it made more money, but I’m really proud of it.”

For now, the question remains: will Boyle and Garland get to cap off their trilogy with the planned third film? Prior to The Bone Temple’s release, the final instalment was confirmed to be moving ahead – but it’s been quiet since the second film’s lower-than-hoped numbers. There’s only one thing for it: who’s up for a 28 marathon?

Read Empire’s full Nia DaCosta interview – on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, and her career so far – in the Aliens issue, on sale Thursday May 7. Pre-order a copy online here. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is available now on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and digital.

A new Russell T. Davies series is always to be celebrated. The Welsh creative has given us some of the most seismic British dramas for decades now – going all the way back to Queer As Folk, through to Years & Years and It’s A Sin (via multiple trips in the TARDIS to boot). Now, he’s back with another original: Tip Toe, a thriller that prods at the bubbling rage that feels prevalent in society right now, all led by a stellar cast.

The series depicts a feud between Alan Cumming’s gay bar owner Leo, and David Morrissey’s homophobic electrician Clive, two neighbours from Manchester, tracing the events that build up to a shocking act of violence between the pair. “It’s about the divisions in society,” says Morrissey. “And how we’ve grown apart, fuelled by anger and hatred.” Don’t expect a neat black-and-white beef, though. “It’s not a drama that has a cartoon villain and a cartoon hero,” Morrissey explains. “There are times when Clive is vulnerable in front of Leo, but Leo immediately fucking kicks him in the nuts.”

Expect the usual hard-hitting drama, sharp wit, and nuanced character dynamics that Davies’ work provides. “It’s Russell T Davies looking at what’s happening right now,” teases Cumming. “It’s a world where violence is being normalised.” Must-see TV incoming.

Read Empire’s full Tip Toe story in the Aliens issue, on sale Thursday May 7. Pre-order a copy online here. Tip Toe comes to Channel 4 this month.

The thing with a Laika film is, you’re always too caught up in the story to really think about the sheer mind-boggling nature of its existence. Because, the Oregon-based stop-motion animation studio pours years and years into making their features, using techniques both cutting-edge, but also entirely old-school: a Laika claymation movie really does involve its characters being nudged millimetre by millimetre to create that fluid movement. The studio’s latest, Wildwood, looks no different – and it’s a massive fantasy epic, conjuring a dark fantastical world with a breathtaking level of craft. Check out a new featurette here:

Even after all these years, it’s good to be reminded of the gargantuan effort it takes to make a lavish stop-motion movie – and as this featurette makes clear on Wildwood, “every feather is crafted by hand, every wing is carefully animated, every frame reveals a world taking flight”. The film comes from director – and Laika boss (no, not The Lonely Island kind) – Travis Knight, his follow-up to Kubo And The Two Strings, adapted from the Oregon-set novel written by Colin Meloy (of Oregon-based indie rock legends The Decemberists) and illustrated by Meloy’s wife Carson Ellis. As its title suggests, a major part of Wildwood is capturing the raw, rugged landscapes of the Northwestern state.

Knight has been extraordinarily busy – Wildwood isn’t even his only film arriving this year, with his live-action Masters Of The Universe adaptation hitting cinemas in June. Wildwood will follow later this year on October 23. Start your Laika rewatch now.

Matt Damon is a man who knows a thing or two about playing a dude who's just trying to get home. The Martian, Elysium, Interstellar, Dogma, and even Saving Private Ryan (albeit against his will) all find Damon either trying to find a way back to where he belongs or folk trying to get him back there. In Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey however, Matt Damon is about to undertake the granddaddy of all homeward bound voyages as his Odysseus embarks upon a decade-long journey home to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) after the fall of Troy. And if the new trailer for Nolan's latest blockbuster is anything to go by, he'd better hurry up. Check it out below;

Hoo boy — it's a long old road back to Ithaca, ain't it? In this latest trailer for The Odyssey — which, in case you needed reminding, took over two million feet of film to shoot — we find Charlize Theron's nymph Calypso asking our man Odysseus what he remembers of his life. "A wife, a son, we won the war," recalls Damon's bearded hero, before a hard cut to him pleading with the gods, "help me go home." Standing between him and his family though, as we see here, are no shortage of monsters and men. Here we get a glimpse of the dread cyclops in all its troglodytic brutality, the elemental fury of the gods, and R-Pattz's leering would-be suitor Antinous, whose attempts to weasel his way into Penelope's affections look to be causing no shortage of discomfort and tension in Ithaca as Odysseus' family desperately await his return. As we say, Odysseus had better hurry up and get home sharpish — we've already seen Robert Pattinson at a wedding once this year, and we definitely don't need him at another!

Also here for Odysseus', er, odyssey are a veritable constellation of stars including John Leguizamo as Odysseus’s servant Eumaeus, Jon Bernthal as Greek king of Sparta Menelaus, Zendaya as the goddess Athena, Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, Himesh Patel as Eurylochus, Mia Goth as Melantho, and Jimmy Gonzales as Cepheus. Lupita Nyong'o and Will Yun Lee are also aboard for the journey in as yet undisclosed roles. We'll find out how they — and Odysseus — fare when Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey hits cinemas in all its shot for IMAX glory on 17 July, 2026. "Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns..."

This week's Empire Podcast is the kind of episode that could leave other film podcasts in its wake. Mainly because there's a lot of discussion of ships, boats, the high seas and the like. First off, our guests this week are Callum Turner and George Mackay, the British actors who star in Mark Jenkin's latest movie, the fisherman-themed Rose Of Nevada. In a cracking chat with Alex Godfrey, the duo talk about how they first met, working with the unique Jenkin, falling in love with Cornwall, and much, much more besides.

Either side of that, Chris Hewitt returns to the host chair after two weeks away, some of which was spent on a cruise ship, and he scrapes the barnacles off long enough to welcome Helen O'Hara (or is it?) and James Dyer into the podbooth to discuss the best ship-related scenes, have a look at the week's movie news, try to convince James of the merits of the Jackass movies, and review the likes of The Devil Wears Prada 2, Rose Of Nevada (with help from an unexpected quarter), Greenland 2: Migration, and new Adam Scott horror, Hokum. You best start believing in Empire Podcasts, Ms Swann… YER IN ONE! Enjoy.

And if all of the above isn't quite enough Empire Podcast for you, then there's plenty more where that came from. You can listen to this week's episode (which, if you're counting, is #715) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Interviews, which brings you even more chat with the cast and crew behind the biggest new releases. The most recent instalment sees Helen O'Hara sitting down with David Frankel to discuss his returning for The Devil Wears Prada 2, some twenty years after the original movie. And if you liked BenDavid Grabinski's Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice as much as we did, then you'll also find an extended excerpt from Chris Hewitt's spoiler special interview with Grabinski, which can be found in full over on our spoiler special feed.

Want to make sure you never miss out on the latest movie news, reviews, and Empire exclusives again? Click here to add Empire as your go-to source on Google Feed.

As fans of Andor will already know, Diego Luna has friends everywhere. And playing a guy like Cassian Andor for the best part of a decade, becoming one of Star Wars' greatest characters in the process, has clearly made the two-time Emmy nominated actor a firm friend of the House of Mouse. Per Deadline's reporting, Disney has snapped up Luna to play a mysterious new role in Better Man director Michael Gracey's upcoming live-action Tangled remake.

As Deadline shares, details on Luna's role in Disney's long-gestating Tangled retooling are being kept under wraps for now, though it is believed that he's playing an original character written specifically for this live-action adaptation. He joins a line-up that elsewhere includes Aussie star Teagan Croft and Zombies heartthrob Milo Manheim as Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, and Kathryn Hahn — no stranger to a witchy role as WandaVision and Agatha All Along's Agatha Harkness — as Rapunzel's villainous Mother Gothel. Do Revenge director and co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson — no stranger to a tongue-in-cheek, winking genre deconstruction — has written the script for this one alongside Michael Montemayor, who's currently hard at work on Akiva Schaffer's Cinderella spin-off Stepsisters.

With Michael Gracey in the director's hotseat and Tangled boasting one of the great soundtracks of Disney's modern animated classics era, it's a fairly safe bet that we're going to be in for an all-singing, all-dancing fresh take on the original 2010 animation. And having heard Diego Luna's pipes in 2014's The Book Of Life (seriously, go watch the film — or at least a YouTube video of his 'Creep' cover from it), we're quietly hopeful that we might get to see him put down the blaster and pick up the guitar/microphone here. Who knows? Maybe we'll catch him down The Snuggly Duckling singing about his dreams. Or, heaven forfend, doing Mother Gothel's dark bidding as one of her dastardly henchmen. We shall see... and we shall watch.

The pairing of Woody and Buzz Lightyear is so iconic, you almost forget that they don’t start Toy Story as friends. For much of Pixar’s 1995 game-changer, the cowboy and the spaceman bicker, as they vie for the attention of young Andy – until they’re forced to work together and become the best of friends. As it turns out, it wasn’t too dissimilar for Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, the voices of Woody and Buzz respectively, who got off on the wrong foot back in the early ‘90s when they first met.

In a new joint interview ahead of Toy Story 5, the pair recalled their first get-together. “When I met him,” sighs Allen, “well, I wasn’t all that thrilled with him. Because he ate French fries off my plate.” Despite Hanks’ interruptions, Allen makes his case clear: “I grew up around a lot of children and Tom did not. We did not ever share.” Safe to say, just like Woody and Buzz, the pair were firm friends by Toy Story 2. “We started to realise we were in the midst of something that was quite grandiose, and perhaps we needed a check on our hubris,” says Hanks. “So we started getting together. It’s good for the soul when Tim and I get together. And we cause some really good triple-takes when we’re out.”

Now as they approach a fifth film, and 30 years of Toy Story, Hanks says they’re “blessed” to be a part of the series. “All these generations have come up to me at some point again and again, and they say, ‘I cannot tell you enough about the solace and security, the joy and comfort the Toy Story movies have given me and my family,’” he explains. “That’s an emotional and very important thing that came out of something that Tim and I deserve a tiny modicum of credit for. It’s all been a gift.” Allen agrees: “I just love it,” he says. “I love watching them still. I love going back.” To infinity, and beyond.

Read the full Tom Hanks and Tim Allen interview for Toy Story 5 in the Aliens issue of Empire. Pre-order a copy online here. Toy Story 5 comes to cinemas on June 19.

With Alien, Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley was already a great screen hero – the unexpected final girl of Ridley Scott’s space-horror, who emerged from the ensemble to become the lone survivor of the Nostromo. But in Aliens, Ripley truly became an icon; James Cameron’s more action-oriented sequel seeing her tool up to take on dozens of marauding Xenomorphs. Whether putting the Colonial Marine grunts in their place, going head-to-head with the alien queen in the Powerloader, or protecting young orphan Newt, the film sees Ripley kick ass.

All these years later, Weaver still looks fondly on Aliens – particularly the outlook that Cameron brought to Ripley. “I love the seriousness that you brought to it. It’s life and death for Ripley,” she tells the director in Empire’s 40th anniversary reunion interview. Still, the production of the film was notably tough. “The whole thing was so exciting but it was also really hard,” says Weaver. “I think of everyone, of those huge guns and all that stuff. Everyone was really going for it, man. It was so real and it was such a gift.”

After the production, with the pressure lifting, Weaver remembers seeing a different side to her director. “We were having dinner one night with Gale and I suddenly said, “You know, you’re really funny. Where was this guy all the way through that shoot?!” she says. “I just don’t think you could [be like that], because you had all of that proving yourself to the crew. They thought, ‘Who is this guy? He’s not Ridley Scott!’ It was such bullshit.” It couldn’t be clearer now that Cameron was the only person who could make Aliens. “It’s so hard to make a movie like this, and then to have to deal with all of that for weeks,” says Weaver. “They finally opened their eyes and went, ‘Oh fuck, we’re working with a master and this is going to be a great movie.’” The rest is history.

Read the full Aliens reunion interview in the Summer 2026 issue of Empire – on sale Thursday May 7. Pre-order a copy online here.

Writer-director Damian McCarthy likes one-word, ambiguous titles. Hokum follows his previous features Caveat and Oddity — all titles which are at once beguiling and mischievous, inviting the audience to call shenanigans on a tall tale. These are yarns, spun on the principle of  ‘and then another thing happened’ as weird, disquieting or bizarre events occur at regular intervals, compounding the spell or extending the trip.

McCarthy’s films always have a core of tragedy — here, Adam Scott’s bestselling writer is haunted by terrible family history and an inability to conceive of a happy ending for the final book of his long-unfinished trilogy — but stark sadness is leavened by a distinctively Irish love of telling the tale. Everyone in Hokum puts their hearts into the narration of spooky encounters, depicted as blackout-sketch flashbacks.

Some of the most gooseflesh-raising art direction in recent horror cinema.

These memories may be distorted by locally sourced intoxicants — not just poitín (“Moonshine,” snorts the Yank) but a vile-looking brew of shrooms and goat’s milk. Eventually the spectres and witches McCarthy puts in the back of the frame for the audience to spy, well before the properly scary stuff starts, become visible to the characters, who have previously only felt their presences.

Scott, an inherently likeable performer, more than carries his weight as the initially prickly, obnoxious Bauman. An incarnation of the abrasive American visitor to Ireland, he baulks at the local pest-control system (using a crossbow on car-bothering goats) and interrupts a nasty legend a sinister raconteur is offloading on a pair of terrified, mesmerised kids. He’s a man on two missions: to scatter the ashes of his parents in the place where they honeymooned, the Bilberry Woods Hotel, and to find an end for his own story. Said hotel is a marvellously creepy institution, or maybe that’s just the way the troubled Bauman sees it. All around are props which pay off: a lump of chalk, a rusted Phillips-head screw, an irritating clock with a bell-striking cherub, a dumb waiter.

The most tantalising mystery is the honeymoon suite, accessible only by a locked-off lift. The ghost-fearing owner claims a malicious witch has been trapped inside. Friendly counter clerk Fiona (Florence Ordesh) disappears during a Halloween party and the most likely suspect is woods-dwelling mystic Jerry (David Wilmot), but Bauman, who owes a debt to Fiona and her intuitions, just can’t leave the puzzle alone. He is determined to investigate the honeymoon suite, where his own parents were (briefly) happy but which is now permeated with all manner of supernatural gloom — and some of the most gooseflesh-raising art direction in recent horror cinema.

There have never been more ways to watch a film. And yet, nothing beats the cinema experience – seeing a movie big and loud, with a crowd, just as the filmmaker intended. When a film hits you like that, it stays with you long after the credits roll, with characters and scenes and unforgettable moments that you carry around as you return to everyday life. Vue has captured that exact feeling with its new short film, Feel It Forever, created in collaboration with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi – who, as the director of Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt For The Wilderpeople, JoJo Rabbit and more, knows a thing or two about cinematic excellence.

Feel It Forever taps right into what the cinema experience provides for film lovers: a greater connection to the films they love. “It was important to us to work with some of the industry’s greatest talent including the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi, to create a film that demonstrates cinema’s unique ability to connect with audiences and stay with them long after the credits roll,” says Vue’s founder and CEO, Tim Richards CBE. “When you experience great movies on the big screen, you feel it forever.” Here’s an exclusive peek behind the scenes, showing the scale of the production, with tons of costumes, wigs (74 in all), crew members and more:

Waititi’s short – “an epic love letter to cinema that reminds us why we go and keeps us coming back,” the director says – will be screening across Vue cinemas as a pre-show film, the perfect tee-up to a summer of sci-fi adventures, action extravaganzas, laugh-out-loud comedies, haunting horrors and more.

The short was filmed across New Zealand and London, with 148 actors, massive practical production, and a combination of traditional compositing and CGI effects work.

A great cinema trip doesn’t just come down to the films themselves. Vue is ensuring that its cinemas offer the best experience, investing in everything audiences need to have an incredible time at the movies. That means Ultra Lux seating, with spacious recliners that keep you comfortable while you get lost in the action; premium large format EPIC by Vue screens, where you can see the out-of-this-world stories on a super-sized canvas; HDR by Barco laser projection and Dolby Atmos sound, offering pin-sharp vision and audio so you don’t miss a moment; and Vue Your Way, allowing cinemagoers to pick the perfect snacks and refreshments before showtime.

With 92 state-of-the-art cinemas across the UK and Ireland – totalling more than 850 screens overall – Vue is the perfect place to experience the latest and greatest from Hollywood and beyond. So, whichever films are on your watchlist for the rest of 2026, see them at your local Vue, and prepare to feel it forever.

Read more about Vue and Feel It Forever here

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

2062: humanity is on the brink of extinction. Having let the climate crisis run rampant, leaving the planet almost uninhabitable, the only chance for our species might be self-imposed exile from Earth, attempting to colonise a new world. The known candidates in the neighbourhood are ruled out – Mars too arid, Venus too toxic, Jupiter or Saturn’s moons too volatile. Hope, if it exists, lies with Persephone, a new ninth planet (sorry, Pluto) detected at the edge of the solar system: an ice world that might be viable for terraforming and capable of supporting life.

As Aphelion opens, two astronauts – Dr Ariane Montclair and Officer Thomas Cross – are rocketing toward Persephone as part of a European Space Agency mission to evaluate the planet. Strange electro-magnetic conditions force a crash landing, separating the pair and setting the stage for a beautifully bizarre slice of science fiction that blends its high concepts with an emotional, resonant, deeply human core… and a video game experience from about two console generations ago.

Aphelion developer Don’t Nod is best known for its narrative adventures, originating the Life is Strange series and continuing the trend with the likes of Twin Mirror and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. While it’s dabbled in action – 2013’s Remember Me and 2018’s Vampyr, most notably – the studio has never truly felt at home in that space. It’s a pattern that continues here – Ariane’s sections are more physical, Thomas’ more cerebral, but both feel like awkward fits.

Thomas, near-fatally wounded in the crash and left with depleting oxygen reserves, is restricted to what are effectively environmental puzzles, darting between oxygen canisters as he investigates the remains of another human-led mission on Persephone, one that shouldn’t be there. There’s little consistency here, though – air tubes from the fixed-point canisters are meant to force desperate runs between them as Thomas risks asphyxiation, but these tethers vary wildly in length, removing most of this tension. Thomas’ injuries barely hold him back either, unless the plot mandates it – he’s fully capable of crawling through tight gaps or using a grappling hook to yank down obstacles, despite having been skewered.

Having escaped the crash unscathed, Ariane is instead cast as the action hero. She’s who you’ll spend the majority of the game with, exploring the vast wilderness of Persephone and trying to reunite with Thomas. She’s sort of a latter day Nathan Drake – but mainly because these sections feel like they’re pulled from an early Uncharted game. Ariane’s sections reduce the mesmerising landscape to almost entirely linear runs through gorgeously decorated corridors, clambering between clearly marked ledges and using her own grapple to swing over chasms. It’s all incredibly basic stuff – if you want a climbing game in 2026, Cairn is right there. There are a few attempts to mix things up, such as navigating clumsy stealth sections avoiding the Nemesis, a ferocious creature hunting the planet’s invaders, and the use of an EM scanner to follow hidden trails or manipulate anomalies in the planet’s energy fields, but both mechanics are paper thin.

The story is brilliantly penned, with Don’t Nod leaning into its narrative roots to deliver a mind-bending sci-fi tale [...] that actually has something to say about the importance of life here on Earth

Yet despite these inherently dated systems, Aphelion proves oddly compelling. It’s breathtakingly beautiful, Persephone presented as a strange new world pulling at the edges of human imagination, all contrasted by the grounded, realistic, intricately detailed tech the protagonists use (courtesy of a development partnership with the actual ESA). Even though you’re given precious little chance to explore, this world feels suitably vast and awe-inspiring, with smart direction framing it as an untamed and truly alien landscape. It powerfully captures the imagination, and the mysteries at its core pull you through the trite gameplay.

The story is also brilliantly penned, with Don’t Nod leaning into its narrative roots to deliver a mind-bending sci-fi tale (with an edge of hard science thanks to that ESA collab) that actually has something to say about the importance of life here on Earth, yet remains rooted in the relationship between its dual protagonists. The voice acting is also superb, with Vanessa Dolmen and Eric Geynes injecting Ariane and Thomas with equal parts hope and desperation throughout, while composer Amine Bouhafa’s wonderful score masterfully plays with your emotions at every turn.

As a movie, Aphelion would be almost unassailable. Its scale, imagination, and presentation would utterly delight cinemagoers on the big screen. Unfortunately, it exists as a game, and it’s one lumbered with repetitive mechanics that felt dated back on the PS3, let alone the PS5. It’s still more than worth a look for fans of the genre – particularly those who love the likes of Interstellar, Gravity, or Project Hail Mary – but players hoping for an unknown world to explore on their own terms are likely to be disappointed.

Before James Cameron made Aliens, nobody knew quite what to expect. The now-legendary director only had The Terminator under his belt back then – and as much of a hit as that film was, it wasn’t a dead-cert that he’d be able to deliver a worth follow-up to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror classic Alien. Fast forward 40 years, and it’s unfathomable that it was ever in doubt; Cameron knocked it out of the park, taking Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and turning her into an all-out action hero, teaming her up with a ragtag bunch of memorable grunts, and sending them out to face a whole load of marauding Xenomorphs. Part action film, part war movie, all while retaining that horror core, Aliens blew the roof off.

To mark four decades of Cameron’s incredible sequel, Empire sat the filmmaker down with Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn (Hicks) and Jenette Goldstein (Vasquez) for an epic reunion interview; it had been 10 years since they were last together (that’s two Avatar sequels ago), and they went deep on their experiences of shooting the film, the challenges of the production, and when they last actually watched it.

You can read the full reunion interview (a massive 14-page blowout) in the Aliens issue – pre-order online here – but first, here’s a sneak peek of the conversation:

EMPIRE: When was the last time all of you were together?

Sigourney Weaver: Was it the 30th anniversary?
Michael Biehn: Yeah, at Comic-Con in San Diego.
James Cameron: Can you imagine? Forty years, guys.
Weaver: I know, it feels like yesterday to me.
Cameron: And we’re still the same punks we were then.
Weaver: Well, you especially.

How long is it since you last sat down to watch the film? Did you think it held up well?

Jenette Goldstein: I saw it last year in Liverpool at a convention. You see something different each time you watch it. Every part of it is just filled. I’ve seen it so many times — I’m embarrassed to say how many!
Biehn: The last time I saw it would have been about three or four years ago in Australia, when I was asked to introduce the movie. Even though I did The Terminator with Jim, I think Aliens is the best movie I’ve ever been in. It’s absolutely astonishing that it holds up from a visual-effects standpoint, 40 years later.
Cameron: I screened Alien and Aliens back-to-back for my teenage kids about five or six years ago. They were impressed equally by both films, which is a good reaction. So I got some dad points for that.
Weaver: Well, I envy you guys. I’m certainly not going to sit around in our little den and watch it on my TV, so I haven’t had an opportunity to look at it again all the way through. I would love to, though. I just remember it all so vividly — it’s almost like it happened to me. But I certainly hear what you’re saying, Michael. Because I read this script that came out of nowhere by this person James Cameron, and it was one of the most extraordinarily structured, thematic, loaded scripts I’d ever read. I felt like it was this beautiful aria between Ripley and the Alien Queen. Jim’s such a wonderful director. Except for Titanic, his films are almost unsinkable!
Cameron: I wish you had led with that when we first met! I was petrified of you. I had been writing for months with your picture up on the wall right in front of my little writing station. I was desperately trying to channel what you and Ridley had created for Ripley, and extrapolate forward with my own post-traumatic-stress-syndrome motif.
Weaver: I loved that. I thought that was the perfect beginning for her.
Cameron: Yeah, but when we first met I was terrified of what you were going to say about it. And it turns out, funnily enough, that you hadn’t even read all the machine-gun and flamethrower parts of the script!
Weaver: That’s true, I just had to find out what happened next!
Cameron: All that prose that’s in-between my dialogue, why bother?

Is there any one scene that you look back on filming with particular fondness?

Cameron: I think when the APC burned and everybody was screaming!
Goldstein: Right, when I couldn’t breathe, when I was being suffocated.
Cameron: When Jenette was choking to death and everything was on fire!
Goldstein: Definitely.
Cameron: I’m sure Carrie has her fond memory of being stuck in the alien hive with me putting slime on her face. She looked at me plaintively and said, “You know, it should be illegal for you to do this to little kids.” Shut up and take the slime, kid!

Read the full Aliens reunion interview in the Summer 2026 issue of Empire – on sale Thursday May 7. Pre-order a copy online here.

With just a single letter, James Cameron upped the stakes. So the legend goes: he pitched his sequel to Ridley Scott’s game-changing sci-fi horror Alien by adding an ’s’ to the end before turning that ’s’ into a dollar sign. True or not, with Aliens he went on to create one of the greatest sequels of all time, building on its predecessor with epic action, taut thrills, and a big heart, too. It’s the film that gave us Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley in all-out action hero mode; the adorable Newt; the terrifying alien queen; that Powerloader showdown; and one of the most memorable groups of ragtag grunts in ‘80s cinema. Now, Empire is celebrating Aliens’ 40th anniversary with a must-have new issue. This time, it’s war.

This month’s magazine is a major Aliens blowout bringing James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, and Jenette Goldstein back together for a huge reunion interview in which they look back at their time making one of the greatest sequels of all time, reflecting on  cast dynamics, their favourite scenes, and why it still holds up four decades later. Plus, we speak to Aliens special-effects supervisor John Richardson about the creation of the pulse rifle, the Powerloader, the alien queen and more; and get the inside story on London’s immersive Alien War tie-in game. It’s a massive celebration across 14 pages, sure to make Aliens fans’ chests burst with excitement.

This month’s newsstand cover sees Ripley in all her gung-ho glory, facing off against the alien queen, illustrated by Paul Shipper:

The subscriber cover, also illustrated by Paul Shipper, gets up close and personal with the alien queen herself.

And that’s not all. Also inside this issue, we talk 30 years of Toy Story with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen; sit down with the boys (and girls) of The Boys as the superhero satire comes to a bloody end; take a look ahead to Tom Cruise’s return to character drama, Digger; and speculate on the biggest cinematic showdown of 2026: ‘Dunesday’.

It’s an issue you won’t want to miss – head down to your local newsstand (on Earth, or LV-426) to pick up a copy when it hits shelves on May 7. Pre-order a copy online here.

Zach Cregger is on a roll right now. The rising horror director made a huge splash with the extraordinarily twisty-turny Barbarian, and followed it up with last year’s smash Weapons – which, as well as garnering massive acclaim and a great box office haul, won as Oscar for Amy Madigan. Now, he’s already back with his next film: Resident Evil. The legendary video game saga has come to our screens many times before, in the Paul W.S. Anderson films, in the reboot movie, and in an ill-fated Netflix series. But many fans would argue that the spirit of the games has never really successfully translated to the big screen – so, has Cregger finally cracked (or, cregged) it? Watch the trailer here:

The film sees Cregger re-team with his Weapons star Austin Abrams, here playing a medical courier who finds himself caught up in some seriously spooky stuff. Abrams isn’t playing any character from across the game series; Cregger co-wrote the film, alongside Shay Hatten, and has cooked up an original story with new characters, in a take described as “a thrilling — and terrifying — reinvention” of the franchise. Exactly what horrors await remain to be seen – but there are enough unsettling images in this first teaser alone to suggest we’re in for a wild, wild ride.

Thankfully, there isn’t long to wait – Cregger’s Resident Evil will be hitting cinemas on September 18, the perfect tee-up to spooky season. And it was filmed for IMAX too, so get ready to see Austin Abrams’ terrified face on a gigantic screen. Now, who’s up for rewatching Weapons again?

Have you ever wondered what Fallout might look like if it relocated from a post-apocalyptic America to the Lake District? Well, in 2025, Oxford-based video game developers Rebellion gave us the answer with Atomfall, a first-person action survival joint set in an alt-history 1960s wherein the very real Windscale nuclear disaster actually turned England's north-west into an active quarantine zone. A title driven more by its story, character work, and beautiful pastoral presentation than its actual gameplay, Atomfall is a prime candidate for the lavish TV adaptation treatment. And that's exactly what it's getting, from The Assassin and The Tourist duo Harry and Jack Williams — aka Two Brothers Pictures — no less.

The recipient of the Best British Game gong at this year's BAFTA Game Awards, Atomfall — which boasts a player base of almost four million gamers — has no shortage of existing TV series and film comparisons to recommend it for the streaming series treatment. Its set-up, which sees players assume the role of an amnesiac who wakes up in the quarantine zone and finds themself piecing together what has happened, harkens back to The Walking Dead and 28 Years Later. Elsewhere, the game's blend of sci-fi and folk horror draws favourable comparisons to everything from the aforementioned Fallout to The Last Of Us, The Wicker Man, Threads, and even The League Of Gentlemen. All of which is to say that an Atomfall TV series makes a lot of sense.

“Atomfall has such a distinctive British tone and setting, and it’s been a real joy developing it alongside the Rebellion team – especially as two brothers working alongside two brothers (Jason and Chris Kingsley),” said the Williams brothers in a statement accompanying today's announcement. “There’s something very exciting about expanding this strange, unsettling story for television.” Added Rebellion co-founders Jason and Chris Kingsley in their own statement: "It is always exciting to work with people who share the same passion for creating and telling great stories and we are sure that this partnership will help to deliver a television series that will delight fans of the game and beyond.”

Atomfall doesn't have a streaming home just yet, and with no cast or further creative team members announced just yet, we suspect it may be a little while before the fictional post-apocalypse arrives in the UK (the jury remains out on an actual apocalypse coming for Blighty in the meantime). Still, with Fallout and The Last Of Us having kept us glued to our screens in shock and awe in recent years, consider us ready to head into our doomsday bunker for a bit of Atomfall just as soon as it's ready. Watch this space!

Ding! Ding! Ding! 2026 has found its "he was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died" moment — only instead of a naff (and ultimately cut) line of Madame Web dialogue, this one's a whole logline. The set-up for Easy A and Anyone But You director Will Gluck's latest, Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro starrer One Night Only, follows — per its official synopsis — "two love-starved strangers who crash into each other in an ever-so-slightly fictionalised New York City on the one night of the year when single people are allowed to have sex." Seriously, what in the 'what if The Purge was a rom-com' did we just read? We're not entirely sure, but we do have a trailer. Check it out below;

Okay, so none of that clarifies how exactly One Night Only's premise works (what do you mean "the one night a year where single people are legally allowed to have sex"? Why? How? What?!). What the trailer for Gluck's latest does do however is hit some solid rom-com notes right off the bat. Pizza place meet-cute? Check. When Harry Met Sally references? Check. Playful negging, goofball friends, and poppy needle drops? (Hello, Haim!) Check, check, and check again! And as for Allie (Barbaro) and Owen (Turner), the unlucky in love singles seemingly locked on a one-way track into each others' arms? The chemistry really is there, and on present evidence, may well be the most believable and indeed logical thing about One Night Only so far.

The official synopsis for the movie — which elsewhere co-stars the likes of Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, King Princesss, Molly Ringwald, and Levar Burton — reads: "Recently dumped Owen and hopeful romantic Allie might be the only two singles in the city looking for more than just a quick encounter. They both feel a spark when they meet, but a series of missteps and side quests complicate their night, keeping them apart. As they each race toward and away from each other across the city, they just might discover that the one thing they want most is closer than they think."

Will the finished film offer up a cogent explanation for its nutso premise? Will Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro find out that one kiss really is all it takes after all? And are we going to get Easy A Will Gluck here or Anyone But You Will Gluck? We'll find out when One Night Only hits cinemas, presumably for several nights actually, on 28 August.

In an age where powerful leaders can’t seem to get enough of hearing their own voices, the silence of Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is deafening. As imperious editor of the fashion industry-shaping magazine ‘Runway’, a pursing of her lips causes prestigious designers to lurch back to the drawing board. If actually moved to speak, her dismissive go-to, “That’s all,” sends employees spiralling into despair.

All of this made 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada deliciously entertaining: through the eyes of Anne Hathaway’s aspiring journalist Andy, we witnessed an Alexander McQueen-clad master keeping her ship afloat through ferocious tenacity, some personal sacrifice, and a carefully wielded wordless glare. When this long-awaited sequel calls for more dialogue, then, those lines had better count, as they could risk diluting her monstrous power.

Hathaway maintains plucky affability despite her character becoming more world-weary, while Blunt’s comedic timing and flashes of vulnerability save the film from feeling too serious.

Credit is due to returning director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, who have resisted the steadfast demand for a follow-up for 20 years, insisting that they would revisit ‘Runway’ only when the right story presented itself. Instead of falling back on the same themes of the first film entirely, they move the story forward into the tumultuous landscape of journalism today. Andy, now an award-winning reporter, becomes a casualty of cutbacks at her publication. At the same time, Miranda is accidentally embroiled in a sweatshop scandal through a story she commissioned, and so her one-time underling is brought in by higher powers to rescue the magazine’s editorial reputation. Upon arrival, Andy discovers that budgets have dwindled, words like “engagement” and “digital” dominate meeting rooms, and perhaps worst of all, Miranda must pander to advertisers — well, one in particular: scorned former assistant Emily (Emily Blunt), who now holds a senior role at Dior.

It’s painful to see this titan of industry navigate such choppy seas, although there are still moments of levity (Miranda trying to hang up her own coat after she’s been banned from throwing them at her assistants can’t help but provoke a smile). Yet while the future of print journalism is a worthy subject to explore (Empire subscriptions are available through our website!) and gives the story a grounded and interesting set-up, the drama feels rather frictionless. In The Devil Wears Prada, we enjoyed a peek into the lavish and aspirational world of fashion weighted by Miranda and Andy’s sparky dynamic; now that partnership is (slightly) sturdier, and we’re instead encouraged to fear B.J. Novak’s Silicon Valley-styled scion and Justin Theroux as a boss-level tech entrepreneur, both of whom are largely forgettable.

Thankfully, the core cast are anything but. Hathaway maintains plucky affability despite her character becoming more world-weary, while Blunt’s comedic timing and flashes of vulnerability save the film from feeling too serious. Stanley Tucci as Miranda’s stalwart right-hand man Nigel returns as the pocket-square-adorned shoulder to cry on, though does get a few welcome moments to shine. Around them, the film’s world remains a taffeta-draped playground through which the characters showcase traffic-stopping designer ensembles, reminding us why they risk it all for ‘Runway’. And at its epicentre, Streep lets us a little deeper into Miranda’s psyche without losing that magnetic elusiveness. Her power survives intact, even if she’s not given a worthy adversary to unleash it upon.

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Video games and the works of H.P. Lovecraft are a familiar pairing. No other medium is quite as capable of bestowing upon audiences a first-hand encounter with unknowable horrors, so it’s little surprise developers keep going to that well. Yet while many games tap into the early 20th century settings of the original stories, or the older periods they draw on – from the mad ramblings of Alhazred, author of the Necronomicon in the 700s, to the inconceivably ancient horrors that populate the mythos – Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss stands out by exploring what a future world threatened by the impending awakening of the Great Old One might look like.

Turns out, that’s a world on the fast track to destruction all by itself. Set in the 2050s, human-driven climate change is running rampant, and extreme weather events are wreaking havoc across the globe. In the midst of this, the occult is still occult-ing, and when a researcher for the Miskatonic University (a Lovecraftian staple) goes missing, the secretive organisation Ancile sends you in to investigate. Cue one unplanned trip to an unknowable plane of reality, a grievous injury, and a few months’ time skip, and before you know it you’re following up that predictable disaster of an opening mission by venturing to a deep-sea excavation facility that’s been unearthing all sorts of forbidden things.

Unfortunately, Cosmic Abyss loses points for how incredibly fiddly it all is.

As Noah (a black man, a pointed undermining of Lovecraft’s notorious racism), you’re part supernatural detective, part cyborg, “upgraded” with an AI assistant called KEY implanted in your brain. Not only is this a nice twist on Lovecraft’s characters frequently being plagued by voices in their heads, but a particularly insidious one, given KEY essentially is the entire gameplay mechanic of Cosmic Abyss. You’re forced to rely on it to the extent you barely flinch when “she” suggests injecting yourself with strange fungal extracts to replenish your energy – for anyone paying attention to contemporary real-world developments in AI, it’s a smart bit of techno-horror running adjacent to the mounting cosmic terror.

Played first-person, you’ll be exploring a host of unsettling locations – like the abandoned Ocean-I mining facility that’s disgustingly infested with growths of unidentified sap, or crumbling temples carved by forgotten races – piecing together the mysteries of what happened in each area. KEY allows you to analyse clues, revealing information like their material composition, a sonar tool to track other instances of those materials (or combinations of up to three – useful if you need to track down an alien mineral coated in human blood, for a cheery example), and saves uncovered evidence on the Nexus, a mental map allowing you to draw digital threads between pieces of evidence, before deducing the outcome for major puzzles.

However, just as you shouldn’t trust ChatGPT to count the number of “Rs” in “strawberry”, you probably shouldn’t rely too much on a bot in your brain that finds itself inexplicably upgraded every time you stumble upon a primordial altar or antediluvian relic. Sure, those upgrades offer useful boosts like increased sonar range or the chance of replenishing energy when examining clues, but they also expose Noah to increasing degrees of corruption, which impacts choices available and the direction of the story.

Unfortunately, Cosmic Abyss loses points for how incredibly fiddly it all is. Interacting with anything in the world requires lining up an absolutely tiny reticule – practically a single pixel – over items to do anything with them, and it’s all too easy to completely miss an important clue or item because you haven’t clipped the cursor precisely over the right thing. There’s one especially egregious point where you need to find a particular ID badge, which turns out to be hidden vertically in a drawer, rendering it effectively 2D. Even if you’re tracking ID badges using the sonar and can find exactly where it is, it’s actively difficult to pick it up.

Controls are also messy. Both R1 and Circle (on PS5; version tested) are the “interact” button, but sometimes neither works without multiple presses, while movement through underwater sections often feels more like guiding a bobbing head, as if Noah is sinking through floors with no body. Elsewhere, KEY’s Nexus suffers from a cluttered default view, while those important deductions that are meant to feel like you’ve out-sleuthed Sherlock Holmes can be strong-armed by pairing every clue on the board until you get a match.

There are some baked in tools to mitigate some of these problems – an easier “Exploration” mode lets you focus on the story, while a few customisation options allow you to tailor the experience, such as highlighting how many clues are left to find, or allowing you to analyse clues without risking greater corruption. These feel like sops to a game that delivers frustration more than fear, though.

That’s ultimately Cosmic Abyss’ biggest failing – although developer Big Bad Wolf has brilliantly crafted an appropriate sense of pervasive dread throughout the game, the package as a whole is chilling more than it ever is actively scary. Certain moments inspire appropriate awe, like encountering the first evidence of ol’ squidbeard, but as an almost purely investigative game, there are few moments of palpable fear to be found. Still, branching paths – each chapter has two potential outcomes, and Noah’s overall corruption level impacts endgame options – provides enough replay value for anyone whose dreams this Lovecraftian outing manages to haunt.

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC

Chloe Price died years ago. Chloe Price is alive today. This paradox is the compelling hook of the latest Life is Strange, tying up threads dating back to 2015’s first game in the series, where time-twisting photographer Max Caulfield had to choose between saving Chloe’s life, or saving the town of Arcadia Bay.

Many years and several video games later, Max and Chloe are reunited as adults, and whichever route you chose (or choose – you can speedrun the big choices from earlier entries to set the stage here) it makes for an emotionally fraught new chapter in both their lives. If Chloe died, Max is faced with the resurrection of her first love. If she lived, the pair grew apart after escaping Arcadia Bay. Poor Chloe herself is plagued with knowledge of both timelines, recalling her own death alongside a life full of memories, good and bad.

Unfortunately for both, solving the mystery of the blurred realities has to take a backseat to a more urgent threat – Max’s new home of Caledon University is days away from burning down, and after using her powers to travel back in time to stop it, Max has to figure out who’s responsible in order to save everyone she cares about.

Playing as both women, Reunion has you using their respective skills to navigate the series’ familiar choice-driven mechanics and branching narratives. Max, with her actual superpowers, feels the most “video game-y”, able to rewind time to get the upper hand in conversations, or take small objects back with her to help solve puzzles. It’s more a refinement of her earlier powers than an evolution – although she does get an upgrade of sorts, eventually – but it forces players to think a little bit four-dimensionally, and figuring out the “right” way to navigate time for the best outcome invariably has you feeling incredibly clever.

Chloe, meanwhile, lacks any metaphysical abilities, instead having the power of a barbed tongue, her “backtalk” ability allowing her to steer conversations in ways Max can’t, to the extent of possibly sweet-talking (or occasionally threatening) her way into spaces Max is unable to. However, with no way to take back a poor dialogue choice, there’s a weight and permanence to every choice that makes playing as Chloe feel far more dramatic, and closer to the series’ choose-your-own-adventure roots.

Pathos and poignancy was always this series’ greatest currency though, and in bringing the pair’s tale to a close, Reunion certainly splashes that cash.

Pathos and poignancy was always this series’ greatest currency though, and in bringing the pair’s tale to a close, Reunion certainly splashes that cash. There are characters returning from across the series’ history, although chiefly 2024’s Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, all with their own complications – depending on previous choices, some can be friends, enemies, ex-lovers, or might-have-beens. There are emotional payoffs throughout, especially if you’ve been keeping track over the years.

It can make for a lot of baggage but that’s also where Reunion feels like Life Is Strange at its strongest. The plot is gripping, with some of the pivotal choices sending events spiralling in ways that feel incredibly meaningful and surprisingly hard to predict, while the performances – Max and Chloe motion captured and voiced by Hannah Telle and Rhianna DeVries, respectively – give even the most supernaturally-tinged moments a heartfelt authenticity that many games would kill for. It’s also arguably the best the series has ever looked, the gorgeous, seemingly perpetually autumnal Vermont where much of the game is set leaving you wishing there was a dedicated photo mode (the closest is a few lukewarm collectibles Max can take Polaroids of, for little real purpose). And of course, no entry in the series would be complete without an achingly cool soundtrack, which Reunion duly provides with both its instrumental score and its tracklist peppered with indie icons proving a delight.

However, Reunion also repeats some of the series’ biggest missteps. It’s all so heavily narrative-focused that it often veers into “interactive movie” territory, leaving players with little else to do. While there are a few background distractions – a series of podcasts that can be found, each ‘episode’ offering insight to what’s going on, are a particularly nice touch, although the game forcing you to sit down and listen to them as cutscenes is less appreciated – there’s little to make you feel like you’re actively rooted in the world. That monofocus makes it all feel a bit on the short side, which may disappoint those hoping for a longer goodbye. Comparative brevity does make multiple playthroughs to see everything on offer seem a bit less daunting, though.

Tailoring so much of this game to fans who’ve been ride or die with Chloe and Max since 2015 is perhaps Reunion’s biggest risk. Not only does it present a huge hurdle for newcomers (frankly, don’t start here if this would be your first Life Is Strange), but in bringing closure to one of gaming’s longest-running relationships it may provide a jumping off point for the series as a whole. While Life Is Strange has branched out to explore other characters and stories, like in 2018’s Life is Strange 2 or 2021’s wonderful Life Is Strange: True Colors, it’s always swung back around to Max and Chloe.

Whether your choices in Reunion lead them to a happy ending or not, it’s hard to see where the franchise might go next without them – and any attempts to bring them back yet again would likely feel incredibly forced and more than a bit desperate. That future is yet to be written though, and for the intended audience Reunion proves beautifully cathartic, sending its central heroes out on an undeniably high.

Platforms: Quest 3, Quest 3S, PlayStation VR2

Set in the same continuity as Amazon’s ultra-violent adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s (even more disturbing) superhero satire comics, this VR spinoff casts players as brand-new character Lucas Costa. A back-office employee of Vought International – the sinister corporation behind the creation of “Supes” – Lucas has the terrible idea to sneak his daughters backstage to meet The Armstrongs, a close-knit family of heroes marketed to the public as a squeaky-clean superteam.

Well, you know what they say about meeting your heroes – Lucas finds this not-particularly-subtle parody of the Fantastic Four in the middle of an incestuous BDSM orgy, and their fury at being discovered leads to the loss of one of his daughters and his own grievous injuries. Found and brought back from the brink of death by Butcher and Mother’s Milk of the core team, Lucas is given a dose of superpowers courtesy of the Compound V wonder-drug and sent undercover to expose the Armstrongs and, maybe, help bring down Vought as a whole.

As a tie-in, it’s clear from the off that nothing of substance will happen that would impact the show – Lucas himself is essentially a swap-out for the TV show’s everyman figure Hughie, right down to also being a tech specialist. While that should allow game developer ARVORE the freedom to go wild, Trigger Warning stands out more for how timid it is. Almost every plot beat is predictable, both in its attempts at narrative twists and its moments of now-clichéd depravity.

Worse, it’s all quite boring to play. Lucas’ powers initially manifest as a blend of telekinesis and teleportation, which could have some interesting implementations in VR, but are mainly put to use for lengthy stealth sections. You’ll warp from air vent to air vent, lob small objects at guards’ heads, or zap behind them to yank those heads right off with a TK twist – but end up face to face and those same powers leave you no way to fight enemies off.

Even when more visually imaginative and tactile powers are introduced, such as blade-morphing arms and heat vision to crispy fry enemies, the formula of the game defaults to sneak-n’-slash. While the actual use of these powers in VR can be fun – particularly Lucas’ take on x-ray vision, allowing you to see the location of enemies through walls, activated by raising both hands to the side of your head in a “To me, my X-Men!” motion – it’s ultimately all quite bland.

Last year’s Deadpool VR at least managed to play around with a cel-shaded approach; this looks closer to a mobile game at times.

There’s also a very odd morality woven through. As Lucas, you’re absolutely appalled at the actions of the Armstrongs, and even more so when you witness the psychotic Homelander murdering an innocent security guard – but that moment comes right after the game has given you no choice but to slaughter dozens of guards to get to that cutscene. “Homelander killing = bad; Lucas killing = gameplay” is a hell of a take.

The gore of all that murder is somewhat tempered by the dated graphics of the game, and while that’s possibly a blessing for anyone who doesn’t want to tear through realistic humans like A-Train through Hughie’s girlfriend in the show’s pilot episode, the result is that Trigger Warning lacks any real visual identity of its own. Last year’s Deadpool VR at least managed to play around with a cel-shaded approach; this looks closer to a mobile game at times. It looks and feels rushed.

While there’s some draw here for hardcore fans of the show, with Laz Alonso reprising his role as Mother’s Milk, Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett, and Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy (sort of…), Trigger Warning is ultimately a slice of nothing – cartoon violence and try-hard shocks, sandwiched between dull, repetitive fights. Ultra-violence shouldn’t be this boring.

When Stranger Things' emotional finale hit Netflix at the start of 2026, some fans wondered whether four short months would be long enough to get over saying goodbye to our beloved Hawkins heroes before seeing them all come back — albeit younger and with different voices — in Eric Nobles' animated spin-off series Stranger Things: Tales From '85. Not even a week on from the spunky show's debut on Netflix however, it's clear that there's no such thing as too soon — or too much — Stranger Things. Yes, just five days after Season 1's release, Tales From '85 has already been renewed for Season 2 at the streamer. And we've even got a tiny teaser of what's next for Mike, El, Dustin, Will, Lucas, Max, newcomer Nikki Baxter and co. Check it out below;

Well there you have it: there's a haunting in Hawkins folks, and it's coming this year! With the first season of Tales From '85 having dropped just days ago, we're reticent to spoil any specifics of the, er, stranger things going on in Eric Nobles' series. That being said, with the show being set directly after Season 2 and eight months before Season 3 of Stranger Things, there's nearly a full (school) year in the lives of the show's BMX-riding pals waiting to be explored. And given the snow sharks, new characters, new Demo-creatures, and neat little character details sprinkled throughout Tales From '85's first run of episodes, there's every reason to believe a second season will offer even more relatively low-stakes, high nostalgia sci-fi shenanigans for fans of the main series.

While many fans are still catching up on the first ten-episode season of Stranger Things: Tales From '85 just now, that hasn't stopped the series' creator from teasing what's to come a little. Talking to THR, showrunner Nobles said, "we are going to go to new locations. For season two, we’re going to discover a little bit more about the history of Hawkins and what that history means to these kids. There’s a little bit more lore into the founding of Hawkins as a whole, and a lot of that has to do with how all the pieces come together with that last flower you see bloom." We knew we wouldn't regret holding onto our return ticket to Hawkins... it looks like plenty more Hawkins hijinks are still on their way, yet. Watch this space!

Huddle up, Diamond Dogs... Ted Lasso, Coach Beard, and co are back and pre-season is already well underway! Having seemingly waved farewell to Jason Sudeikis' moustachioed football manager for good with Ted Lasso Season 3 back in 2023, Apple TV officially announced it was bringing back its star signing for a fourth season last March. Since then, we've learned that the new season is set to put the spotlight on AFC Richmond's women's team, with Ted — back in the dugout and joined by fan favourites and a whole heap of new faces — looking to prove that lightning can strike twice. Check out the trailer below for a teaser of what's in store;

Okay, okay, okay... we believe. We believe in believe! Even in little more than a minute, there's plenty to raise eyebrows — and expectations — in this first proper look at Ted Lasso Season 4. Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) and Keely Jones (Juno Temple) are back (and maybe on track to get back together?). Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) is loved up and leading from the top once again. The AFC Richmond faithful are in fine fettle calling Ted a wanker on his return, and — most importantly — there's a whole new team to get to know and love, along with an addition to Ted and Coach Beard's (Brendan Hunt) technical area. As we glimpse here, Tanya Reynolds is following up eye-catching turns in The Other Bennet Sister and Sex Education with a more central role here, presumably filling in the vacancy left behind by our beloved Nate the Great (Nick Mohammed).

The short but sweet official synopsis for Ted Lasso Season 4, which is also set to bring Jude Mack, Faye Marsay, Rex Hayes, Aisling Sharkey, Abbie Hern, and Grant Feely into the sit-com's fold, reads: "In season four, Ted returns to Richmond, taking on his biggest challenge yet: coaching a second division women’s football team. Throughout the course of the season, Ted and the team learn to leap before they look, taking chances they never thought they would."

Will Ted Lasso make a successful return to the dugout? And will Ted Lasso make a successful return to our screens — especially after such a neatly wrapped up Season 3 finale? Only time will tell. And we don't have much longer to wait, folks. Ted Lasso Season 4 is officially due to premiere on Apple TV on 5 August, just a couple of weeks after the FIFA World Cup final stateside. *Alexa — play the Ted Lasso theme... YEAHHHHH IT MIGHT BE ALL THAT YOU GETTTT!*

It is not unusual on the Pilot TV Podcast to find our hosts gadding about. But on this week's episode, the team aren't simply gadding about — they're Gadd-ing! Yes, multi-talented Scotsman Richard Gadd joins us on this week’s show to talk becoming a beefcake and scaring the shit out of Jamie Bell in his Baby Reindeer follow-up Half Man on BBC1. [58:36 — 1:10:02] But that’s not all, because James Dyer, Boyd Hilton, and Steph Seelan also convene in the podbooth to investigate Sky’s new thriller Prisoner, which bears a striking resemblance to Jonathan Ross’ new Handcuffed show... only with, well, more machine guns. And the gang also cast a critical eye over Apple’s quirky supernatural comedy Widow’s Bay, too. Plus, of course, there's your usual telly news and nattering, and if you’ve ever wanted to know what each of the team’s most embarrassing celebrity anecdotes are then this is very much the episode for you!

You can watch this week's episode of the pod below;

Prefer your pods to be purely audio? Well, you can also listen to this week's episode — which, if you're counting, is #386 — on your podcast app of choice. Also, if you want to subscribe to Pilot TV+, where you'll find an extra episode of the pod every week, gain early access to our latest episodes, and cut out all those pesky ads, then you can find all the details here — it takes the place for Peak TV podcasting to a whole other level.

Want to make sure you never miss out on the latest movie and TV news, reviews, and Empire exclusives again? Click here to add Empire as your go-to source on Google Feed.

Eleven years ago, Quentin Tarantino — master of cinema-adjacent side questing — and co-writer Matt Wagner unleashed comic book miniseries Django/Zorro upon the world. An unlikely Django Unchained sequel, the comics brought together gunslinging bounty hunter Django Freeman and legendary masked swordsman Zorro in a seven-part crossover event that saw the duo teaming up to kick ass, take names, and free slaves. Now, per Variety's reporting, Sony has revived plans for a Django/Zorro movie, even going so far as to hire an Oscar-winning screenwriter to pen the film: L.A. Confidential scribe Brian Helgeland.

Now, if some distant alarm bells are ringing, telling you that you've heard something about a Django/Zorro movie before then that'd be because you have. Back in 2019, comedian Jerrod Carmichael signed on to write the film, with Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx publicly declaring his interest in returning to the iconic role of Django and Antonio Banderas — who played Zorro in both The Mask Of Zorro and The Legend Of Zorro movies — later confirming that Tarantino had approached him at the 2020 Oscars about the idea of donning the sword master's mask once more. Regardless of the enthusiasm from all parties however, the project ended up falling by the wayside... until today's unexpected update.

At this point, it's unclear whether Foxx and/or Banderas will have any involvement in the movie Brian Helgeland's writing, or indeed exactly what that film will look like. The comics see Django become Zorro's bodyguard, with Diego de la Vega essentially assuming the Dr. King Schultz role as the pair work together to free indigenous people in the American Southwest from slavery. That being said, Tarantino isn't writing or directing Django/Zorro, and his collaborator on the comics Matt Wagner isn't either. Also, Variety's understanding is that this film is set to tell an all-new story with the iconic characters — even if their respective moral missions and areas of expertise give us a fairly good idea what that team-up will ultimately look like.

At this stage, with no director attached or new/returning stars confirmed, Django/Zorro still has some way to go before we're actually seated in a multiplex for a cinematic crossover event quite unlike any other. But now that Helgeland's aboard and Sony are clearly keen to get this thing going again, let's just say that they had our curiosity, and now they have our attention...

Streaming on: HBO Max / SKY
Episodes viewed: 8 of 8

Lisa Kudrow slips into Valerie Cherish like she’s a second skin. It’s a full-on brain transplant of a performance, Kudrow out of the picture, Cherish taking over, desperation in human form, forever smiling, forever disguising — badly — the pain within. It’s a masterclass in character work, every strained intonation, every psychologically wounded facial flicker, every over-compensatory gesture, and at this point it is practically Kudrow’s life’s work. First arriving in 2005, Valerie has returned every decade to awkwardly find her place in an ever-evolving — or devolving — media landscape, and while she is worlds apart from Kudrow, make no mistake: this is personal. Valerie is Kudrow’s middle name. Literally. It’s her middle name. Lisa Valerie Kudrow. She is not Valerie Cherish. But Valerie Cherish is her.

From the germ of an idea by Kudrow, agog at the bizarre blossoming of reality television and the shameless egos populating it, she and Michael Patrick King birthed the character in 2004, when Friends and Sex And The City (much of the latter written and directed by King) ended. Valerie came to us fully formed, and seemed more obviously connected to Kudrow’s early-1990s training with improv sketch-group The Groundlings than Phoebe from Friends (on which she was not a writer) did — it was as if her own (co-) creation was busting to be born. Hungry for stardom and starving for the spotlight, Valerie is excruciatingly performative, a mess of good intentions and horrendous decisions, perpetually in denial as she suffers an endless succession of indignities, some self-inflicted. Often cajoled into debasing herself to further her career, she believes the key to survival, alongside her relentless tenacity, is to project constant chipperness. But she is constantly cracking. The eyes tell the truth, regardless of the Chesire Cat grin.

The exceptional first two seasons found an at first down-on-her-luck Valerie climbing back up the ladder while simultaneously starring in reality shows about her return to television, and triumphing: Season 2 ended with her winning an Emmy, and off screen, Kudrow was nominated too, as she was for Season 1, and will undoubtedly be again for 2026’s third and final season. Now, Valerie is starring in the world’s first sitcom (the perfectly titled ‘How’s That?!’) written by AI, despite superficially protesting against such a thing in the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Throughout the eight episodes, Kudrow and King show us that Valerie has changed. She has learned some lessons. She has accrued more confidence. Not quite the walking carpet she has been in the past, she’s a little more savvy, has a little more integrity, a little more self-respect — and more bite, when she needs it. Twenty-one years older than when we first met her, you’d hope that would be the case. We all grow. Yet many of our hopes and dreams, our fears and self-loathing, remain, as is very much the case with Valerie Cherish, who still suffers from feverish self-preservation, still desperate for affirmation, validation, respect and, now, social collabs with Nivea. And, as cruel as The Comeback can be to Valerie, King and Kudrow write and perform her so compassionately, so delicately. It’s hard to think of another comedy show that tickles the funny bone while tugging at the heartstrings in the same moment.

Says goodbye to the show guns blazing.

Fame is still the game for Valerie, obsessed with relevance, although the commentary on reality TV is less pronounced, as the format has become so commonplace itself: cameras (and phone cameras) are everywhere now in The Comeback, mostly without question. At one point, Valerie is followed by her own behind-the-scenes crew (led, as ever, by Laura Silverman’s crusading documentarian Jane) into her manager’s (Dan Bucatinksy’s increasingly ghoulish Billy) office, where she is ambushed into taking part in some professional couples-therapy, the therapist armed with his own crew for a TV pilot — the result is like a Mexican standoff, but with cameras instead of guns.

Also, this time, everyone is desperate. Valerie’s husband Mark (Damian Young), usually her rock, her voice of reason, has lost his high-powered finance job and now, in his late middle-age, is clinging onto being cool (at least his idea of it), pathetically excited about his new Soho House membership and his stylishly oversized spectacles, and attempting his own reality-TV career by starring in a cretinous creation called ‘Finance Dudes’. Billy, meanwhile, having anointed himself Valerie’s producing partner, is more interested in his own burgeoning industry-sway and status. Some of what goes on with these two characters in particular is perhaps a smidge too broad. Yes, this is the show in which Valerie once — iconically! — puked all over a studio floor while dressed as a giant cupcake — but a couple of the excesses of Season 3 do lessen the frisson of reality the show has somehow always retained.

Still, Mark and Billy’s arcs are a keen comment on the unfortunate state of things in 2026, where so many people are fighting for their own cachet, however egotistical their goals may be. Meanwhile, the institutions and corporations around them become ever-more controlling, here signified by the unscrupulous NuNet, led by Andrew Scott’s lizardy moral-abyss of a network exec, Brandon; a press conference, in which only “friends” of the network (and influencers) are invited to attend, says as much about contemporary politics as it does showbiz.

Genuine despair really does underpin this final season, which offers a compassionate and sad perspective on the havoc that generative AI is beginning to wreak, and the livelihoods that will be lost because of it. Valerie may not be aggressively opposed to it at the start, more concerned with how she might be judged by her peers than with the actual ramifications of it all — when stalwart sitcom-director Jimmy Burrows, returning to The Comeback once more to play himself, lobs some helpful truth-bombs at her, she immediately hurtles into denial. Writers, he tells her, turn their pain into jokes: “Those broken, beautiful souls are what makes something great.” She may well know that that’s true, but doesn’t want to hear it, doesn’t want her dream derailed, so clings onto a questionable second opinion. She soon sees, though, how quickly things collapse without actual human writers on the job.

If this all sounds a little on the nose, well, it is a little on the nose. Kudrow and King are not in the mood to beat around the bush. The Comeback has always worshipped at the altar of good television, and the current threat has them saying goodbye to the show guns blazing. You certainly can’t quibble with their passion, but it does somewhat overwhelm the final few episodes, and as The Comeback reaches its conclusion, the comedy takes a bit of a backseat. Because for Kudrow and King, this is no laughing matter. Nevertheless, even with fewer yuks it is effective, Valerie pushed and pulled about by various powerful forces, her really quite complex quandary challenging her own sense of integrity, and watching Kudrow portray the character with such gusto is rewarding.

And for the most part, her and King’s heart-on-sleeve approach pays off. The early throughline about Valerie’s old friend and hairstylist Mickey, played by Robert Michael Morris, who died in 2017, is hugely touching. Valerie has been hit hard by Mickey’s death, just as Kudrow and King were by Morris’, and you can feel the loss and heartbreak whenever he is invoked. The sequence here in which Valerie scatters Mickey’s ashes from the roof of a soundstage is a stirring tribute to the character and the actor.

Such honesty, the blurring of the lines, the sense of reality, has always been key to The Comeback — it’s been about reality from the start, about reality as a constructed concept, and about genuineness. As such, it is cringey and compassionate, nuanced and broad, sincere and slapstick, all thrown in at once to reflect the messy chaos of Valerie Cherish, and of all of us.

Platforms: PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Pragmata developer Capcom must be thanking its lucky stars – with the recent Artemis II moon mission reigniting excitement for all things lunar, the timing couldn’t be better for this action epic set on our nearest cosmic neighbour.

In the near future, humanity has industrialised the moon, spurred on by the discovery of lunafilament, a versatile material that can be 3D printed into anything, be it chair or skyscraper. When a moonside research base goes silent, a response team is sent in to investigate, but only one member – protagonist Hugh Williams – survives contact with IDUS, the rogue AI that’s wiped out everyone inside. Resuscitated by Diana, a unique android in the form of a young girl, the pair set about contacting Earth and escaping the base, all while avoiding IDUS’ mass-printed malevolent robots.

Bold sci-fi adventure ultimately emerges as one of the most exciting in years.

If you’re expecting a shoot-out in stark white corridors pulled from 2001: A Space Odyssey, well, you’re not wrong. Pragmata does indeed involve blasting a lot of nefarious clankers, many with truly disturbing designs – the giant distended baby one is notable nightmare fuel – but it’s also a lot smarter than your average shooter. You’ll play as Hugh and Diana simultaneously, Hugh attacking, dodging, and reacting, while Diana – riding atop his back – hacks enemy systems to create vulnerabilities, all in real-time.

Diana’s hacks utilise your controller’s right-side face buttons to move through a grid, with key nodes triggering weaknesses for Hugh to exploit. He, in turn, hops between various weapons and tools using the left-side D-pad controls, tailoring approaches to each compromised foe. It’s a mind-bending but utterly brilliant mechanic, and as you upgrade both characters’ respective abilities by spending lunafilament dropped by downed enemies at a safehouse between missions, it evolves into one that challenges players’ brains as much as their trigger fingers.

Pragmata also proves visually ambitious, shifting from that early Kubrickian aesthetic to wildly imaginative settings where entire cityscapes have been printed out, but come out warped and distinctly wrong in the AI-led process. It’s a smart commentary on the current real-world plague of AI slop, with Capcom’s actual human artists masterfully crafting deliberate, structured environments that still capture that whiff of the unnatural.

It stumbles slightly in the writing – Hugh unquestioningly accepts Diana, right after his squad was wiped out by bots, while the dialogue borders on cloying as Capcom tries to foster a pseudo-parental bond – and some of the boss battles could be a bit more inventive, but this bold sci-fi adventure ultimately emerges as one of the most exciting in years.

Agatha Christie fans have been eating well over the last few years. Not only has Hercule Poirot been revived — and even given a moustache origin story — on the big screen, the whodunnit boom has been racking up bodies at a rate to rival John Wick, from Knives Out to The Thursday Murder Club. The genre’s latest spin, The Sheep Detectives, follows a literal flock of sheep trying to solve the murder of their beloved shepherd (Hugh Jackman); although it seems like the set-up for a sharp, child-friendly satire, what we get is a case that is far more by the numbers.

It quickly becomes apparent that The Sheep Detectives has a bit of an identity crisis on its hands. Its setting is caught somewhere between the whimsical, colourful world of Paddington and a hard-boiled murder-mystery. Despite being populated by giddy CG sheep, it comes as a surprise that this kids’ film is, for the most part, a serious affair. Based on the 2005 German crime novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann — which featured murder, suicide, and drug trafficking — this is not a film with much in the way of successful jokes. Under its cosy exterior, it is mostly concerned with being a straight whodunnit. With the flock themselves obsessed with murder-mysteries, the film repeatedly calls out tropes of the genre, but it rarely does anything to subvert them, beyond merely repeating them.

It does at least manage to spin an engaging mystery.

Despite some tonal whiplash, it does at least manage to spin an engaging mystery. It keeps you constantly second-guessing which of the quirky townsfolk committed the murder. The central story is fairly generic, but it holds together well enough that if you stumbled across it on a Sunday afternoon, you might just find yourself guessing alongside these sheep sleuths.

What can’t be doubted is The Sheep Detectives’ abundance of pathos. While the murderous material can feel confusing in its kiddy-friendly setting, its meditations on grief, inclusion and caring land like a big, fluffy hug. This is helped in large part by the voice cast that bring this adorable animated flock to life — especially Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Lily, Chris O’Dowd’s soulful Mopple, and Bella Ramsey’s high-energy, question-asking lamb. It is a committed ensemble that sells this flock’s love for their shepherd, and while the tale often treads on familiar ground, it is in the bond between these animals and their owner that the film finds its woolly heart.

Ask anyone who saw Jackass Forever on the big screen in 2022: even all these years later, there’s little that compares with a Jackass cinema experience. Seen with a crowd – a gasping, giggling, guffawing, gesticulating crowd – they’re an absolute must, as Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Danger Ehren, Wee Man and friends throw themselves into dangerous and pain-riddled exploits for your viewing pleasure. And now, the end of the road is here. This summer brings Jackass: Best And Last, the troupe’s grand finale – and they’re certainly not growing up. Check out the trailer:

As it turns out, Best And Last is a very literal title. Not only will the film be the last outing for the gang, but it’ll also intersperse the new pranks and hijinks with best bits from across the previous movies. Hopefully there’ll still be plenty of fresh footage – but it’s also a chance to see some of the greatest Jackass bits back on the big screen, with that raucous audience experience.

Still, there’s plenty of life left in them yet. Now that the OG crew is in their 50s, we have a robot coming in to give prostate exams; they’re undertaking the ‘escape room from hell’; and there’s some kind of terrifying puppet show involving tasers. All that, and some of the fresh blood from Jackass Forever returns too – Zach Holmes, Jasper Dolphin, Rachel Wolfson, and the incredibly-named ‘Poopies’ (aka Sean McInerney) – to try some classic Jackass bits and some new horrors too.

So, prepare for one final ride with a saga like no other when Jackass: Best And Last hits cinemas on June 26. And remember: the stunts in this movie were performed by professionals, so for your safety and the protection of those around you, do not attempt any of the stunts you’ve just seen.

Apex has been described as a “survival action thriller” — which is not untrue. It certainly comes from a man whose name has become synonymous with this very specific subgenre. Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur has a habit of telling stories about people in extreme environments — whether on the slopes of the Himalayas (2015’s Everest), on the run from a man-killing lion (2022’s Beast), in frozen waters for six hours (2012’s The Deep), or being forced to hang out with Mark Wahlberg (2013’s 2 Guns).

But Apex is something else, too. It is a horror film, a Most Dangerous Game chase across land and river and forest and cliff: the point in the Venn diagram where extreme sports meet extreme terror. It’s a very effective genre exercise, slick, to the point and methodically gripping, while, at just a touch over 90 minutes, never outstaying its welcome.

After following the rarely observed Mission: Impossible 2 rules — always front-load your film with a vertigo-inducing pre-titles cliff climb — it begins proper in the manner of a not-from-round-here psychological thriller, an Eden Lake, a Straw Dogs, or — more specifically, given the setting — a Wolf Creek. Sasha (Charlize Theron) is still raw from a recent tragedy, and heads to the Australian Outback for a personal pilgrimage of healing. She’s immediately made to feel uncomfortable by the local game hunters, and Kormákur nicely summons the sense of unease and dread you can feel as an outsider in a provincial town, all sweaty and unsettling.

A really handsomely made bit of schlock.

It’s during one of these unnerving encounters that Sasha first meets Ben (Taron Egerton), who — as they so often do — initially seems like one of the good guys. He defends her honour and offers helpful directions. But it soon becomes clear that Ben is very much not one of the good guys. He spends a little bit too much time out in the woods, flashes the occasional creepy smile and appears to love his mum in all the wrong ways, Norman Bates-style.

Egerton is a canny bit of casting in a rare villain role, the Welsh actor morphing his natural charisma and sinewy frame — so winning in the likes of Kingsman or Rocketman — into something sinister and terrifying. Ben’s boyish, impish delight at hunting down his prey with a crossbow would almost be oddly charming, if he didn’t also share Hannibal Lecter’s predilection for human liver.

Theron, meanwhile, is completely commanding as Sasha, in a performance physically and emotionally on a par with her unforgettable turn in Mad Max: Fury Road. Far from a naive waif, Sasha is satisfyingly über-capable in the wild, largely avoiding the terrible decision-making that frequently plagues these kinds of films. Theron makes for a convincing outdoorswoman: she abseils, she cave-dives, she kayaks, she free-solos up rock faces and camps under the stars — all, seemingly, for real.

Think of Apex, then, as the effective Point Break of horror films. It is a really handsomely made bit of schlock, B-movie stuff on an A-movie budget. Perhaps we’ve been disappointed too many times by the excessive green-screen of recent streaming slop, but this is a film which really benefits from its epic cinematography, seemingly infinite landscapes seen from drones, almost all shot on location in New South Wales. (Shame, then, that it’s bypassing the big screen and going straight to Netflix.) It feels more grounded, relatively speaking, than Kormákur’s last disaster flick Beast, which necessitated a lot of computer-generated lions for Idris Elba to punch in the face. There is obviously CGI here, including a hugely impressive tracking shot all the way off a cliff — but it feels far more seamless and well-integrated than what we’ve become used to.

Where it is not always seamless is in how elegantly it threads its themes together. This is hardly a film that is especially profound, as meditative on the subject of grief as a film with the line, “It’s a drastic bummer!” can possibly be. It’s about as shallow as its canyons are deep, and gets a little bit silly towards its grisly finale — you will be reminded of Gollum during the film’s most eye-rolling moment. But on the whole, it makes the most of its ruthlessly efficient genre template. The final boss Sasha must overcome is not Ben, but her own personal demons — free-solo climbing as exposure therapy. It might not be the kind of psychiatry recommended on the NHS, but as a viewing experience, this is one worth hooking your belay onto.

Streaming on: HBO Max
Episodes viewed: 15 of 15

The first season of The Pitt was the TV equivalent of a defibrillator charge to the chest: a 1,000-volt shock sent coursing through the nervous system not just of the tens of millions who watched it, but of the medical drama genre as a whole, too. Sentimental, saccharine, soapy — these are some of the words that might have appeared on the diagnosis charts of past hospital-set hits, like Grey’s Anatomy and ER, which often centred doctors and nurses’ personal lives as much or more so than the challenges posed by their patients. But not so on The Pitt.

Despite many of the show’s chief creative forces having famously worked on ER — namely creator R. Scott Gemmill, producer John Wells and lead actor Noah Wyle — here was a healthcare episodic that zapped new life into the format by besieging its characters with patients whose ailments alluded to a broken nation. From racism and incel culture to America’s epidemic of gun violence, The Pitt Season 1 was The Wire-esque in its portrait of a country — and an emergency room — straining at the seams.

Season 2 might have been a tricky operation for Gemmill to don his scrubs and undertake. After all, the show’s first 15-episode run — with each hour unfolding in real time, documenting one continuous shift for Dr Robby (Wyle), charge nurse Dana (Katherine LaNasa), Dr Langdon (Patrick Ball) and co — strove to deliver 50cc of realism to audiences, showing what it’s really like for healthcare professionals in 2026. But it also benefited from a storyline involving a mass shooting at a nearby music festival that injected a sense of Hollywood spectacle into proceedings.

Carves its characters open, one by one, with fascinating nuance.

Finding another disaster to anchor this season around might have fundamentally broken The Pitt, establishing a dangerous precedent for seasons to come — if each outing revolves around a mass shooting or similar catastrophe, how long until the realism of the show is worn away? How long until Dr Whittaker (Gerran Howell) is treating patients impacted by a hurricane, or until Dr McKay (Fiona Dourif) is helping victims of a swarm of angry rhinos that have escaped from Pittsburgh Zoo?

Season 2 smartly acknowledges that not every shift at a hospital involves a tragedy like the Pittsfest shooting in Season 1. Nor does it need one to push its attendings towards dangerous emotional brinks. This latest visit to the PTMC instead sees a string of smaller emergencies zip out of the ambulance bay and into the ward, so that we can delve deeper into the frayed psyches of Robby and co than ever before. From the intriguing opening image of his chief physician character, riding a motorbike with no helmet despite knowing better than anyone the dangers that could await him, Wyle is on magnificent form as a man struggling to mask the accumulated toll of years spent within these hospital walls — all the lives he couldn’t save and the colleagues he butted heads with, too (his protégé Langdon, who last season was unceremoniously sent home after it was revealed he was stealing drugs from patients, is back from rehab as Season 2 begins and struggling to earn Robby’s forgiveness).

There are spikes in the exterior drama. A cyber-attack, teased in trailers, takes the hospital offline. In one episode, the violence and force of America’s current immigration crackdown spills into the PTMC, in scenes that might add extra poignancy or context to your understanding of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old American intensive-care nurse shot dead in Minneapolis earlier this year by ICE officers during a protest. But really, this is a season of TV focused unblinkingly on its protagonists. The scalpel is sharp when it comes to the way The Pitt Season 2 carves its characters open, one by one, with fascinating nuance.

2026 has already proved to be a big year for Scottish cinema, with the release of James McAvoy’s California Schemin’, the story of two Scottish rappers who pretended to be American to help them get a record deal, and Glasgow-based documentary Everybody To Kenmure Street. But while McAvoy was keen to eschew twee stereotypes in his directorial debut, Brian Cox’s first foray into filmmaking could easily be mistaken for a Visit Scotland ad.

Having opened with the first of many montages of admittedly stunning drone footage of the Scottish Highlands, we hear the rumbling baritone of Cox as Sandy, narrating an olive branch of a letter to estranged younger brother Donal (Alan Cumming). After his beloved Chicago dive bar burns down, Donal, along with daughter Amy (Alexandra Shipp) and granddaughter Sasha (Alexandra Wilkie), returns to Glenrothan and his family’s distillery for the first time in decades for an uneasy reconciliation.

As if a Hallmark movie upped its star power.

For those of us who know Cox best as terrifying tycoon Logan Roy in Succession or Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter, it’s difficult to believe that the same person could have made something so treacly. The talented cast, which also includes a criminally underused Shirley Henderson as the distillery manager and Donal’s spurned first love, are lumbered with awful expositional dialogue, trite truisms and a few weak stabs at humour. The score is syrupy and overbearing, but at least thankfully devoid of bagpipes.

Frustratingly, there’s some untapped potential here for genuine dramatic tension, with flashbacks revealing the brothers’ mistreatment by their father and that it was Sandy, not Donal, who as a young man was desperate to leave Glenrothan and see the world. But ultimately, we’re not in the realm of real human behaviour; it’s as if a Hallmark movie upped its star power and decided to focus on fraternal love for a change.

Who is the real David Lowery? Is it the family-friendly Disney employee, who can make heartwarmingly PG fare such as Pete’s Dragon or Peter Pan & Wendy? Or is it the singular arthouse auteur, renowned for challenging, grown-up work like A Ghost Story, The Green Knight and now Mother Mary? That identity crisis drives the filmmaker’s latest, a fashion fantasy which attempts to understand who we are as creative engines, how our collaborators inform and shape our work, and how the bitterness of bad blood can tremble our very souls. This is, in effect, ‘A Ghost Story 2: Pop Music Boogaloo’.

The set-up seems simple. On a Thursday, sad-girl pop star Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) shows up at the offices of her former designer, Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel), and requests a dress to be made for her headline show that Sunday. The pair, it’s immediately clear, have not spoken in years, and Sam is not thrilled to see her. But against her better judgement, she agrees.

Sam asks the singer to describe her thoughts and feelings, which she will then translate into her fashion, calling it a “transubstantiation of feeling” — the kind of lapsed-Catholic line that might be dismissed as pretension. But it speaks to a profound truism: that the creative process is effectively a search for the divine, for the metaphysical, the world beyond the visible.

A sublime meditation on creativity and collaboration

It’s a fitting line, too, for Hathaway’s Mother Mary, a pop star draped in deliciously beatific religious iconography, from her ever-present halo headgear to her atmospheric songs. But the metaphor becomes literal when both find themselves haunted by a mysterious red, fabric phantasm which appears to connect them both.

This is hardly the first film to find spectral inscrutability in the folds of fashion; In Fabric and Phantom Thread both played with similar ideas, while Mother Mary’s flashes of lurid red and artistic obsession evoke The Red Shoes. But while the ideas here aren’t new, they play beautifully, Lowery executing it with such careful beauty and intention. In a film explicitly about art, every craftsperson is at the top of their game: from the captivating performances of Coel (imperious, stubborn, cruel) and Hathaway (vulnerable, emotionally illiterate, in need of an exorcism), to the songs by real-life pop queens Charli xcx and fka twigs, to the immaculate costume design by Bina Daigeler, to the woozy hyperreal cinematography of Andrew Droz Palermo and Rina Yang.

It plays like a riveting supernatural two-hander. Mother Mary herself demands “clarity” from her design, even as the film itself teasingly plays with ambiguity, the bounds of reality never quite fixed. Yet its intentions and feelings feel straightforward: this is a sublime meditation on creativity and collaboration, one that tries to square the circle of David Lowery’s multiple-personality career, even as it falls firmly on one side of it.

Available on: Apple TV
Episodes viewed: 6 of 8

A stellar cast assembles for Margo’s Got Money Troubles, adapted from Rufi Thorpe’s bestselling 2024 novel of the same name, which follows young Margo Millet (Elle Fanning) as she ventures into the world of adult-content creation to provide for her newborn son. Alongside Fanning are Michelle Pfeiffer as her glamorous mother Shyanne, a former Hooters waitress who raised Margo alone; Greg Kinnear as Shyanne’s church-going husband-to-be Kenny; and a leather pants-clad Nick Offerman as Margo’s father James — or ‘Jinx’, as he was known in his pro-wrestler days.

With Big Little Lies showrunner David E. Kelley at the helm, and directors including Loki’s Kate Herron and Bad Sisters’ Dearbhla Walsh, the level of quality is clear. The show flits effortlessly between drama and comedy; weaves stylistic filmmaking with simple, tender moments; and gives its characters more than enough breathing room for this extended family to feel real, and their lives to feel rounded. The costumes are impeccable, as is the soundtrack, with modern bangers from Robyn, Clairo and CMAT popping up between sing-along and synthy classics.

Michelle Pfeiffer and Elle Fanning as mother and daughter is pure casting genius.

Fanning is excellent, committing to portraying every facet of Margo — the new mother ravaged by the challenges of breastfeeding; the sceptical daughter trying to reconnect with her father; the funny, creative oddbod with a ‘rich inner world’ — with complexity and radiance. Pfeiffer and Fanning as mother and daughter is pure casting genius, but it’s Fanning’s connection with Offerman that shines even brighter. The Parks And Recreation star brings an enormous amount of heart and soul to a guy who really did let his family down, but in his recovery from drug addiction is determined to do better. Despite his absence from Margo’s early life, they share a quiet intimacy and non-judgmental understanding that becomes the reliable underpinning of both the show and Margo’s increasingly tumultuous life.

Despite its somewhat raunchy core concept, Margo is fairly conventional, far more interested in exploring the nuances of flawed family dynamics and the identity that emerges from that than it is in exploiting the OnlyFans angle. The latter, though, is where moments of surrealism break through — most notably in the opening to Episode 6, where Margo’s kooky alien alter-ego ‘Hungry Ghost’ makes her online debut — but, along with Margo’s third-person narration from the first episode, these fantastical elements are (for the most part) set aside, making them feel a little disjointed. Still, fun as it would have been for the show to lean into those more, there is plenty of human drama to keep you invested in Margo’s weird and wonderful world.

If you saw Mark Jenkin’s first two features, 2019’s evocative and unquantifiably odd Bait, and 2023’s even more unusual Enys Men, you might think you’ll know what to expect from his third. Yes, Jenkin’s singular, uncompromising style remains unchanged: hand-cranked, grainy 16mm film brought to imperfect life with scratches, fibres and lens flare, and a post-synched soundtrack that lends his films an uncanny vibe. Rose Of Nevada feels thematically familiar too, sharing Bait’s grief over lost fishing communities and Enys Men’s temporal and hauntological shenanigans. But Jenkin weaves a whole new tale of the unexpected here: one that will leave you scratching your head and smelling of fish for days.

Rose Of Nevada is the story of the titular trawler, a small boat which appears, unmanned, in the harbour of a present-day, run-down Cornish village 30 years since it, and its crew, went missing. The boat’s disappearance coincided with the collapse of the local economy, and the villagers see its return as an omen. A new crew is assembled — financially desperate family man Nick (George MacKay), on-the-run drifter Liam (Callum Turner), and a mysterious, salty sea-dog of a skipper (Francis Magee) — and the trio set off to bring in a haul intended to end three decades of stagnation and community atrophy. But when they return with their catch, Nick and Liam find themselves inexplicably stranded in the 1990s, greeted by the townsfolk as the original crew.

The time-travel premise sounds high-concept, but this is less Robert Zemeckis than Robert Bresson. You might be reminded of Back To The Future by the bamboozled protagonist looking for a way to escape a 30-years-younger version of his home town, but Jenkin is more interested in a nightmarish, woozy ambience, evoked by rhythmic sound and images and fractured editing, than a propulsive, clearly determined narrative. Ambiguity is everything here, which will either invite you to consider myriad allegorical readings — climate change, Brexit, industrial decline and the cost-of-living crisis are all hinted at — or just put you off altogether. What’s undeniable, though, is that Jenkin’s filmmaking (he directs, shoots, edits, composes the score and designs the sound himself, as well as operating the camera) is the star of the show. Mesmerising shots of rusted metal, weathered woodwork and flourishing lichen signify a world in decay while, perversely, primary colours — the blue Cornish sky, Callum Turner’s pink baseball cap — pop off the screen and slap you in the face. This is a film you can virtually feel. It might not be entry-level Mark Jenkin (that would be Bait), but if you’re willing to surrender to its unique world, it’s well worth getting on board.

Available on: Netflix
Episodes viewed: 10 of 10

In the world of film and TV, the release calendar is everything, and it’s undeniable that the timing of Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is peculiar, arriving so soon after the finale divided the internet. It’s set just after Season 2: pre-Vecna, Robin and Bob (RIP), when the gang is feeling cautiously optimistic that their battle with the Upside Down has concluded. From our point of view, the battle has concluded, and despite the record-setting finale figures, we have barely had time to miss these characters. Dramatic licence aside, it is hard to watch this animated tale of “snow sharks”, many-tentacled beasts and a dear new friend without raising an eyebrow that none of the events depicted here were ever mentioned in the seasons that followed.

If anything, the show comes across as exemplary fan fiction, the sharp-angled animation lending itself to pacy, vibrant and dynamic action sequences and wittier back-and-forth than much of the live-action final season provided. It also tonally embraces the colourful, zippy chaos that showrunner Eric Robles brought to the poptastic world of his previous animated show, Glitch Techs. There is a playful looseness and energy here in contrast to what was an increasing self-seriousness in the live-action series.

There is a lighter, sillier quality to the humour that suits the animated format.

Best of all is the addition of new character Nikki (Odessa A’zion), a purple-haired, punk-rock, gender-non-conforming new pal with a knack for kicking arse and inventing the perfect gadget on the fly. Her fast friendship with Will (voiced here by Ben Plessala) effectively reinforces the queer storylines that went from subtext to text in the most recent live-action episodes. Also ever-present is the narrative that Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt) longs for the freedom to make her own choices, and risk her life if she feels it fulfils her destiny.

Hearing the new voice cast takes some adjustment at first, but the replacement performers prove a positive, adding a youthfulness to the dialogue that the now 20-something original cast could no longer provide. As the show zips along, they become increasingly more charming, and there is a lighter, sillier quality to the humour that suits the animated format particularly well. If your favourite moments of Netflix’s behemoth were the scares and the depictions of trauma, then this will likely leave you cold. If anything, conceptually this feels akin to Emerald Fennell’s recent Wuthering Heights adaptation: Tales From ’85 is not so much Stranger Things as “Stranger Things”. There is much to be puzzled by, but thankfully the scales tip in favour of finding a return to Hawkins delightful.

Let’s face it: being Superman would be kinda cool (even though Kal-El was really going through it in James Gunn’s Superman). And even Supergirl has a lot going for her, despite the upcoming Supergirl seeming to put her in emotion-fuelled revenge mode. But the next film from DC Studios follows a character with a much less enviable power-set: being Clayface, surely, can’t be much fun. So it seems in the Clayface teaser, a brief look at the next DC movie, taking Gunn’s comic book universe in a horror direction. Watch the teaser here:

Taking the Batman baddie as its basis, Clayface follows actor Matt Hagen – played by rising Welsh star Tom Rhys Harries – who finds himself undergoing some… changes. Face-melting, clay-fleshed changes. Like we said: not fun. While it might not be an obvious next move for the DCU, the film comes from some serious talent: the screenplay comes from Mike Flanagan, as well as Hossein Amini, with director James Watkins (Eden Lake, the surprisingly great Speak No Evil remake) behind the camera. Plus, it also stars the very talented Naomi Ackie, Max Minghells, and Eddie Marsan. So far, so good.

It remains to be seen what Clayface will bring to Gunn’s wider universe (you’re unlikely to see Batman here, we’d say), but even if it’s somewhat standalone, it could be a nice Halloween treat – set to arrive in cinemas on October 23. Start prepping your Clayface trick-or-treat costume now!

It’s real! It’s here! Coyote vs. ACME is finally going to grace our screens! If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, the story of the film’s eventual emergence actually goes back to 2023, when the Looney Tunes live-action/animation hybrid was abruptly shelved by Warner Bros as a tax write-off (boo!). All despite highly positive early word on the film, which has a James Gunn story credit. Safe to say, nobody was happy. The film stars Will Forte as a lawyer representing the perpetually unlucky Wile E. Coyote in a case against ACME Corporation over years of faulty products. It looked like it was gone for good, until Ketchup Entertainment stepped in and rescued the film. Now, we have our first trailer, which you can watch here:

Joining Forte on the live-action side are Lana Condor and John Cena, with Cena looking to have a lot of fun playing a undoubtably evil representative for ACME, and Condor teaming up with Forte’s budding attorney. The film’s tagline – “The film ACME doesn’t want you to see” – is undoubtedly a self-aware wink at its troubled time at Warner Bros. Nevertheless, the trailer seems to mine a lot of fun from the premise of Wile E. Coyote going to court over all the injuries he has sustained over the years, with plenty of visual gags and Looney Tunes cameos aplenty, including Tweety Pie, Daffy Duck, and the silhouette of a recognisable carrot-eating bunny. This certainly looks a hop above the Looney Tunes’ last live-action outing in 2021’s Space Jam: A New Legacy. Let's hope it's more of a slam-dunk.

The film comes to us from Earth To Echo director Dave Green along with May December screenwriter Sammy Birch, and you can speed on down to UK cinemas to see it on 28 August. That’s all folks!

Streaming on: Sky / NOW / HBO Max
Episodes viewed: 2 of 8

“Man, I miss high school,” sighs Rue, two episodes into the long-awaited new season of Euphoria. It’s a line that doesn’t just jog your memory as much as jolt it with a cattle prod – that yes, you’re still watching the same show that began as a tale of teen hedonism in 2019, minting a new wave of stars along the way. Creator Sam Levinson’s drama is almost unrecognisable in this third and seemingly final instalment, which picks up four years after the SWAT raids and scandals that closed out season two.

Rue is now a drug mule, swallowing condoms full of fentanyl to traffic across the Mexican border. Cue a hail of homages to Westerns, Tarantino and Blaxploitation classics, as the corridors of East Highland are left behind for a seedy desert strip club called the Silver Slipper, and an even darker descent into American decay begins.

Zendaya in particular is in formidable form once more.

It’s not just Rue who finds herself in new surroundings. Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) is now an OnlyFans entrepreneur, living in luxury in Los Angeles, but for how much longer, it’s hard to say; her fiancé, Nate (Jacob Elordi), is drowning in debt after inheriting his father’s real estate empire. Lexi (Maude Apatow) and Maddie (Alexa Demie) have both begun climbing ladders in Hollywood, while Jules (Hunter Schafer) is now a sugar baby in New York. Their storylines all feel scattered, united solely by Rue’s narration. What sort of overlap their arcs will have, and whether their stories will converge to form any point about Cassie and co’s generation by the series’ end, remains to be seen.

Some constants remain, the good and bad of Euphoria past. This is still a sumptuously-shot show, not to mention a well-acted one: Zendaya in particular is in formidable form once more, letting glints of sadness surface from beneath Rue’s veneer of languid detachment. Less appealing is how the camera still hovers longingly over shots of its female characters’ bodies, as one-by-one, Levinson’s scripts nudge them into sex work and skimpy costumes. A common criticism of the showrunner is that there’s seldom much insight or commentary to go with the degradation of the women in his work. Two episodes into Euphoria Season 3, that criticism is yet to be answered.

Amid all the chaos of this season is a captivating existential question for Rue to consider. Flirting with religion, she begins to wonder: how much can someone ever really reinvent themselves? It is possible to carve out a new identity for yourself — or are we forever burdened by who we were in the past? As it reaches its endgame, Euphoria seems trapped by a similar tension, torn between the show it wants to be — a crime thriller with a side helping of satirical swipes at the entertainment industry ecosystem — and all that came before.

Streaming on: BBC iPlayer
Episodes viewed: 6 of 6

Richard Gadd follows up his Netflix-chart-topping Baby Reindeer with Half Man — a drama a little more removed from Gadd’s personal experiences than the autobiographical stalking story, but still drawing on many of its themes, examining the impact of abuse, violence and repression on modern masculinity.

The show tracks the fraught, toxically codependent dynamic of two sort-of half-brothers forced into proximity with each when their mothers were romantically involved and cohabitees. Niall (Jamie Bell as an adult, Mitchell Roberston as a youngster) is meek, mild-mannered, chronically bullied at school and doing everything he can to hide his burgeoning homosexuality. Ruben (an unrecognisably hench and menacing Gadd, with Stuart Campbell as the young iteration) is a ball of confident, feral energy; a young offender with the shortest of tempers and a tendency for extremely violent outbursts.

They each provide something the other needs: Ruben, the dominance to put Niall’s bullies in their place; Niall, the smarts to keep Ruben in school. As the years go on, though, the tension pulling them together becomes increasingly fraught, as Ruben finds himself in and out of prison, and Niall spirals further towards self-destruction.

Hard-hitting and very much real, but the story devolves into a bit of a bleak-fest.

The latter episodes are definitely the strongest — the fourth in particular — when the boys’ story moves into adulthood and Gadd and Bell take over the roles fully. It’s then when the power dynamic between the pair starts shifting and becoming more even, Niall learning of, and taking advantage of, chinks in the otherwise immutable Ruben’s armour. Gadd’s script does its best to create empathy for these two very flawed people, but you’re never really rooting for either — experiencing more pity for Niall, and pure terror at the idea of ever being in a room with Ruben.

There’s a mismatch here between the somewhat surface-level sophistication of the plotting and character development, and the traumatic depths of the issues Half Man attempts to explore. The specificity that made Baby Reindeer so effective — because, of course, it was based on truth — isn’t really present here, replaced instead by more generic-feeling tropes, twists and turns. Much of what’s explored is hard-hitting and very much real, but the story devolves into a bit of a bleak-fest that makes it hard to really engage with it.

The perspective sits firmly with Niall — we never see Ruben without him — and some standout, dialogue-heavy scenes where the brothers attempt to articulate what they are to each other start to feel more like one person conversing with their inner critic, the devil on their shoulder, their alter ego. It’s like Ruben is Niall’s id, his Mr Hyde, his Tyler Durden: strong, commanding, the type of person who changes every room they walk into. Everything he wishes he could be. This perhaps isn’t Gadd’s intended reading of the show, but is the one through which it feels most interesting, and insightful.

It’s never been a better time to be Leatherface. The chainsaw-wielding Texan cannibal might have the best agent in Hollywood right now – because he’s both booked and busy. Recently came word that A24 (who now holds the Texas Chainsaw Massacre rights) is prepping a streaming series in the franchise, with none other than proud Texan Glen Powell among the creative team. But it’s also been long-known that A24 is pursuing an additional, separate Texas Chainsaw Massacre film – one that can hopefully channel the mind-warping madness of Tobe Hooper’s scuzzy masterpiece. Now, we know who’ll be holding that cinematic chainsaw.

Enter Curry Barker, rising filmmaker, who’s about the unleash the much-hyped Obsession on horror fans, after impressing with indie debut Milk & Serial. Barker is another exciting director who’s emerged from a YouTube background – and he already has a third feature lined up before he revs up on Chainsaw, titled Anything But Ghosts. What his vision is for Leatherface and co. remains to be seen, but going by early reactions to Obsession, he’ll be able to put audiences through the wringer.

There have been plenty of Chainsaw reboots, sequels, sequels and more over the years – and while there’s renewed affection for the 2003 Platinum Dunes remake, it’s fair to say that nothing has ever come close to the sheer grubby power of the OG. Your move, Barker.

In ‘peak TV’ terms, waiting a year and a half for the next season of a great show is actually not that bad. And yet, when that show is Silo, a grand and glacial sci-fi show that occasionally deals out major mind-blowing twists and turns, a year and a half is a very long time. Which is why it’s such a relief that we now know when Season 3 will be with us. Yes, the wait is nearly over for the return of Rebecca Ferguson’s Juliette Nichols, unpicking the mysteries of why humanity is living in giant underground bunkers – with Season 3 set to begin streaming this July.

As confirmed by Apple TV today, Silo will return on July 3, kicking off the next chapter in the adaptation of Hugh Howey’s Wool novels. And since Season 2 ended with – SPOILER ALERT – a massive shift in the narrative, we can’t wait to see what comes next. Because this season looks set to partly follow Juliette, who has successfully returned to Silo 18 (though last thing we knew, she was in the incinerator with Tim Robbins’ Bernard), but we’ll also be following a flashback narrative, revealing exactly what happened in the mysterious ‘before times’ – as teed up by that shock Washington DC scene in the Season 2 finale. SPOILERS END.

Fans can heave a sigh of relief that Silo will get to play out its full story, which is confirmed to end with Season 4 – which shot concurrently with Season 3, meaning we might not even half to wait another 18 months to see how it all goes down. For now, get ready to learn many more secrets of the Silo this July.

Come on, fess up: who’s been reading from the Necronomicon again? Yes, the Evil Dead franchise is back, ready to deliver a fresh jolt of demonic mischief – three years after 2023’s Evil Dead Rise to a cheese grater to the flesh of Sam Raimi’s cinematic baby (which, in this context, is a total compliment). With Lee Cronin off Lee Cronin-ing on Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, we now have Evil Dead Burn, from French director Sébastien Vaniček – and the first teaser promises another wild cinematic ride as only Evil Dead can provide. Check it out:

That is – quite literally – one hell of a one-shot, following a terrified resident as she crawls across the floor of her house while bodies crash and grab and float and flail all around. While the Evil Dead films can veer between extreme horror and slapstick comedy, they all have one thing in common: a sense of no-holds-barred kineticism, be it with the camera or its poor human characters. And it looks like Vaniček really got the memo here, chucking bodies with reckless abandon, and putting our poor pink-haired protagonist through the absolute wringer.

Just like Evil Dead Rise (and 2013’s Evil Dead reboot), this is a somewhat standalone entry in the saga, penned by Vaniček along with Florent Bernard – with Raimi on board as producer, of course. Here’s the synopsis: “After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home. As one by one they are transformed into Deadites — turning the gathering into a family reunion from hell — she comes to discover that the vows she took in life... live on even in death.”

The good news is, this teaser gives us a release date: July 10, meaning the next chapter of the Necronomicon is really not far away. And there’s more to come in the not-too-distant future too – another standalone Evil Dead film, rumoured to be titled Evil Dead Wrath, is being worked on already by filmmaker Francis Galluppi for a 2028 release. Now, who’s got the boomstick?

When talking about Michael Jackson’s life story, there are two main elements to consider. There is, of course, his extraordinary and unprecedented pop-music career, which began aged just six with the Jackson 5, before as a solo artist releasing the best-selling album of all time, Thriller. And then there’s his eccentric and often troubling personal life, which includes numerous accusations of child abuse, which he denied (including being charged in 2003 with seven counts of child molestation, for which he was acquitted).

Michael, the first feature-length cinematic biopic of the star, decides to tell the story of the former, but ignores the latter. The number of Jackson family members listed in the credits as producers gives some hint to the hagiographic approach. Recent reports, meanwhile, have suggested that extensive reshoots had to take place in order to remove any reference to the accusations, due to legal reasons.

Whatever the truth, across this two-hour-plus runtime, there was apparently no room to mention Jackson’s controversies. Instead, it’s a deeply generic music biopic, the kind that would make even Dewey Cox raise his eyebrows. Our rags-to-riches account begins in 1966 in Gary, Indiana, when Michael is still a young boy living in a humble two-bedroom working-class house with eight siblings, and ends in 1988 — conveniently, a full five years before Jackson’s first abuse allegations surfaced — by which time he is the anointed King Of Pop.

Director Antoine Fuqua — whose work, which includes all three Equalizer films, has gotten progressively sillier after showing such promise with 2001’s Training Day — hits the key musical milestones with workmanlike efficiency. He has found impressive avatars for Young Michael in Juliano Krue Valdi and Slightly Older Michael in Jaafar Jackson (son of Jermaine and nephew of Michael), both of whom are hugely talented performers, dancers and, one presumes, singers (it’s unclear how much lip-syncing is actually involved). And nobody can deny the astonishing back catalogue of bangers in Jackson’s discography, an archive the film hungrily raids.

Feels very strongly like a cynical moneymaking machine.

In its ploddingly boring biopic-by-numbers way, Michael’s success was predestined, written in the stars, entirely inevitable. While professionally Michael’s career seems to find no friction whatsoever — he gets a record deal, he tops a chart, he tops another chart, he tops yet another chart — he encounters his main conflict with his father and former manager, Joseph (Colman Domingo, on terrifying form). John Logan’s script takes pains to emphasise the very real abuse Michael suffers; at one point, Joseph calls his son “big nose”, and the tyrannical way in which the patriarch runs his family business is heartbreaking — even if Michael’s siblings get short shrift (his brothers barely get a line of dialogue between them; Janet is Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film). But the film seems to insist that Michael’s story is only a triumph, when it is clearly just as much a tragedy. “I have to be perfect,” he tells a doctor when undergoing his first rhinoplasty.

Often, it is oddly revealing in ways it never intended to be. “There’s no-one like you and there never will be,” fawns his lawyer and manager John Branca (Miles Teller), portrayed here in glowing fashion (Branca also happens to be a producer on the film, as well as a co-executor of Jackson’s estate). Fuqua plays this scene as Michael finally taking control of his own destiny — but it reads loudly as if he surrounded himself with enablers and yes men.

And throughout, it is very difficult to avoid watching certain moments without thinking of the unspoken context, of the enormous, looming, hulking elephant in the room. The scenes where Michael obsessively reads Peter Pan, kisses his pet llama on the face, runs around a toy shop like a giddy toddler, plays Twister with a CG chimpanzee or spends time at a children’s hospital make for a surreal, uncannily uncomfortable viewing experience, especially in how it is uniformly played out as merely cute and adorable.

Ultimately, this feels very strongly like a cynical moneymaking machine. (There is already talk of a follow-up film — this one ends with the somewhat threatening, James Bond-esque title card “His Story Continues” — and perhaps that will find room for some darker material.) As with its theatrical cousin, the hit West End musical Thriller, it will undoubtedly make tons of cash, playing to packed houses of gleeful tourists and die-hard fans.

It follows the same template set by the near-billion-dollar-grossing Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody — both films share a producer in Graham King — and ends in much the same way. Instead of Queen’s Live Aid gig, we get the Jackson 5’s final performance at Dodger Stadium, followed by Michael’s Bad-era 1988 Wembley gig, all amounting to a good 20-or-so minutes of wall-to-wall music. It is the film in full jukebox mode, a cosplaying tribute act with no artistic point-of view, nothing to say other than, “God, they were good songs, weren’t they?” Like a lot to do with this film, it is, quite frankly, taking the Michael.

It’s been nearly 20 years since Will Smith wandered the post-apocalyptic ruins of New York in I Am Legend, fighting off hordes of zombified human mutants. But in Hollywood, some ideas remain forever undead – including the notion of an I Am Legend sequel, which has been kicking around in the rumour-mill for a while now. From various reports over the years, it’s thought that a follow-up to Francis Lawrence’s horror-drama would see Will Smith return, possibly joined by Michael B. Jordan. And now we have an idea of who' might'll be shepherding it to the screen.

According to Collider, director Steven Caple Jr. is currently working away at I Am Legend 2, which remains in the development phase. Caple Jr. previously directed Creed II (which, of course, also starred Jordan) and Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, and is currently readying the launch of Netflix’s Man On Fire series, of which he directed the first two episodes. Details on what an I Am Legend sequel might involve remain to be seen, but the follow-up would jump off from what is technically the ‘alternate ending’ of the film, which was actually the ending of Richard Matheson’s novel: with Will Smith’s Dr. Neville recognising that the ‘Darkseekers’ are a new civilisation who sees him as the monster. (In the theatrical ending, Neville blew himself up, along with several of the Darkseekers.)

There are few other details for now, but stay tuned for whether this one ever coalesces, and if Smith and Jordan remain attached. For now, time to brainstorm some titles: ‘We Are Legend’? ‘They Is Legends’? ‘Legends R Us’? We’ll keep on thinking.

Sure, we all loved Moo Deng. And Hungry Hungry Hippos remains a firm favourite game to this day. But make no mistake: the hippopotamus is a deadly creature when it wants to be, a beast of pure muscle with a mouth like a hydraulic crusher, and fearsome fangs to match. It’s something that cinema has rarely exploited for cheap thrills – until now. Enter Hungry, a hippo horror that sets a marauding mammal on a bunch of dead-meat tourists. Take a bite out of the trailer here:

After decades of shark movies, croc movies, snake movies, spider movies, monkey movies, lion movies, dog movies, bird movies and grizzly bear movies, it’s nice to see hippos finally get in on the action. Hungry comes from British writer-director James Nunn, who previously helmed Scott Adkins actioner One Shot, and stars the likes of Madison Davenport, Tracey Bonner, and Jim Meskimen.

Here’s the official synopsis: “Set in the mysterious and dangerous landscape of the south-eastern American swamplands, a group of tourists embark on a boat tour. Unaware of the dangers of the bayou, they venture off the beaten path, lured by the promise of an exclusive adventure. Little do they know that their journey will turn into a fight for survival against a ravenous hippopotamus hiding in the depths. Hungry is a pulse-pounding survival thriller depicting the impossible struggle against one of nature’s most powerful beings.”

Will hippos prove as scary cinematically as they can be in the wild? Just how hungry-hungry are these hippos? And are we about to kick off a new wave of hippo horror? We’ll find out when Hungry comes to Sky Cinema in September.

The era of big-ambition video game adaptations continues apace, with Zelda already on the way from Wes Ball, and Michael Sarnoski working up Death Stranding for A24. And today, another biggie is officially underway: production has begun on Alex Garland’s Elden Ring movie, another A24 joint, which means that we have more casting info, and some intriguing tidbits that point to the scope of Garland’s endeavour.

Garland is directing from his own screenplay, based on the famously hard-as-nails game; which itself had George R.R. Martin on writing duties. And he’s shooting the film for IMAX, so expect the doomy (open) world to be captured on an epic canvas – frankly, we’d expect nothing less from the director of Annihilation and Civil War. In front of those massive IMAX cameras will be a mightily impressive cast, including several Garland regulars: Kit Connor, Ben Whishaw, Cailee Spaeny, Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu, Sonoya Mizuno, Jonathan Pryce, Ruby Cruz, Nick Offerman, John Hodgkinson, Jefferson Hall, Emma Laird, and Peter Serafinowicz.

How exactly Garland will tackle the game remains to be seen – but we’ll find out what his vision is when it hits cinemas on March 3, 2028. Good luck to him: making an Elden Ring film might be as hard as finishing the game.

If you’ve spent the last 28 years doing a spell to bring back Practical Magic, then good news: it finally worked! The 1998 witch-fest was not a critical hit on release, but has since become a cult favourite – not least because of its pairing of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sibling witches, the Owens sisters, and its blending of cosy fantasy and darker dramatic elements. Now, they’re back for a sequel that sees the sisters forced to truly reckon with their familial legacy as the younger generation becomes embroiled in the magic. Check out the trailer:

Where Practical Magic was based on Alice Hoffman’s novel of the same name, Practical Magic 2 adapts her 2021 sequel novel The Book Of Magic – while Akiva Goldsman is back on script writing duties, this time alongside Veep and Succession’s Georgia Pritchett. In the director’s chair is Susanne Bier, who previously directed Bullock in Bird Box, and worked with Kidman on series The Untold and The Perfect Couple. New additions to the cast include Lee Pace, Maisie Williams – and Joey King, as the daughter of Bullock’s Sally. Oh, and yes: Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest are returning too.

Will Practical Magic 2 win the critics round, and please existing fans too? We’ll find out when it’s conjured into cinemas on September 11.

It’s finally here. After years of watching Americans live their best, most streamlined streaming lives, HBO Max has officially landed in the UK and Ireland. The flagship streaming platform from Warner Bros. Discovery has settled into its new home across the Atlantic, and is giving British audiences direct access to the combined catalogue of HBO and Max originals, Warner Bros. films and TV, and DC Studios — all under one metaphorical roof for the very first time.

But here’s the thing: with a brand new streamer on the block that’s coming in hot, absolutely rammed with movies and series to get stuck into, figuring out where to start can be a bit of a daunting prospect. Luckily for you guys however, our crack team of critics here at Empire are on hand with your essential HBO Max starter pack..

Whether you’re looking for an adrenaline hit from The Pitt, a trip to Westeros with A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, or a chance to revisit some modern and timeless cinematic classics — from One Battle After Another and Sinners to Lord Of The Rings and Singin’ In The Rain — our list of 22 TV shows and movies you need to watch on HBO Max UK has got you covered.

So pull up a pew, grab some gabagool, and read on for our rundown of what needs to be on your shiny new watchlist…

The Best TV Shows And Movies On HBO Max UK (April 2026)

The Pitt (2025—)

Creator/Showrunner: R. Scott Gemmill

Starring: Noah Wyle, Katherine LaNasa, Patrick Ball, Supriya Ganesh, Taylor Dearden, Isa Briones, Gerran Howell

R. Scott Gemmill’s medical drama The Pitt is the show that’s been withheld from UK audiences the longest, and that HBO Max are most sure you’ll be signing up to see. And honestly? It’s more than earned that billing. Noah Wyle – yes, Dr. Carter from ER, back in his scrubs – stars as Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch, a trauma physician running a punishing shift at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. It’s a simple but effective format, with each episode covering a single hour of the shift in real-time – meaning the tension never lets up, the clock is always ticking, and the patients’ stories range from the bizarre to the heartbreaking. You can devour the whole of Season 1 now, then start tucking into Season 2’s weekly-dropping episodes straight after. And just to seal the deal, we already know Season 3 is well on its way, so there’s no better time to scrub up!

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read Empire’s review of The Pitt Season 1.

Euphoria (2019—)

Showrunner/Creator: Sam Levinson

Starring: Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer, Maude Apatow

One of the most anticipated — and, if the Hollywood trades have it straight, most toxic — seasons of TV in 2026 is the third instalment of Sam Levinson’s Euphoria, which finally manages to round up its numerous breakout stars (including Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer and Jacob Elordi) and catch up with their chaotic characters several years after high school. Taking aim at America’s synthetic opioids crisis while continuing to dive deeper into its own heady world of sex, trauma, and mental illness, Euphoria Season 3 finds recovering addict Rue (Zendaya) trapped as a drugs mule smuggling gear between ‘Murica and Mexico. Elsewhere, Cassie (Sweeney) is playing tradwife to slimeball Nate (Elordi), while Jules (Schafer) — now in art school — is apparently caught up in a sugar baby situation. All of which is to say, this is maximum Euphoria: proceed with caution.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

One Battle After Another (2025)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Chase Infiniti, Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Alana Haim

Paul Thomas Anderson has mastered so many genres and tones over the years, you’d think he’d done it all. And yet, in comes One Battle After Another, an entirely singular cinematic experience – part kidnap thriller, part revolutionary drama, part shambling shaggy-dog comedy – in the form of a dad-and-daughter love-letter. Leonardo DiCaprio is hilariously addled as Bob, the former revolutionary who’s been raising his daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) and numbing his brain ever since his activist group went down. But when the past resurfaces, he has to dredge up his former life to chase Willa down, while pursued by Sean Penn’s bone-chilling Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw. Like the best of PTA’s work, there’s a pace and energy to One Battle that sees its significant runtime fly by – perfectly calibrated to make every gag, every emotional beat, every gut-punch land just right. Deservedly the movie that finally earned PTA his first Best Director and Best Picture Oscars, this is revolutionary cinema, delivered with no fear. Just like Tom Cruise.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read Empire’s review of One Battle After Another.

Sinners (2025)

Director: Ryan Coogler

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Wunmi Mosaku, Hailee Steinfeld, Delroy Lindo, Jack O’Connell

After years spent earning his spurs taking existing IP and making it feel brand new, Ryan Coogler delivered a true original with our pick for the best movie of 2025. On the face of it, Sinners is a vampire siege movie that sees bloodsuckers descending upon twin gangsters Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan, on Best Actor winning form) as they open their juke joint. But a reheat of From Dusk Till Dawn’s nachos this ain't. Rather, Coogler marries the bloodsucking action with a music-fuelled blues explosion – galvanised by mercurial new talent Miles Caton – indelibly infused with the cultural context of 1930s Mississippi. Come for double Michael B. Jordan and a fearsome, fanged Jack O’Connell: stay for a soul-stirring diegesis on the communal, cultural power of art and the stain on human history that is colonialism. And one helluva soundtrack. That, too.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read the Empire review of Sinners.

Superman (2025)

Director: James Gunn

Starring: David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, Rachel Brosnahan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo

Bright, zingy, colourful, and positively overflowing with hope and optimism, James Gunn’s DCU directorial debut, Superman, is a far cry from the near-monochromatic Man of Steel that fans found in Zack Snyder’s more po-faced DCEU outings. Sure, it would be fair to say Gunn’s movie — which drops viewers into a world where David Corenswet’s Superman has been known to the world for three years and finds himself facing geopolitical conflict, Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), and monsters galore all at once — is simultaneously more than a little bit daffy and a little bit much at times. But this cosmic caper, with its Silver Age stylings, terrific ensemble cast, and earnest belief in Supes/Clark Kent’s greatest qualities — his humanity, his resilience, his boundless empathy — is a real bright light amid dark times. In other words, it’s pretty super, man. (Sorry.)

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read Empire’s review of Superman.

Rooster (2025—)

Showrunners/Creators: Bill Lawrence, Matt Tarses

Starring: Steve Carell, Danielle Deadwyler, Phil Dunster, Charly Clive, Lauren Tsai, John C. McGinley

For almost four decades now, Bill Lawrence has been knocking out of the park delivering some of the best TV series on the box — from Spin City and Scrubs to Ted Lasso and Shrinking. And now, having explored the human experience on the pitch, in therapy, at Sacred Heart hospital, and in the mayoral office of NYC, Lawrence (alongside longtime collaborator Matt Tarses) turns his observational eye to faculty matters with sweet ten-part dramedy Rooster. Steve Carell stars — and shines — as Greg Russo, an author whose complicated relationship with his professor daughter Katie (Charly Clive) comes into sharper focus when he finds himself contributing at her college campus and unexpectedly getting in with its frat crowd. By turns cringe-inducing, poignant, and gently profound, Rooster is as Bill Lawrence-y as Bill Lawrence shows gets — but that’s no bad thing.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

The Comeback (2005 — 2026)

Showrunners/Creators: Lisa Kudrow, Michael Patrick King

Starring: Lisa Kudrow, Laura Silverman, Damian Young, Lance Barber, Dan Bucatinsky

Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King’s (Sex And The City) industry satire The Comeback has really lived up to its title over the years. Unceremoniously cancelled after its first season on HBO back in 2005, Kudrow and King’s show — a mockumentary chronicling ageing sit-com star Valerie Cherish’s attempts to return to the spotlight — came back with a triumphant second season in 2015, and is now back again, eleven years later, in 2026. Embracing the times we’re living in, The Comeback’s swan song opens amid the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes before jumping to an alt-present day where Valerie, who’s now added a podcast and a stint on The Traitors to her portfolio, finds out the new sit-com she’s making has been written entirely by AI. How absurd! If you dig The Studio, then think of The Comeback as its equally biting, also hilarious telly-centric equivalent. Don’t skip it!

Streaming now on HBO Max.

A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms (2026—)

Showrunner/Creator: Ira Parker

Starring: Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, Daniel Ings, Shaun Thomas, Cara Harris, Sam Spruell

The main characters may be known as Dunk and Egg, but Ira Parker’s Game Of Thrones spin-off A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms is no yolk, people. Shifting the focus away from Westeros’ halls of power to tell a street-level shaggy dog tale, AKOTSK’s set-up is simple: each episode, we follow as hedge knight Ser Duncan The Tall (Peter Claffey) and his impish squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) venture across Westeros, looking to prove their worth and find their purpose as they bond and trade barbs. Unmoored from Thrones’ grander plot (this is set a solid century before winter comes to Westeros), Parker’s show is a refreshingly low-stakes affair full of charm, chivalry, and a brand of thematically important toilet humour that’d bring a tear to Chaucer’s eye. Also! Don’t forget you can cop the whole of Game Of Thrones and House Of The Dragon on HBO Max, too, for even more fantasy fun.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read Empire’s review of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms.

IT: Welcome To Derry (2025—)

Creators/Showrunners: Jason Fuchs, Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti

Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Brad Caleb Kane, Matilda Lawler, Blake Cameron James

Set within the same world as his two-part Stephen King adaptation (2017’s IT: Chapter One and 2019’s IT: Chapter Two — both also on HBO Max), Andy Muschietti’s IT: Welcome To Derry turns the clock back to 1962, 27 years before The Loser Club’s first encounter with cosmic clown-faced child killer Pennywise, for a chilling, newly invented prequel. Really, this is a tale of two halves: one side of the narrative finds a new batch of outsider kids on a spooky adventure trying to solve a schoolmate’s mysterious disappearance; the other finds Derry’s adults dealing with the real-world terrors of racism, bigotry, and nuclear threat. And amidst it all, lay in wait, is Bill Skarsgård’s Dancing Clown, whose ancient origins are unspooled as his hunger grows. If you’re after legit chills couched in another intricately told coming-of-age tale, then look no further. And yes, a Season 2 is on its way.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read Empire’s review of IT: Welcome To Derry.

The White Lotus (2021—)

Showrunner/Creator: Mike White

Starring: Jennifer Coolidge, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Aimee Lou Wood, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey

With production on The White Lotus Season 4 about to get underway during this year’s Cannes Film Festival, there’s never been a better time to check in to Mike White’s anthological, hotel-based satire. The first three seasons of White’s blackly comic show have whisked us away to luxurious White Lotus hotels from Hawaii to Sicily to Thailand, changing up the locales each time while sticking to the same basic recipe: take a bunch of bougie hotel guests, played by the best and most in-demand actors of the moment, and watch as their secrets, dramas, and fraught relationships unravel over a stay filled with sun, sea, and usually at least a death or two. It all makes for intensely bingeable, frequently eye-widening telly, and frankly it’s way cheaper than actually going on holiday right about now. Winner!

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read Empire’s review of The White Lotus Season 3.

The Last Of Us (2023—)

Creators/Showrunners: Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann

Starring: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Gabriel Luna, Kaitlyn Dever

In a landscape historically plagued by lazy videogame adaptations and half-baked dystopian TV, HBO’s The Last Of Us — Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin's (Chernobyl) adaptation of Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic survival horror game — is the cure. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey share astonishing chemistry as Joel and Ellie, two fiercely guarded souls, both carrying their own deep-rooted traumas, who rediscover their humanity as they traverse an America that’s both figuratively and literally losing its own. The zombie-like Clickers — human beings infected by a terrifyingly plausible fungus-based virus - are scary, but the real nightmare fuel is the series’ sobering depiction of the monstrous things people will do to survive in a broken world. A stunning Season 2 cemented the show's status among the greats, and we’ve still got a third season to look forward to yet.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read Empire’s review of The Last Of Us.

Succession (2018 — 2023)

Creator/Showrunner: Jesse Armstrong

Starring: Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Matthew Macfadyen, Alan Ruck

A recent but very high-ranking addition to our most recent 100 best TV shows list, Jesse Armstrong’s lacerating comedy-drama Succession — which chronicles the personal and professional dramas of the terribly rich and terribly, er, terrible Roy family — is rated so highly for a reason. That the show now so comfortably sits among the very greatest series ever made is a testament to the way its creator, his writers, his cast (Brian Cox! Kieran Culkin! Jeremy Strong! Sarah Snook!), and his crew continuously upped their game season after season. From first frame to devastating last, Armstrong and co never pulled their punches as they skewered the cannibalistic world of the mega-rich with spiky dialogue, barbed banter, and a frankly Shakespearean level of crossing, double-crossing, backstabbing, and familial feuding. Be warned though, the cringe level is high with this one: just you wait until you hear Roman Roy’s birthday rap. Now can we get an L to the mother-effin’ OG?

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read Empire’s review of Succession.

The Sopranos (1999 — 2007)

Showrunner/Creator: David Chase

Starring: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Steven Van Zandt, Robert Iler, Tony Sirico

Decidedly not a documentary about opera singers, The Sopranos is instead a dark, offbeat, psychologically needling drama about a New Jersey gangster with a fixation on the ducks who visit his swimming pool. As the first season wore on, viewers became hooked on creator David Chase's uncompromising vision of an old-school criminal organisation beset by all the stresses and tensions of the modern day. It's not hard to figure out why: Chase and his writers locked in on what made Tony and co. work. James Gandolfini delivered a career-best performance as our way into the show, while the family and "family" around him anchored stories that poked below the gangster surface to what made these people truly tick. When you think of HBO, it’s not a coincidence that your brain probably goes straight to The Sopranos. Load up on gabagool and get stuck in. To the show — and then the gabagool.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

The Wire (2002 — 2008)

Showrunner/Creator: David Simon

Starring: Dominic West, Lance Reddick, Sonja Sohn, Wendell Pierce, Idris Elba, Michael Kenneth Williams

David Simon famously once said that he intended The Wire as "lean-in" television. Here is a Baltimore-set series that demands your attention, its slow-burn storytelling never less than totally compelling: no scrolling necessary. Simon crafted a series that skips the usual procedural tropes, looking instead at the linked worlds of cops and criminals in a way that highlights the humanity clouded by labels. High stakes, big emotions and even a scene conducted almost entirely with creative use of the F-word are all part of the reasons why this show became one of the greatest. Later seasons expanded the focus to other areas — politics, the school system, and newspapers, to name a few — but the laser accuracy remained the same. The ensemble cast (the likes of Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan among them) never put a foot wrong. If you've somehow never leant in before, then lean in now. You won't regret it.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Girls (2012 — 2017)

Showrunner/Creator: Lena Dunham

Starring: Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Adam Driver, Zosia Mamet, Alex Karpovsky

Pitching itself as a sort of anti-Sex And The City for the post-feminist mumblecore age, Lena Dunham’s Girls— which follows aspiring writer Hannah (Dunham) and her twenty-something gal pals as they navigate their twenties in the Big Apple — garnered a loyal following for its authentic depiction of young womanhood and Dunham’s raw, almost confessional, entirely unapologetic mode of writing. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Girls changed the game for half-hour dramedies, blazing a trail the likes of Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag would follow. Also, we can thank Girls for Adam Driver’s rise to prominence; his three-time Emmy-nominated supporting role as the at-once rootable and reviling Adam Sackler made the former Marine a household name. All of which is to say: watch Girls.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

The Leftovers (2014 — 2017)

Showrunner/Creator: Damon Lindelof

Starring: Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler, Margaret Qualley, Ann Dowd

Four years and a fistful of blockbuster movie writing gigs after Lost came to an end, co-creator Damon Lindelof returned to our screens with another noodle-twisting, breathtaking work of water cooler television excellence. His adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel — co-written with him — for HBO takes place three years after two percent of the global population vanished for reasons that remain unexplained. The world is still trying to cope with the scale of the tragedy and the emotional ramifications, with cults springing up and madness slowly descending. Powerhouse performances from Justin Theroux, Christopher Eccleston, and a particularly outstanding Carrie Coon act as our way into and through a traumatised, fractured America. In lesser hands, this could be a real misery fest, but in Lindelof and Perrotta's, the story rocks a rich vein of black humour and sticks the landing, cementing its place as one of the most gripping shows of the 21st century. Some would say this is even better than Lost. (We are some.)

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Six Feet Under (2001 — 2005)

Showrunner/Creator: Alan Ball

Starring: Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodriguez

With dark, surreal comedy and stark, blunt truths about life and death, it's little wonder that Six Feet Under flowed from the same pen that gave us the equally incredible American Beauty. Alan Ball's series about a dysfunctional Pasadena family that runs an independent funeral home is a wonderful meditation on family, love and grief. Headed up by Peter Krause as prodigal elder son Nate Fisher and featuring Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose and Rachel Griffiths, the cast, like every facet of this compelling production, oozes class, gifted with sharp writing and a finale that — no spoilers here — offers what remains to this day one of the most emotional wrap-ups in telly history. It’s a bit of a hidden gem, but we assure you, it’s dead good.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Friends

Showrunners/Creators: David Crane, Marta Kaufman

Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox

Okay, so technically it isn’t a HBO show, but Friends very much is a HBO Max exclusive — and you can find all ten seasons on the streamer right now. It seems almost redundant to say anything more about the show, because by now we surely all know that this is the perfect sit-com, but over two decades later David Crane and Marta Kaufman’s show remains worth shouting about. In its earliest days, the adventures of six beautiful New York-dwelling pals who apparently earned money by drinking coffee featured writing much sharper than the cuddly exterior suggested. Even when the quality dipped a little mid-run, the ensemble remained perfectly matched and the best comedy collective on TV. And by the time the show reached its conclusion, watching Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey, and Phoebe say their final farewells truly felt like the end of an era. Could it be any more emotional? We think not!

Streaming now on HBO Max.

The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (2001 — 2003)

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd

The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum is heading our way next year. Shadow Of The Past is set to follow soon after. And Prime Video’s The Rings Of Power is due to continue apace with a third season very soon, too. But let’s face it, you just can’t beat the original trilogy, can you? (No, not that original trilogy.) From the idyll of The Shire to the Mines of Moria, the Battle of Helm’s Deep to Frodo’s final journey into the west, Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary fantasy saga is as irresistible and powerful as the One Ring itself. A singular tale of friendship, fellowship, and the ultimate triumph of light over darkness — of good over evil — rendered in the grandest cinematic terms, The Lord Of The Rings trilogy exemplifies the immersive escapism that cinema is all about. And now you can rewatch ‘em all, whenever you like. Anyone for second breakfast and a Rings marathon? We’ll bring the Lembas.

Read Empire's reviews of Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers and Return Of The King.

The Wizarding World Saga (Harry Potter & Fantastic Beasts)

There isn’t a child (or indeed adult) alive who doesn’t know the name of Warner Bros. behemothic blockbuster series of Wizarding World adventures. The Harry Potter franchise is the perfect example of a page-to-screen adaptation done right. Helmed by four distinctive filmmakers, each of whom offer their own unique yet faithful take on J.K. Rowling’s source material across eight blockbuster adventures, this franchise — and its young stars — pulled off something singular. Seeing them — and it — grow and evolve before our very eyes was… well… magical. And even if they had a little rockier a road, David Yates’ Fantastic Beasts movies — which follow Eddie Redmayne’s Magizoologist Newt Scamander and his pals’ adventures and take the Wizarding World global — still have plenty to spellbind. Those eleven films — and HBO Max’s exclusive documentary on the making of Mark Mylod and Francesca Gardiner’s upcoming Harry Potter reboot — should tide you over ‘til Christmas. Accio, remote!

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read Empire's Harry Potter ranked list.

The Conjuring Universe (2013—)

Boy wizards not so much your thing? Fancy something a little darker to dig into? Well, look no further. While there’s no shortage of horror goodness to get stuck into on HBO Max (The Exorcist, Malignant, Final Destination), one of the streamer’s real boons is having all of The Conjuring Universe in one place. Yes, now you can enjoy/cower in fear from all of couple goals duo Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren’s (Vera Farmiga) paranormal investigations in the four mainline The Conjuring movies, get your creepy doll fix with the complete Annabelle trilogy, and bore — sorry, scare — your socks off with The Nun duology without having to switch platforms once. Heck, you can even watch TCU adjacent flick The Curse Of La Llorona as a spirit-filled chaser if you fancy. And when that Conjuring TV series finally materialises? Yeah, that’ll be on HBO Max as well. You lucky ducks!

Streaming now on HBO Max.

SIngin’ In The Rain (1952)

Director: Stanley Donen

Starring: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor, Jean Hagen

Another rabbit hole you’ll likely find yourself tumbling down with HBO Max is its seriously deep catalogue of Hollywood classics. We’re talkin’ Gone With The Wind, The Wizard Of Oz, An American In Paris, Barry Lyndon, Gremlins, The Goonies, The Shawshank Redemption, Little Shop Of Horrors, Casablanca, Excalibur for crying out loud! But if we’re going to spotlight a deepcut in the library, and a movie that’s dipped in and out of streaming availability that we’re particularly recommending now that it’s got a permanent digital home, then it’s surely gotta be Stanley Donen’s 1952 shot of pure cinematic sunshine, Singin’ In The Rain. It’s Gene Kelly splashing in puddles. It’s Debbie Reynolds beaming as she sings ‘Good Mornin’’. It’s Donald O’Connor running up the walls — literally — during ‘Make ‘Em Laugh’. And it’s Jean Hagen squeaking “I can’t standim” in glorious three-strip Technicolor. Whether you watch it on your own, with the family, with whoever and indeed wherever, this is the kind of masterpiece that should always be on your watchlist.

Streaming now on HBO Max.

Read Empire’s review of Singin’ In The Rain.

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So, there you have it. Whether you're signing up solely to finally watch The Pitt, working your way through a prestige back catalogue that puts most other streamers to shame, or are just really glad Friends has found its rightful home, HBO Max has arrived in the UK with something for everyone. We didn’t even mention all the Nolan films, or the Tim Burton Batman movies, or Barry, or Deadwood, or… okay, you get the idea. There’s still a lot to explore beyond this list. At its best though, HBO Max is now home to some of the greatest movies and TV shows ever made – and with new Euphoria, House Of The Dragon, Lanterns and an entire wizarding saga still to come, it sounds like it’s going to have been worth the wait.

Kiss Of The Spider Woman began life as a 1976 novel by Manuel Puig. There was then a 1985 film adaptation, before that, itself, was adapted into a 1992 stage musical. Now, finally, we get the film version of that musical. We first meet political dissident Valentín (Diego Luna) in his prison cell. Life looks bleak, only getting worse when his polar opposite, Molina (Tonatiuh), joins him in his prison cell. But Valentín soon softens to his unlikely new friend when Molina narrates the story of his favourite film, ‘The Kiss Of The Spider Woman’, delivering the pair much-needed escapism.

Bill Condon’s film alternates between the cold, dark reality of 1980s Argentina and the fantasy of the film-within-a-film, shown in lush, romantic musical sequences starring Molina’s favourite actor, Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez). The two prisoners become unlikely friends — but Valentín is unaware that Molina has been ordered to spy on him in exchange for an early release.

Jennifer Lopez is dynamite.

The musical sequences certainly dazzle. Condon, who wrote Chicago and directed Dreamgirls, has plenty of experience in the genre, on full display here. His contemporaries could really learn something from the way Condon frames a musical: his immaculate staging and thoughtful choreography take precedence over camera movement, recalling classics like Oklahoma!. Here, the camera serves to enhance rather than pull focus from the dancing. Combined with a resplendent visual palette that mimics old-school Technicolor, you’ve got moments that cinema screens are made for. If only the actual songs were more memorable.

In its fantasy, Kiss Of The Spider Woman feels miraculous. Lopez, who plays multiple roles, including the titular Spider Woman, is having the time of her life. She’s dynamite. In comparison, the prison-drama part of the film feels stagey and underdeveloped. As the films and Molina dive further into the imagined world, the real-world plot, dealing with the ramifications of a brutal dictatorship, starts to feel like an afterthought. Tonatiuh and Luna have solid chemistry, but the film’s tonal inconsistencies and awkward pacing — the third act manages to feel both hurried and dragged out — prevent this central relationship from taking flight.

Though it is often a victim of its own ambition, there’s a lot to admire in Kiss Of The Spider Woman. Tonatiuh delivers a layered, thoughtful performance, blending an exuberant flamboyance with striking fragility. Yet this is a story that’s been told so many times before; evidently, a little of the magic got lost along the way.

Even by the ‘it’s-not-Jaws’ standards of most shark films that aren’t, you know, Jaws, Netflix’s Thrash is very much not Jaws. In fact, it’s more Crawl — Alexandre Aja’s impressively gnarly gators-in-a-flood film, where the opening natural disaster is only the beginning of the characters’ problems. That premise is effectively replicated here, just with fins instead of scales, as a hurricane tears through the town of Annieville — and while most residents flee before it’s too late, several are left behind to deal not just with the rising waters, but the toothy horrors they contain. The results are mostly watered-down chum, albeit with occasional fun to be found.

Writer-director Tommy Wirkola — behind Nazi-zombie-fest Dead Snow, and Santa-but-John Wick actioner Violent Night — is no stranger to a schlocky premise, and keeps the tone playful and light. His script signals the third-act mayhem with all the subtlety of an exploding yellow barrel — when Phoebe Dynevor’s heavily pregnant Lisa gets a call from her anxious mother early on, asking if she’s still thinking of a water-birth, you know where things are headed. The same goes, too, for Whitney Peak’s young Dakota — an agoraphobe who hasn’t left the house since her mother died, about to get an unexpected incentive to venture outside again. And across town, a trio of foster kids find that the sharks are only mildly less dangerous than their nefarious carers.

Even for a shark B-movie, Thrash is particularly thin and silly, with stock characters and a premise that Aja tackled with far more bite. The sharks themselves feel intangible and offer little suspense, while the opening flood is awash in unpolished CGI. Still, you can’t fault it going for broke in the final act, chucking dynamite explosions, maternal rage and Vanessa Carlton’s Millennial classic ‘A Thousand Miles’ into the mix to undeniably entertaining effect — if you’ve stuck it out that far. It’s not Jaws. It’s not even Crawl. But it is quite fun, if you turn your brain almost completely off.

Streaming on: Netflix 
Episodes viewed: 8 of 8

The beef in Beef, Season 1, was particularly juicy: two miserable people, fuelled by hate, who couldn't let go of just how much they despised each other. But much has changed in the second instalment of the A24 anthology comedy-drama from creator Lee Sung Jin. The original run’s stars, Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, have moved behind the camera in the role of executive producers, making way for a new conflict — which also throws love into the mix.

Season 1 took big swings, and the new episodes do in their own way, refusing to rely on a proven formula. Romance complicates the interpersonal dynamics, inspiring smaller beefs both within and between the two lead couples, played by Cailee Spaeny, Charles Melton, Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan. The discord is also more passive-aggressive, in contrast with the overtly aggressive hate of Season 1.

The result is entertaining, but also messy.

You'd think that love and workplace animosity might be more relatable, but adding these elements, including an extra third couple (played by Youn Yuh-jung and Song Kang-ho), ends up muddying the water somewhat. It’s clear that Lee has a lot he wants to say, but Season 2 trips over its own ambition as a result. This new narrative incorporates everything from class difference and intergenerational divides to Asian-American identity and how love intertwines with hate. The result is entertaining, but also messy. As the various tensions escalate, so too does the show’s absurdity. Although that was also true of Season 1, these new characters are tougher to empathise with, or even understand.

That's through no fault of the cast. Mulligan delivers some of the best, most withering put-downs — “There is literally no reason why I would know that,” she says at one point, exasperated — while Melton proves again why he deserves more awards recognition, following his May December Oscar snub. Youn Yuh-jung, meanwhile, is so good that you’ll wish the show was focused on her and Song Kang-ho's couple rather than the others. Failing that, we’re simply left missing Danny and Amy from Season 1.

Jacob Elordi is an actor who knows a thing or two about survival on-screen. He survived being an Aussie POW as The Narrow Road To The Deep North's Dorrigo Evans. His Creature made it out of Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein in one piece (just about), too. Elordi even managed to emerge from the wreckage of Euphoria Season 3 unscathed, somehow. And Ridley Scott's upcoming post-apocalyptic sci-fi joint The Dog Stars, adapted from Peter Heller’s 2012 bestseller, is about to put the Oscar nominee through the wringer again — this time as Hig, a civilian pilot holed up in an abandoned air hangar and trying to survive in a pandemic ravaged America. This time at least, Elordi does have back-up — as you will see in the trailer below;

There you go! When Reapers (basically murderous, marauding packs of scavengers) come a-knocking, who you gonna call? No, not Ghostbusters. How about a medic named Cima played by Margaret Qualley, a gruff ex-marine called Bangley brought to gravelly-toned life by Josh Brolin, and a good boy doggo called Jasper? Sounds pretty good to us. And the movie — which finds Elordi's Hig looking to break Bangley's "wake up, defend, survive" routine and take to the skies in pursuit of an enigmatic transmission — looks pretty good, too. With Scott back in familiar speculative genre territory after the wild ride that was 2024's Gladiator II, The Dog Stars finds the 88-year-old filmmaker tapping into both his penchant for pulsating set pieces (Hig and co's Reaper encounters are frenetic to say the least!), as well as a more melancholy and a meditative métier that is perhaps a little less often seen from Sir Ridders in more recent works. In other words, the trailer teases a very faithful adaptation of Heller's book.

Also glimpsed here are Guy Pearce, who plays former Navy SEAL — and Cima's father — Pops, and Allison Janney, whose role has yet to be revealed but who very much seems to be dressed as an air hostess in this trailer. Will Elordi make it out of yet another survival story alive? What awaits at the other end of that transmission? And how does an air hostess Allison Janney factor into the equation? We don't know yet! But we very much look forward to finding out when The Dog Stars hits cinemas on 28 August.

A short time ago, in a galaxy not so far away, the final trailer for The Mandalorian And Grogu was dropped during Disney's CinemaCon presentation. And while we've had trailers for Jon Favreau's movie — the first big-screen Star Wars outing since 2019's The Rise Of Skywalker — already, three of 'em in fact (if you count that Super Bowlspot), there's something about this one that just hits different. Maybe it's the focus on Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin and Grogu's emotional father-and-son bond. Maybe it's Ludwig Göransson's swelling, John Williams infused score. Heck, maybe it's all those Anzellans! Who knows? But the Force is undeniably strong with this last teaser — and you can check it out below;

"The old protect the young... and then the young protect the old." Oh boy, we're gonna need to stock up on beskar to protect our hearts with The Mandalorian And Grogu, aren't we? But hey, didn't we tell you: what a trailer! Mando taking orders from Sigourney Weaver's Colonel Ward, who warns our favourite bounty hunter gone good that his mission — to take out imperial war lords — "isn't about revenge, it's about preventing another war." Grogu hanging out with a whole horde of Anzellans. A closer look at the returns of Clone Wars bounty hunter Embo and Star Wars Rebels fan favourite Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum). There's action, jumps to lightspeed, new planets, and weird lil' — and big — guys galore. (Shout-out to Jeremy Allen White for his suitably monstrous Rotta the Hutt voice!)

There's also a real, undeniably emotional through-line here: the realisation that Mando and Grogu aren't necessarily always going to be together. Even despite us having spent three seasons of The Mandalorian desperately awaiting the moment Din Djarin and Din Grogu could retire to their little cabin on Nevarro. There's even some interesting threads dangled here surrounding Grogu and the potential for him to become his father's keeper, tapping into both sides of his training to protect his adoptive old man. In other words, this just feels like Star Wars — and boy could we use some of that right about now.

With tickets set to go on sale for The Mandalorian And Grogu tomorrow, and the movie due out in cinemas on 17 May — almost exactly a month from now — we don't have long to wait to see how Favreau and co's movie propels us into 'a completely different era of Star Wars.' If the movie's as good as this last trailer, then we have only four words to say to that: this is the way.

Good news for fans of big video game brawls. Not only do you have Mortal Kombat II to look forward to on the big screen later this year, but another of gaming’s all-time-great fighters is about to level up for cinemas. Street Fighter is on the way, ready to bring Capcom’s outlandish side-scrolling punch-em-up to the movies, and it looks to be going all-out in bringing the games' super-stylised world into a new medium. Check out the first trailer:

We’ve got Ryu and Chun-Li, Balrog and Guile, and a whole load of other beloved favourites. We have that culture-permeating ‘Perfect!’ sound effect. And, yes: we have a Hadouken! Street Fighter looks to be keeping all of the iconography intact in its translation to film form, since fidelity to video game source material seems to be of real import as Hollywood goes increasingly game-focused. Japanese-born American filmmaker Kitao Sakurai — previously behind prank comedy Bad Trip — is directing here, and seems to be bringing comedy as well as crazy fight moves. Previously, the film was to be helmed by the Philippou brothers, who exited prior to this iteration.

Sakurai has assembled a considerable cast – including Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Andrew Koji as Ryu, and Callina Liang as Chun-Li, alongside the likes of David Dastmalchian, Eric André, 50 Cent, Jason Momoa, and WWE superstars Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns — to see his Street Fighter come out swinging. Sakurai has also co-written the screenplay alongside T. J. Fixman.

So, will Street Fighter deliver a box office K.O.? Can it go head-to-head with Mortal Kombat II for the prize of ultimate fighter movie? And when are cinemas going to go full Tekken? We’ll get at least some answers when Street Fighter hits cinemas on October 16.

Following their bold, contemporary remixes of The Invisible Man and Wolf Man, another classic-horror icon receives the Blumhouse treatment. Although, as the title makes clear, it’s Irish writer-director Lee Cronin (Evil Dead Rise) rather than BH regular Leigh Whannell doing the honours. Still, anyone who enjoyed both those movies is unlikely to be disappointed by Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, as it follows the same “tweak, inject a shot of modern relevance, and amp up the scares” approach. With the caveat that Cronin’s inspirations seem to lie mostly outside the Mummy mythos, and take him into some questionable territory.

Similar to his 2019 debut The Hole In The Ground, this story revolves around the disappearance of a child — in this case young Katie Cannon (Emily Mitchell) — who later reappears and returns home in a creepily changed form (Natalie Grace). Here the transformation is far less subtle: Katie has spent eight years in an Egyptian tomb wrapped in bandages, and has re-emerged scarred and virtually catatonic, with long, horny finger- and toe-nails, looking very similar to a peat-bog person thanks to some impressive make-up work.

Should keep the most committed horror-hounds happy.

As you might imagine, Katie’s reintegration into her Albuquerque-based family (dad Jack Reynor, mum Laia Costa, younger siblings Shylo Molina and Billie Roy, sassy granny Veronica Falcón) is painful and distressing. So this ‘Mummy’ is no reanimated ancient priest stalking ruins and museums like Christopher Lee or Arnold Vosloo. This is an apparently vulnerable young woman requiring around-the-clock home-care from her traumatised and increasingly fractious loved ones, who ultimately suffer from monstrous domestic antics that feel closer to The Exorcist than anything involving bandaged stalkers.

Add in some queasily effective body-horror scenes (the nail-cutting sequence is a nasty doozy), and this makes for some uncomfortable viewing that might not be to everyone’s taste. With the extra wrinkle that Katie’s abduction and corruption are inflicted by predatory foreigners, whose retrograde othering is only marginally mitigated by the inclusion of a heroic Egyptian cop played by Moon Knight’s May Calamawy.

At the same time, Cronin’s darkly humorous tone (which peaks with one glorious C-bomb) and sudden-volume-cranking jump-scare style urge us not to take things too seriously. Indeed, as the chez Cannon situation spirals into a grand guignol blowout, the whole thing turns very Evil Dead. By this point it feels like Cronin wants to hit as many genre hallmarks as possible on this (slightly overlong) descent, which should keep the most committed horror-hounds happy, at least. Although the sticklers among them will surely agree that his Mummy isn’t really a mummy movie.

An overly familiar take on stardom and showbusiness, Outcome, Jonah Hill’s second narrative feature following 2018’s charming Mid90s, is a schizophrenic satire that flits between two incompatible strands. The first is a quiet character-study of Keanu Reeves’ superstar reckoning with his past behaviours. The second is a whackier, outrageous comedy of Hollywood shenanigans about averting career-ending catastrophe. Unfortunately, Hill never finds a way to accommodate both tones and the result delivers more whiplash than Damien Chazelle could dream of. In short, there is nothing here that isn’t done more sharply, funnily or with more resonance on The Studio.

Reeves is the improbably named 56-year-old Reef Hawk, a movie star for four decades who, like no other actor ever, has fronted three franchises but also won two Oscars. The beloved public persona masks a private pain, half a decade of drug and booze addiction that is finally in the rear-view mirror. Now ready to make his comeback, he is extorted to the tune of $15 million, threatened by the release of a video that will finish his career. On the advice of his improbably named crisis lawyer Ira Slitz (Hill), Reef begins an apology tour, asking for forgiveness from those he has hurt in his life with the underlying agenda of revealing the blackmailer.

Reef is also propped up by two high-school friends played by Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer that embody the film’s twin poles, by turns shrill and unfunny, then intimate and poignant.

The damage-limitation sequences deliver Outcome’s best moments. Reef’s meeting with his mother (Susan Lucci), who used his fame to catapult into The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, is blistering, the pair revisiting the past while also negotiating the demands of reality TV. In a different register, Reef’s reunion with former girlfriend Savannah (Welker White) is a scene of quiet pain, as the latter realises how much of her time was wasted.

But best of all is Reef’s catch-up with his childhood agent, the improbably named Red Rodriguez, superbly played by Martin Scorsese. A Broadway Danny Rose small-timer who works out of a bowling alley, Red feels abandoned by his clients (“the guy you leave if you do your job right”), and Scorsese nails that ache perfectly. It’s by far the most affecting performance of the whole film.

Which frankly isn’t saying much. For the bulk of the film is dominated by Reeves, always likeable but strangely vacuous, involved in crisis-management meetings that feel far too broad to land. Hill’s hyper-energised Slitz, all veneers and over-use of the word “bubbe”, is too much of a caricature to feel like he’s in the same film as Scorsese’s character, be it fielding calls from his clients (“Tom Hanks just body-slammed his housekeeper”) or assembling a council of war (Roy Wood Jr, Atsuko Okatsuka, Laverne Cox, and Annie Hamilton) to fight Reef’s corner. Reef is also propped up by two high-school friends played by Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer that embody the film’s twin poles, by turns shrill and unfunny, then intimate and poignant.

Hill and co-writer Ezra Woods circle the piping-hot pitfalls of modern celebrity — cancel culture, separating the art from the artist, victim capitalism, the tell-all interview (with Drew Barrymore) — but don’t really have anything to say about them. Hill’s filmmaking also doesn’t ring true, the score too insistent, Los Angeles looking like it was shot on The Mandalorian’s Volume. Ultimately Outcome needed a more refined, truthful director. Maybe the Hill who turned up for Mid90s.

Ariana Grande is a BAFTA, Oscar, and Golden Globe nominated actor, a three-time Grammy award-winning pop megastar, and a very, very funny woman. The triple threat! Not only have the 'Thank U, Next' singer's comic chops shone as Wicked's Glinda, but lest we forget Grande started out in comedy with Nickelodeon's Victorious and has regularly stolen the show with her SNL appearances. Now, in long-gestating Meet The Parents fourquel Focker In-Law, Grande is about to flex her funny bones alongside Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro as Olivia Jones, Greg Focker's son Henry's (Skyler Gisondo) overachieving new girlfriend. Check out the trailer below to see how Olivia enters the Focker family's circle of trust;

Interrogation scene? Check. Ben Stiller's 'Gregfocker' slipping into the Robert De Niro role from Meet The Parents while De Niro and Grande riff gleefully off one another? Check. Cringe-out penis jokes, awkward family dinners, and the return of Owen Wilson to the Focker fold? Check, check, and treble-check! As trailers go, Focker In-Law is kinda ticking all the boxes for fans of the franchise a decade and a half on from less-than-spectacular original trilogy capper Meet The Parents: Little Focker. And, as a former FBI hostage negotiator whose hyper competence has Greg (and us) on red alert, Grande fits into the dysfunctional family's dynamic seamlessly here, fearlessly throwing herself into everything from heimliching Ben Stiller to going to two-wheeled war with her prospective father-in-law. Even if she is called 'evil Geppetto' and knocked off her bike by an over-protective Greg Focker.

Written and directed by franchise veteran John Hamburg, with Stiller, De Niro, Wilson, Teri Polo, and Blythe Danner all back to reprise their roles from the original Focker trilogy opposite franchise flesh blood Beanie Feldstein and Skyler Gisondo, the groundwork has certainly been laid for a winning return from the chaotic comedy saga. We look forward to finding out if Grande is a real Focker — or merely a Fock-ing fraud — when Focker In-Law hits cinemas in November.

Back in 1994, director Peter Farrelly made Dumb And Dumber: a wilfully stupid, aggressively crude but ultimately lovable comic yarn about a couple of bros who find themselves in a series of high-stakes hijinks. With Balls Up, Farrelly is seemingly attempting to conjure a similar sort of magic, albeit this time neglecting to include anything lovable — or, crucially, funny.

As far as titles go, Balls Up is about right. This is a disaster. Having improbably gone serious in 2018 to take home the Oscar for Best Picture with Green Book, Farrelly appears to be attempting to summon the spirit of his 1990s gross-out heyday, with genuinely nightmarish results. Perhaps there were at one point some jokes in the script by Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, but none are present in the will-this-do shrug that makes it to screen.

Comedies don’t need to be plot-heavy or even plot-first, but they need at least a plot — the very basics of storytelling — upon which to anchor the comedy.

From the moment we are introduced to Brad (Mark Wahlberg) and Elijah (Paul Walter Hauser), we witness nothing approaching any kind of actual character trait, the filmmakers instead incorrectly surmising that repeated jokes about condoms are enough to keep the ship afloat. All we know about our dumber-and-dumberer duo is that they sweat a lot and are generally obnoxious. Brad’s response to seeing one character’s Alcoholics Anonymous chip is to announce, “Says you, pussy!”, before pressuring a recovering addict into breaking several years of sobriety. And we’re supposed to root for these guys?

What makes the experience all the more wretched is the sheer filmmaking incompetence on display here. There is no narrative structure to speak of. Comedies don’t need to be plot-heavy or even plot-first, but they need at least a plot — the very basics of storytelling — upon which to anchor the comedy. An hour into Balls Up and it’s not clear what the story is even supposed to be. Instead, it’s simply a succession of airless set-pieces, which feel like the first draft of a comedy-writer’s pitch-meeting whiteboard: what if a football mascot looked like a dick? What if a CG alligator ingested a massive amount of cocaine? What if a tin-eared ’90s conception of eco-warriors licked frogs? What if two men were forced to stuff penis-and-balls-shaped condoms down their throats, the entire joke appearing to be ‘imagine if they were gay’?

Worse still, the majority of the action takes place in Brazil, with all the cultural sensitivity and international diplomacy that we’ve come to expect of the United States lately. It’s hard to say which is the grimmest regional stereotype, but perhaps the worst offender is Sacha Baron Cohen as a long-locked gangster kingpin, whose joyless comedy accent approach is Borat by way of ’Allo ’Allo. Brazilians aren’t the only injured party here; women, too, are completely reduced to cliché, with all female characters sidelined as mere sex objects, saddled with dialogue like, “I’ve always wanted to fuck the dick off an American.”

By the time Mark Wahlberg is frantically pulling a vampire fish out of his penis — Dirk Diggler would be rolling in his grave — all hope is lost. Even by the piss-poor standards of some of the straight-to-streaming slop of late, this is a miserable experience for everyone involved. Balls Down, more like.

With Godzilla Minus One — excuse us, the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One — writer/director/VFX artist Takashi Yamazaki brought terror to Tokyo, pitting the atomic might of Gojira against the heroic spirit and heart of kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) in a creature feature for the ages. Now, three years later, we're about to get monsters in Manhattan as Yamazaki brings cinema's favourite septuagenarian lizard — bigger, badder, and frankly more terrifying looking than ever before — to New York in hotly anticipated sequel Godzilla Minus Zero. And you can check out a freshly dropped teaser trailer for the incoming kaiju chaos below;

Okay, okay — now we see why this is about to make history as the first Japanese movie ever shot specifically for IMAX. Sure, this Godzilla Minus Zero teaser may be short, but forty seconds is plenty to tee up our boy Big G getting set to exact revenge on the nation whose nuclear tests mutated him into... well... this Godzilla. As Yamazaki revealed at CinemaCon, Godzilla Minus Zero is a direct sequel to Godzilla Minus One, set two years after the events of the first movie. And, what's more, the official synopsis for the film confirms that we'll be reunited with the first movie's Shikishima family here, too.

The synopsis for Yamazaki's movie reads: "Godzilla Minus Zero picks up in 1949, two years after the tumultuous events of Godzilla Minus One, and continues the story of the Shikishima family as they face an all-new calamity. Additionally confirmed out of CinemaCon, Ryunosuke Kamiki, the hero who faced Godzilla’s terror in Godzilla Minus One, returns as Koichi Shikishima, and is joined by Minami Hamabe as Noriko Oishi, who miraculously survived Godzilla’s first attack on Tokyo."

Now, whether Kamiki, Hamabe, and Mr. Godzilla will be joined by any other kaiju-sized co-stars in Godzilla Minus Zero is yet to be confirmed — though we would note that the gravity manipulation glimpsed in the trailer may point towards a certain three-headed dragon making an appearance *cough* King Ghidorah *cough*. (After all, Yamazaki did tell Empire not so long ago that perhaps Godzilla Minus One was really "the calm before the storm" for our human heroes.) Ghidorah or no Ghidorah though, we'll see exactly what Godzilla's latest rampage has in store for us when Godzilla Minus Zero arrives in cinemas stateside on 6 November — and hopefully here in the UK soon after. Watch this space!

One Aragorn casting rumour went to Deadline. Another Strider was told to THR. And more still came unto Variety, The Wrap, and even Empire. But they were, all of them deceived, for another casting announcement was made. In the land of Las Vegas, in the halls of Caesar's Palace, Warner Bros. and director Andy Serkis revealed the full line-up for The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum. And leading the line alongside Serkis' Sméagol will be... Jamie Dornan! Yes, the Barb And Star actor will play Strider — later known as Aragorn — in Serkis' film, which takes place between The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings trilogies.

Joining Dornan's chief of the Northern Dúnedain Rangers in The Hunt For Gollum are *deep breath* Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Elijah Wood as Frodo; Lee Pace as his Hobbit trilogy character, Elvenking Thranduil; Kate Winslet as Marigol, reportedly Gollum/Sméagol's Stoor Hobbit grandmother from J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium; Leo Woodall as Dúnedain man Halvard, believed to be one of the Rangers of the North accompanying Strider on his hunt; and, of course, Serkis himself, who's pulling double/triple duty as director and Gollum/Sméagol.

The Hunt For Gollum is set to find Aragorn and Gandalf seeking out the titular creature of cunning, looking for information on Bilbo Baggins' ring in the span of time between Bilbo's birthday party from Fellowship Of The Ring and the burgeoning Fellowship's arrival at the Mines of Moria. "Across two trilogies, a mark of a Middle-earth film, has always been the formidable array of talent brought to bear in every role," said director Serkis in a statement accompanying his movie's CinemaCon presentation. "The Hunt for Gollum continues in that tradition, and I am delighted to announce the return of two of Middle-earth’s most beloved performers, alongside some exceptionally talented new additions to Tolkien’s world.”

Described to Empire as a Middle-earth adventure with 'a strong psychological interior story' by co-writer Philippa Boyens, The Hunt For Gollum is shaping up to be something precious (precioussss) indeed. And with the latest Lord Of The Rings movie due to hit cinemas on 17 December, 2027, the countdown to our Middle-earth return is well and truly on.

Read almost any review of Osgood Perkins' Nicolas Cage led 2024 occult horror Longlegs and you'll find the word 'singular' — or a variant of it — being used to describe the prolific genre filmmaker's chilling serial killer tale. But perhaps we were a little hasty in our choice of words. Perhaps Longlegs wasn't quite so singular after all... or at least it won't be for much longer. Per THR's reporting, writer-director Perkins is re-teaming with star Nicolas Cage on a new Longlegs movie.

Shifting home base from indie outfit Neon — where his Keeper, The Monkey, and the original Longlegs were made — to Paramount Pictures, Osgood Perkins isn't simply making Longlegs 2 (or Longerlegs, as somebody surely would've called it.) As THR's sources state, this secretive new film will instead be something else that's "set in the Longlegs universe." In all fairness though, satanism or no satanism, *SPOILER ALERT* Cage's creepy killer Longlegs — aka Dale Cobble — was very much dead by the end of the first film, with no sign of infernal intervention reviving the face-mashed murderer anytime soon. Given where that first movie leaves Maika Monroe's FBI Agent Lee Harker, too, the likelihood of her appearing in any future LCU (that's Longlegs Cinematic Universe) movies is fairly slim we reckon.

Made on a budget of $10 million, Longlegs was something of a word-of-mouth phenomenon, with occultism heavy marketing, in-theatre stunts, enigmatic trailers, and Cage's unhinged performance driving the movie to a hefty $128 million box office haul by the end of its run. We don't know what Longlegs' follow-up will entail, who else will be in it, or how Perkins and Cage are planning to bring Dale Cobble back at this point, but we are already seated and very afraid. Hail Satan!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's a buzzy bit of casting news for James Gunn's upcoming Superman sequel, Man Of Tomorrow, actually. Following a frenetic few weeks of whispers, rumours, and counter-rumours about who may be set to play alien anti-heroine Maxima in Gunn's sophomore directorial effort in the DCU, the movie has found its alien queen (no, not that Alien Queen.) Per Variety's reporting, Splitsville and Andor star Adria Arjona has officially signed on to play Maxima in Man Of Tomorrow as pre-production ramps up on the superhero sequel.

As has been well publicised and widely reported in recent weeks, casting for the role of Maxima — who, in the comics at least, first appeared as a tyrannical despot obsessed with Supes before later reforming and joining the Justice League — took an intense audition process to nail. In the end, Arjona saw off Eva De Dominici (The Cleaning Lady), Sydney Chandler (Alien: Earth) and Grace Van Patten (Tell Me Lies) to land the part, a role which reaffirms Gunn's desire to dig into some lesser spotted DC deep cuts and embrace a more cosmic side of the comic books that we haven't seen so much on the big screen to date.

We still don't have anything by way of an official synopsis or logline for Gunn's Man Of Tomorrow just yet, but we do know that the movie will see David Corenswet's Superman and Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor team up to take on Lars Eidinger's Brainiac — an iconic comic book villain with an insatiable appetite for knowledge, destruction, and really just making Supes miserable. We also do know that among the movie's wider ensemble will be returnees Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), Guy Gardner (Nathon Fillion) and Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific). And there'll also be a big-screen DCU debut for Lanterns star Aaron Pierre, who'll be reprising the role of Green Lantern John Stewart in Gunn's film.

Will Maxima get her (Super)man? Can Clark Kent and Lex Luthor stop fighting long enough to fend off the threat of Brainiac? And will Krypto be around for all the fun after that Supergirl trailer? We'll find out the answers to those questions — and more — when Man Of Tomorrow hits cinemas on 9 July, 2027.

We believe in genuine research and hands-on testing. If you do too, click here to add Empire as a preferred source on Google.

The lights are dimmed and you settle into your seat ready for some big-screen action. But there's no queue for expensive popcorn, no trailers, no strangers rustling sweet wrappers or talking through the title sequence. And the screen? It's filling an entire wall. Welcome to your living room, and the increasingly attainable world of high-end 4K home cinema projectors – this time courtesy of the Hisense M2 Pro.

Hisense lists this product as a smart mini projector – at its largest just 23 centimetres high. While some other mini projectors will be even more diminutive, consider the high-end tech crammed inside this M2 Pro – something of a miracle for its size. Triple lasers, optical zoom, AI picture enhancements, AI auto-setup, built-in speakers with DTS Virtual X sound, and more. It'll even throw out a 200-inch image if you need it to, all in glorious 4K with 1300 ANSI lumens of brightness. On paper it certainly seems to be worthy of its 'smart mini' epithet and multiple accolades as one of the best projectors under £1000.

Hisense is no newcomer to entertainment hardware. The brand has a well-deserved reputation for excellent smart TVs, from budget sets to award-winning 65-inch TVs and larger. The brand also has an enviable line-up of soundbars and laser projectors, including high-end ultra‑short‑throw variety. However, set alongside these staple offerings, the M2 Pro is much less of a lounge fixture, instead offering a tonne of flexibility. This is a 4K laser projector that you can easily stow away if you need to, ready to be placed on a coffee table, shelf or move between rooms at a moment's notice. Sounds great – but does it have what it takes to deliver a truly cinematic experience?

Under the hood, the M2 Pro is a 4K UHD DLP projector with a triple‑laser light source, rated at up to 1,300 ANSI lumens. It supports HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision – a rarity in this category. Throw in automatic keystone correction, autofocus, obstacle avoidance, integrated speakers and a VIDAA smart platform, and this reads like a projector that's ready for anything.

Most lifestyle and budget projectors prioritise portability over performance, but we couldn't wait to see if the M2 Pro hit the sweet spot between price, usability and genuine home cinema performance. With our 120-inch screen lowered into place and the Hisense fired-up, we grabbed our popcorn and hit play on some 4K goodness.

First impressions of the Hisense M2 Pro projector

The M2 Pro comes in a sturdy crate-like case similar to other high‑end models. Inside lies a more compact projector than some of the promo photos might suggest. Lifting it out of the box, this isn't style over substance either, there's real build quality here. There's a strength and rigidity to this, including the integrated stand, a feature we love to see in any projector. However, this one isn't just the flip-out kick-stand we see in some others. The M2 Pro offers a massive 360-degree tilt range, which means it can be used for ceilings. Placing it onto a side-table we tilted it toward our screen, the function-led design, neat footprint and large well-integrated lens giving it something of an expectant look – perched on its stand, this wouldn't look out of place as a background character in a cantina full of droids.

Design and build

Looking closer at the M2 Pro, Hisense has delivered a softly-curved cuboid machine with a large lens, side and rear ventilation, and a small handful of inputs. We'll be checking fan noise levels and control options later. Function aside, we think this fulfils the lifestyle aesthetic too, thanks to the satin-metallic finish and machined grilles on either side that vent the audio from a pair of built-in speakers. This has clearly been designed to be handled often, set up quickly and enjoyed as a piece of high-tech décor. All said, we think this looks and feels like something you'll be proud to have on display as part of your home entertainment setup – much like the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 we reviewed (albeit two-thirds the size and without quite as much chrome bling).

As mentioned when we unboxed this projector, the M2 Pro is noticeably more compact than many traditional home cinema projectors, measuring roughly 19 centimetres square and 23 high. It weighs a reassuring 3.9 kilograms too, making it heavy enough to inspire confidence, but light enough to pack up and carry with one hand.

As good as the integrated stand is, the underside includes a standard threaded tripod mount which you can also use for installation on the ceiling. While we love the uncluttered look of a ceiling-mounted projector, this Hisense has clearly been designed to be easily moved. With flexible placement being one of its major strengths, we think a ceiling mount would remove some of that instant portability.

What's the inside story?

The DLP chip here delivers a true 4K (3840 x 2160) image. This is also a triple-laser model, meaning it has separate red, green and blue lasers for superior colour performance without the dreaded 'rainbow effect' (the rainbow-like colour-fringing seen with single-laser or traditional lamp-based versions). It's also better when it comes to colour performance, which is next on our spec rundown.

Hisense has HDR10 and Dolby Vision support – the latter being a gold standard when it comes to High Dynamic Range (aka a palette of over a billion colours). It also claims colour coverage at 100 per cent of the BT.2020 colour space, all of which adds up to more vibrant colours and realistic tones for your movies, shows and games. We'll have one eye on colour performance when we do our test viewings later.

Controls

As with many compact projectors, onboard controls and inputs are minimal, arranged in a short row on the back. The only control is a multi-function power button that, once the unit is booted-up, cycles through basic options like source select, volume control, and of course power. The real work is done with the remote control.

Remote control

We like a solid remote with a metal casing, and this one doesn't disappoint. It's slim and responsive, too. Wearing our nitpicking hat for a moment, while we like the dark grey metallic colour Hisense chose for this, it's a little incongruous when placed next to the bright silver shell of the projector itself. It's not backlit either – a long-standing gripe of ours when it comes to projectors at all budgets. As it is, unlike more palm-sized offerings, this remote is long and weighty enough to avoid getting lost in a darkened room on movie night.

The layout is familiar, as most brands borrow from each other in this area. You get the usual uppermost directional navigation wheel, flanked by power, input selection, voice control, settings and a Home button. They're clearly marked too, helping to avoid confusion in dimly-lit rooms. Returning to that voice control button for a moment, we'll be testing how well that works with Hisense's VIDAA smart platform when searching for our favourite content later.

Inputs and connectivity

If you're planning on plugging a Blu-ray player, a console and a digital media player into this projector at the same time you're going to have to get used to juggling cables instead. This is no great surprise, given that the majority of compact projectors only provide one HDMI input, but our guide to the best 4K projectors features the Hisense 4K C2TUK and the Nebula Cosmos 4K SE – both of which provide two HDMI ports (one with eARC) for around the same price as the M2 Pro. It's far from a deal-breaker, but we'd love to see Hisense squeeze one more HDMI input into the spec in a future version – if only to let us quickly plug a mini games console into the back while keeping our soundbar hooked up.

Elsewhere you do get a USB 3.0 port for convenient playback from external drives, but that's it for physical connectivity. Thankfully, given the limited port options, screen-sharing and Airplay 2 support are fast and easy ways to cast from mobile devices, but we'll be focussing on streaming for our testing. Wireless methods are really the focus here, and we'll be connecting it to our home network as we set things up.

Setting up the Hisense M2 Pro

Although we'd be doing the majority of our testing using streaming content and the projector's built-in sound system, we connected the M2 Pro to a Dolby Atmos soundbar via the HDMI eARC port, using the bar as a hub for an Xbox Series X and 4K Blu‑ray player. The projector's VIDAA OS lets you toggle the audio output between internal speakers and HDMI eARC easily too, which avoids having to unplug anything depending on your needs. As with any projector setup, cable length planning is crucial, and we're using a five metre Southlight HDMI 2.1 Cable for neat cable-routing to the M2 Pro.

Screen on

Our screen is the affordable VonHaus 100-inch projector screen – it's a 16:9 projection screen to match the projector's native aspect ratio, which should also help with the auto-keystoning and screen detection features.

Powering on for the first time, the M2 Pro instantly performed its 'AutoMagic AI' – one of the fastest auto-screen setups we've seen. It snapped the projection to the 100-inch screen and focussed it within seconds. That speed it partly down to the 1.3x optical zoom lens with its 1.0-1.3 throw ratio – firmly ticking the convenience box for the Hisense compared to fixed-lens models. The result? Our best guess placement (roughly centred around 2.5 metres from the screen) didn't require any shuffling to get the right fit. That said, as with all projector brands, auto-screen detection and automatic keystoning always needs a small tweak to get it absolutely pixel perfect – no great hurdle, thanks to the simple manual adjustment feature.

Bright enough?

At 1300 ANSI lumens, the M2 Pro is better than average in the world of compact projectors, but it's not going to be a TV replacement for those viewing in the daytime or in well-lit rooms. We set up this Hisense in a room with a large window opposite on an overcast afternoon and it was definitely time to draw the curtains. That said, by the early evening with the sun on its way down we could comfortably watch our screen with the curtains open. It was also perfectly watchable at night in a room with low-medium ambient light – a definite step-up from less powerful compact beamers.

Operating system, menus and apps

Connecting to Wi-Fi fast and seamless, and creating a free VIDAA account via an on-screen QR code was simple, and essential for building up your tailored content recommendations and using the optional VIDAA app for mobile control.

The VIDAA U9 OS here is snappy and easy to navigate, with a layout is similar to Google TV. Re-ordering the pre-populated app list on the home screen is as simple as holding down a button and moving the icon. Finding new apps from the store is equally slick.

App selection

The out of the box app selection on the home page is huge, and clicking on them triggers an instant download. We found our favourites quickly, from Netflix and Amazon Prime to Paramount+ and YouTube. It's also refreshing to see Freely included here, which (for those who are new to it) provides a one-stop-shop for all free digital terrestrial channels like BBC, ITV and Channel 4. That means you don't need to navigate between separate apps to watch live or on demand TV, instead using a traditional electronic programme guide and channel icons to get around. And the aforementioned remote control voice search worked very well, even when we mumbled "The X-Files season three" into it – ideal for anyone who dislikes those fiddly on-screen keyboards.

Menus and settings

Those familiar with the deep-end of TV menus will find all of the usual brightness, contrast and colour modes, picture presets like Standard, Cinema, Game and Filmmaker Mode and so on. We're huge fans of the latter, as its the setting that will defeat any unwanted artificial enhancements (like motion smoothing and overzealous sharpening filters) to deliver an image the way the filmmakers intended and at the original unadulterated frame rate. The same goes for Game mode to instantly reduce input lag and give graphics extra brightness and punch. We'll be putting all of that to the test later. As for audio there's the usual range of audio EQ presets – like Theater, Enhanced, Music, Late Night and Speech.

Motion smoothing is present and adjustable, but as for most film and TV viewing, we prefer to disable it (as well as dialling-down the sharpening and noise-reduction filters to either off or 'low'). With motion enhancement and excessive sharpening and noise reduction left on, 24 frames-per-second movies can take on that overly glossy 'soap opera effect' and eliminate detail along the way – including any authentic film grain.

Extra features

Digging deeper, anyone who's tinkered with projectors will recognise some of the extra modes on offer here. Laser brightness can be adjusted, as can colour temperature, individual colour balance and other projector-centric features like Super Resolution, Dark Detail, AI Picture Adjustment, and Dynamic Tone Mapping for optimising HDR content. We particularly like being able to set all of these options per-source too, making switching between devices and sources simple when it comes to image quality.

Performance test: Movies

Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) – 4K Blu-ray, HDR10, Dolby Atmos

A great test for the Hisense's brightness, contrast and extended HDR10 colour range, we returned to Tatooine, jumped into the landspeeder and headed straight for Mos Eisley. Not only would this give us a great view of the blue skies and sandy dunes of this planet, we'd also delve into the murky shadows of the cantina – not to mention the Jawa's unnerving collection of droid parts in the depths of their Sandcrawler. Given its sci-fi looks, the M2 Pro may well have been quaking on its stand at the sight of R2 submerged in a pile of junk.

The result was just what we'd hoped for – excellent tonal range thanks to HDR, especially in brighter scenes, and offering plenty of well-defined shadow detail elsewhere. Atmos sound really only made proper sense once routed out to our soundbar, but the internal speakers did an admirable job here.

Predator Badlands (2026) - 4K Blu-ray, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos

An apt choice for testing this projector's shadow detail and contrast levels, we fully expected the extended colour accuracy of Dolby Vision to bring out subtleties in those dark corners of our favourite Yautja's ship in Predator Badlands. Sure enough, the immersion-breaking colour banding we see on lesser projectors was banished by the M2 Pro's skill set – especially with the flickering firelight and shadowy skies of the campsite scene. Spatial sound courtesy of Atmos is of course a tad more expansive than normal 5,1 or stereo via the Hisense's internal speakers, but our soundbar was needed once again to bring out the true depth of the soundtrack here.

Performance test: TV shows

Memory of a Killer: 'Dr. Parks' (2026) – Amazon Prime, Full-HD, SDR, 5.1 surround sound

Amazon Prime locks its 4K, HDR and Dolby Atmos content behind its premium subscription, which is fine for us – as we're going to see how well the M2 Pro's AI upscaling works – both the 4K uptick in resolution and the intelligent conversion to HDR colour. Watching Patrick Dempsey's Angelo undergo treatment under clinical hospital lighting sharply intercut with sepia-toned flashbacks from his fractured mind showed off both the auto HDR and upscaling of the Hisense, with very little to complain about given the relatively quality of the source.

Audio performance was particularly strong, the twin internal speakers lending themselves very well to the 5.1 soundtrack here, with the Enhanced audio mode delivering a wide sound field and clear, well-positioned dialogue.

The Invaders (1967) – Freely App – Legend TV, Standard Definition, Stereo

For those who like streaming older content, we returned to the late sixties and lone crusader David Vincent's mission to track down and expose a secret alien invasion, stiff little fingers and all. Broadcast live by the Legend TV channel via the Freely app, the picture was a rather roughly compressed version of Standard Definition (720 x 576). Its original 4:3 ratio was handled well by the Hisense, with no awkward attempts to stretch it to fill its native 16:9 format.

Although we switched off artificial AI clarity enhancements for our other tests, we were able to polish up this episode by adding a little noise reduction and sharpening, and by turning the AI auto optimisation on. Given the limited resolution of the source material, 4K upscaling is just enhancing blocking and artifacts – so we were happy to be able to enjoy this adventure on a huge screen without being so distracted by the lack of definition. Our screen would dwarf the TV sets this show was originally broadcast to, so the Hisense did an admirable job here.

Performance test: Gaming

Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown – Xbox Series X, 4K, 60Hz

With a latency of roughly 10 milliseconds, this projector isn't going to compete with the high-end gaming monitors or high-spec TVs that hardcore competitive gamers seek with latencies as low as 1 millisecond. But any projector (or TV) that offers under 20 milliseconds is going to be great for everyday gamers. The 10 milliseconds here is sharp enough to play everything from First-Person Shooters to racing games like Forza Horizon 5 and still come out on top. But we haven't focussed on that here, deciding instead to explore how well the M2 Pro handles highly complex interfaces, high contrast visuals and cinematic cutscenes. This latest Trek outing for consoles really put that 4K resolution and 100-inch screen to the test. We were not disappointed, with the larger screen and highly legible text becoming our preferred way to play, all from the comfort of our sofa. It pushed the TV (and even a gaming monitor) into second place, if only for the sheer spectacle and readability on offer.

While the projector accepts 4K/60Hz signals and supports auto low latency mode, it does not offer 4K/120Hz. What you will get is 4K at 60Hz, and up to an amazing 240Hz at 1080p, with input lag as low as 10ms depending on your resolution - that's more than acceptable for console gaming, but perhaps not quite as fast as some pro or serious competitive players might hunger for.

Overall picture quality

We did have to play around with the colour space, as it's default setting is BT.2020 (a wider colour gamut than regular TV) which we felt was a little overcooked in terms of colour vibrancy. Switching to 'auto' we tweaked things manually from there, including setting the colour balance to 'warm' and adjusting the red saturation. With a little patience, we recommend watching your favourite content as you do this, to get things just right.

And continuing with colour performance, the triple‑laser light source of the M2 Pro delivers in spades. Despite needing to tweak things to taste, this projector produces rich and delicate hues without any rainbow artefacts during our testing – a perfect partner for the HDR support here.

In our tests we covered Dolby Vision and HDR10/HDR10+ content, with dynamic tone mapping turned on to further enhance shadow detail and accuracy. In tandem with optional settings like Dark Level Enhancer (that did just what it promised) and bumping the laser brightness up to the 80 per cent mark, we enjoyed bright specular highlights and excellent dark levels – providing we controlled our room's ambient light levels. For evening viewing, this it has more than enough punch for a sharp 4K 100‑inch image.

Overall audio performance

One thing's for sure – this Hisense is not short on volume. We found we rarely pushed the volume dial higher than he 20 per cent mark for all of our testing. Having selected Theatre Mode for a more expansive sound profile most of the time, plus tweaking the EQ to suit, the audio on offer here is very well rounded, spacious and with very respectable bass – it's perfectly listenable for movies or casual viewing, but pushing the volume beyond 50 per cent resulted in overcooking some of the lower frequencies. That said, it's easily on-par with some of the best small soundbars out there.

While the native support for the DTS Virtual: X (faux-spatial surround) format is more than welcome, we do wish that Dolby Atmos support was also onboard. That said, if you're going to hook this up to a DTS: X and Atmos soundbar as we did, that's not a relevant omission. Those who love their epic blockbusters with cinematic sound to match will definitely want to invest in one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars for their movie marathons.

Fan noise

Ventilation is discreet, and in regular use the projector is relatively quiet. In standard and Filmmaker viewing modes, fan noise was low enough to fade into the background – especially crucial for quiet dialogue scenes. Ramping up brightness settings and so on, or using dynamic mode, did increase the fan noise a little – but, even sitting less than a metre away from the back of the M2 Pro, this was minimal and didn't distract from our entertainment.

Who is it for?

We think that the Hisense M2 Pro is a very well balanced projector for the price – and for that reason it'll suit anyone who wants to make the leap into smart 4K projection. It retains many of the high-end features often seen in premium models, but without having to break into serious home cinema territory wallet-wise. It's also an attractive design that will fit into any living room – compact enough to stow away when needed but flexible enough to set back up again in seconds.

Despite its considerable smarts it's not a 24/7 TV replacement though, and that's all down to the brightness on offer. With its 1,300 ANSI lumens, the M2 Pro is best suited to dim environments, with excellent performance in a darkened room. That said, we tested it at early evening and dusk in a room with the curtains open, and it had more than enough brightness to comfortably watch. Again, at this price, you'll be hard-pushed to find a compact 4K projector as bright and portable as this one.

Final verdict

After more than a week of testing with all of our viewing and gaming, we have to say that this compact little projector is a real trooper. Not only did it give us access to all of our content, whether streaming or from external devices, but it was also fast and intuitive to navigate. It threw that glorious 4K with HDR colour onto our 100-inch screen with the sort of confidence we normally see in slightly pricier models.

Perhaps the only practical limitations though are the brightness level and limited HDMI inputs. That said, its triple lasers and 1300 ANSI lumen rating are better than most for the money. So, while we can always compare it against 4K projectors costing closer to £2000, that's not really a fair assessment. As it is, we were super-happy with our evening's viewing, the image having plenty of detail, brightness and finesse. We were also impressed with the deeper level of control provided by the settings of the M2 Pro – especially features like Dark Level Enhancement, HDR Tone Mapping and the multitude of customisable settings. One of our favourite features is also one of the simplest: being able to set the H2 Pro to return to whatever source were watching the next time we powered it up.

Speaking of sources, we do wish that the M2 Pro had included a second HDMI 2.1 input, which would have made having our soundbar hooked up at the same time as a game console a little easier. As it was, we were relying on the HDMI input of the soundbar to pass the video signal back up to the projector. Luckily for us the Marshall Heston 120 has low latency HDMI passthrough, otherwise this may have introduced a more problematic issue that a second port on the M2 would avoid.

All that said, this is primarily a compact smart projector, so we can live without the extra HDMI port. The onboard speaker system is powerful enough for everything, other than serious big-screen blockbusters that demand spatial audio like Dolby Atmos. Hook this up to a surround sound system or even a budget soundbar that supports Atmos and you'll have a true home cinema experience on your hands. For avid streamers who like tech that's as well designed on the outside as it is on the inside, the Hisense M2 Pro is a plug-and-play dream

Alternatives to the Hisense M2 Pro 4K projector

The Hisense 4K C2TUK and the Nebula Cosmos 4K SE we mentioned earlier are excellent alternatives that sit on either side of the M2 Pro in terms of price. However, they do have a few key differences – including both having an extra HDMI port.

The Hisense C2 costs almost £200 more, but that buys you a slightly more premium look (including a front fabric speaker grille), a 300-inch maximum screen size and, crucially, 700 more lumens than the M2 Pro.

Undercutting the M2 Pro by more than £100 is the smaller and brighter 1800 ANSI lumen NEBULA Cosmos 4K SE. While that brightness boost is welcome, the lower price and extreme portability of the Cosmos cuts some corners – notably by using a single (LED enhanced) laser instead of the M2 Pro's triple laser system, which means you might see some rainbow effect during fast-moving high-contrast scenes. It also has a higher latency of around 19-20 milliseconds, making it less suitable for serious gaming.

How we tested the Hisense M2 Pro 4K projector

We tested the Hisense M2 Pro 4K projector for two weeks. It was set up on a side table in a living room measuring around 21 x 16 ft. The projector was placed just over two metres from a 100-inch wall-mounted 16:9 ratio projector screen that faces a large north-facing panoramic window with non-blackout curtains. The M2 Pro was connected to a Wi-Fi network for streaming and to a Dolby Atmos soundbar and subwoofer via the M2 Pro's eARC HDMI port and a 5.5 metre HDMI 2.1 cable. The soundbar was a connection hub for a Xbox Series X and Panasonic Blu-Ray player used for our tests. Screenings took place during night with controlled ambient light, early evenings with minimal daylight, and in the daytime with curtains drawn.

Various apps were downloaded to the projector, including Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, and Netflix. The Hisense M2 Pro projector was loaned to us by a PR agency for the purposes of this review. Neither the agency or Hisense had any oversight or editorial control over the content of this review. Find out more about how we test and choose products.

Latest Updates

This review was first published in April 2026. Any future updates and additions will be added here.

Chris Duffill is a senior tech reviewer, writing for Empire, What's The Best, Yours, Closer, Heat and other brands. He specialises in home entertainment and audiovisual tech, including TVs, projectors, speakers, amplifiers, turntables and more.

Alright, let's do this one last time. In 2018, the wizards at Sony Pictures Animation changed the animation game with Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. In 2023, under Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson's direction, they changed it again with the multiversal madness of Across The Spider-Verse, leaving Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and his pals in a very precarious position with a humdinger of a cliffhanger ending. Now, at long last (and after a delay or two), Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson — alongside franchise producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller — are finally ready to deliver trilogy capper Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse. And if Sony's newly released first-look images from the movie are anything to go by, then it's gonna be emotional. Check them out below;

Hoo boy — CinemaCon, you have delivered! There's a lot to get stuck into with these new shots from Beyond The Spider-Verse, but the upshot is we are very worried about Miles Morales' dad, Officer Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry). Miles and his old man having a heart-to-heart against a golden hour backdrop? Young Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) and Jefferson Davis flashbacks? Hobie 'Spider-Punk' Brown (Daniel Kaluuya) on a mission to save Miles' Dad? Yeah, consider us worried. And that's before accounting for Miles — Earth-1610 Miles, that is (there's no shots of Jharrel Jerome's alt-universe Prowler Miles G. Morales here) — being about to get his lights turned out by a very angry looking, glitching Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac).

If there was any concern that Beyond The Spider-Verse may struggle to live up to ASTV and its jaw-slackening finale, in which Miles found himself face-to-face with his decidedly more antagonistic Earth-42 self, then consider those concerns suitably quashed. And that's even without seeing the fresh looks at The Spot and the rest of Miles' Spider-Society chums reportedly shown during Sony's CinemaCon presentation.

Written by Dave Callaham, Phil Lord, and Chris Miller, and now set to hit cinemas on 18 June, 2027, almost a whole decade since Into The Spider-Verse first came along and blew our minds, things are really starting to shape up for Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse to deliver a truly epic, emotional Spider saga finale. Until then, until the day the Spider-Verse trilogy (hopefully) takes its place among the greatest movie trilogies ever made, there's the small matter of a Spider-Noir series and Spider-Man: Brand New Day to look forward to next. Webheads, assemble!

For many moviegoers out there, the Insidious franchise will have started — and ended — with James Wan and Leigh Whannell's 2010, Tiny Tim needledropping, Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne led chiller about a family tangling with evil spirits from a realm called The Further. In actuality however, there were four sequels — ranging from the good (Insidious: Chapter 2), to the mid (Insidious: Chapter 3), to the "Ooh, Patrick Wilson directed one?" (2023's Insidious: The Red Door). Now, Insidious is back with a sixth movie, Out Of The Further, bringing a fresh family, fresh terrors, and a few familiar faces to the horror saga. Check out the trailer below;

You get a jumpscare! You get a jumpscare! Everybody gets a jumpscare! Well, it certainly looks like writer-director Jacob Chase is going all-out to deliver Insidious' signature brand of demonic chills — albeit with a fresh, Talk To Me-esque patina — here, deploying all the weapons in his horror arsenal. You want demonic dental appointments? Out Of The Further's got 'em. You want demons from the past movies? (Hello, shotgun lady from Insidious!) Out Of The Further's got 'em. You want 'Tiptoe Through The Tulips', the return of Lin Shaye's underrated scream queen Elise Rainier, and a terrifying twist on that one pillow fort Bluey episode? Well, Out Of The Further's got all that too — and an intriguing plot revolving around The Haunting Of Bly Manor's Amelia Eve.

The official synopsis for Insidious: Out Of The Further reads: "In Insidious: Out of the Further, Amelia Eve stars as Gemma, a young mother raising her daughter in the house she grew up in who discovers she can travel into The Further, the purgatorial realm of lost souls at the heart of the Insidious universe. When something evil comes after her, Gemma discovers an ability that changes everything: she doesn’t just enter The Further, she can bring what lives there back to the real world. Once the demons realize her power, our world becomes their playground."

We'll see for ourselves whether this latest entry in this demonic horror saga is destined to bring the franchise out of the Further — or if it's more a case of Insidious: Out Of Ideas — when Insidious: Out Of The Further hits cinemas this August. Tiptoe through the window, by the window, that is where I'll be, come tiptoe through the tulips with me…

This week's edition of the Pilot TV Podcast coincides with Sam Levinson's Euphoria making its long-awaited return to our screens following an eventful and somewhat turbulent four-year hiatus. But can it possibly meet Boyd’s lofty expectations when it lands on Sky/HBO Max? And speaking of Sky, Matthew Macfadyen and Elizabeth Banks’ size-shifting comedy The Miniature Wife also lands on that platform this week, while hit comedy Big Mood returns for another run on Channel 4, rounding out the shows James Dyer, Boyd Hilton, and Steph Seelan are casting their critical eye over on the latest episode of Pilot.

Elsewhere, the gang busts out the (metaphorical) turntables to thrash out our favourite TV needle drops, there’s a lot of unnecessary watermark chat, and you’re all invited to Steph’s birthday party. (Except James, of course.) Plus! The team dig into a busy week for telly news, including a bunch of casting announcements for Nobody Wants This Season 3, Alien: Earth Season 2, and the upcoming Peaky Blinders sequel series. You lucky ducks!

You can watch this week's episode of the pod below;

Prefer your pods to be purely audio? Well, you can also listen to this week's episode — which, if you're counting, is #384 — on your podcast app of choice. Also, if you want to subscribe to Pilot TV+, where you'll find an extra episode of the pod every week, gain early access to our latest episodes, and cut out all those pesky ads, then you can find all the details here — it takes the place for Peak TV podcasting to a whole other level.

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Though Katniss Everdeen’s story ended a while ago, there are plenty of Hunger Games tales still to be told. Author Suzanne Collins still has much she wants to say – given the state of, well, everything right now – and has continued to explore the dystopia she created in various prequel novels, themselves adapted for the big screen. Now, after The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, which dialled the clock back to the 10th Hunger Games, Sunrise On The Reaping will be presenting the 50th edition of the kiddie death-match – perhaps its most brutal ever, and the one that gave us victor Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss’ District 12 mentor, played in the original films by Woody Harrelson. Here’s the new trailer:

There’s one key reason why this Hunger Games lives in infamy: as a ‘Quarter Quell’, it’s a ‘special’ edition of the games with an additional rule: this time, double the amount of tributes are picked from the districts. So, Haymitch is one of 48 children battling for survival, the biggest bodycount of any edition, in a beautiful and brightly-coloured arena. That’s the immediate difference to any of the other films here; after Ballad rendered Panem in a post-War aesthetic, Sunrise is going full block-colour ‘’70s/80s look, reflected in its world and clothing, while the arena is a verdant nightmare.

Returning director Francis Lawrence – who helmed every Hunger Games film but the first, and recently squeezed in The Long Walk too – has assembled a stellar cast for this one, many of whom are playing younger versions of characters from Katniss’ stories. Relative newcomer Joseph Zada is playing Haymitch, with Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character), Kieran Culkin as presenter Caesar Flickerman (later to be Stanley Tucci), with Maya Hawke as victor Wireless, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as fellow former victor Beetee, and Lili Taylor as another victor Mags – played, respectively, by Amanda Plummer, Jeffrey Wright and Lynn Cohen in Catching Fire. Elle Fanning looks perfectly cast as the young Effie Trinket. Oh, and Ralph Fiennes is our latest Coriolanus Snow; far older than Tom Blyth in Ballad, but a bit younger than Donald Sutherland, too, in the Katniss era.

Sunrise On The Reaping also has Mckenna Grace and The Long Walk’s Ben Wang as fellow District 12 tributes Maysilee Donner and Wyatt Callow, with Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove; a Covey girl that Haymitch loves, and yearns to be reunited with beyond the Games. And that's a near-unrecognisable Glenn Close as reaping host Drusilla Sickle.

It’s a stacked cast, and a tantalising bit of Panem history – and fans won’t be waiting long. The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping comes to cinemas on November 20. May the odds be ever in your favour.

Ever since Charlotte Regan made her feature directorial debut with 2023's brilliant Scrapper, we've been chomping at the bit to see what her next project would look like. And now, following eye-catching gigs directing episodes of The Buccaneers and The Responder, that next project — subversive BBC crime drama Mint — is nearly here. Starring Emma Laird (yes, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple's Jimmima) and Benjamin Coyle-Larner (yes, the multi-talented rapper Loyle Carner) as two star-crossed lovers from rival crime families, Mint already sounds like another Regan banger. And you can see Empire's exclusive first teaser for the show below;

Night-time train station meet-cute? Check. Coyle-Larner turning on the charm with that silk-smooth voice? Check. Slo-mo shots and close-ups that are at once incredibly tense, incredibly intimate, and emphatically Regan? Check, check, and triple check. Some gravity defying park-based frolicking? Yup — there's that, too! Yeah, we're thinking Charlotte Regan's back. And while this teaser really is just that, a tantalising glimpse at what's to come in Mint, it sets up the series' hook perfectly. By the looks of it, we're in for a contemporary Romeo & Juliet type love story, only instead of Montagues and Capulets you've got two British crime families whose doe-eyed kin — Shannon (Laird) and Arran (Coyle-Larner) — find themselves embarking on a forbidden romance.

The prospect of seeing two instantly magnetic screen presences like Laird and Coyle-Larner bringing Shannon and Arran's relationship to life is enough to have us very much in already. But, as the show's synopsis teases, Mint's not just a mob love story: it's a crime drama that shifts focus from 'the crime world' and 'politics of succession' to the human lives at the centre of its story, to the way Shannon and her loved ones deal with patriarch Dylan's (Bulk's Sam Riley) decision to step down as the head of the family for 'mysterious reasons'.

So Mint is a love story. It's also a crime drama. But it's also doing its own thing in a way that looks and feels totally fresh, with oodles of talent both behind and in front of the camera. Sounds pretty, well, mint to us. We'll definitely be tuning in when the full series hits BBC iPlayer — and the first episode premieres on BBC One — on 20 April.

Ok, first things first. Let's get it out of the way. Yes, the Empire Podcast team — Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and John Nugent — spend a great deal of this week's podcast answering a listener question about great movie quartets. They also spend a great deal of time, in the Movie News section, talking about The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum. And yes, despite all that, they spectacularly fail to mention Bilbo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin in the former category. So, just letting you know that now lest you wish to shout at your podcast device of choice. Forewarned is forearmed and all that. Or maybe fourwarned is more apt in this case.

Anyway, it's a fun episode in which our own quartet also talk Taskmaster series 21, discuss other nuggets of movie news, and review James McAvoy's directorial debut, California Schemin', Francois Ozon's The Stranger, rom-com You, Me & Tuscany, and podcasting horror, Undertone. And Chris has a lovely chat with James McAvoy, who pops into the podbooth to talk about directing for the first time. [41:45 — 1:00:32 approx] Oh, and the group make tentative and fun plans with this week's work experience person. Enjoy.

And if all of the above isn't quite enough Empire Podcast for you, then there's plenty more where that came from. You can listen to this week's episode (which, if you're counting, is #712) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Interviews, which brings you even more chat with the cast and crew behind the biggest new releases. The most recent instalment sees Chris Hewitt talking to actual Richard Kind about his role as Max Bialystock in the West End production of Mel Brooks' The Producers; Chris again, chatting with You, Me & Tuscany stars Regé-Jean Page and Halle Bailey; and finally, Mike Muncer has a lovely chat over Zoom with Ian Tuason and Nina Kiri, the director and star of Undertone. You lucky, lucky lot!

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Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother (no commas) is an exquisite three-part harmony. The bequiffed indie legend has done portmanteau pictures before — Mystery Train, Night On Earth, Coffee And Cigarettes — but this is his most affecting: a delicate, lovely portrait of the relationships between parents and kids that suggests, despite shared genes and bloodlines, that those closest to us might still be unknowable.

‘Father’ follows siblings Jeff (Adam Driver) and Emily (Mayim Bialik) visiting their eccentric dad (Jarmusch talisman Tom Waits), who they haven’t seen for two years following an ‘episode’ at his mother’s funeral. As Jeff and Emily arrive concerned about how their father lives day-to-day, it’s a mini-masterpiece of awkwardness and small talk, suggesting a wealth of family history and relationships without reverting to swathes of backstory. Like a hipster M. Night Shyamalan, Jarmusch also delivers a nifty twist in the tale.

Simple and generous towards its flawed people.

Some 4,550 miles away in Dublin, ‘Mother’ sees prim Timothea (Cate Blanchett) and black sheep Lilith (Vicky Krieps) arrive separately at the home of their novelist mum (Charlotte Rampling). It’s the annual family afternoon tea — Jarmusch drops a Hitchcockian top shot over the immaculately laid-out table — and a comedy of brittle manners unfurls over the PG Tips. (“Shall I be mother?” Rampling’s author asks, pouring the brew. “You might as well start sometime,” replies Lilith.) Never resorting to cliché, Jarmusch expertly sketches the unspoken affection between the two sisters — watch them giggle over their mother’s overwrought book titles like ‘Reckless Moonlight’ and ‘An Unfaithful Tomorrow’ — and wrings compelling plot out of ordering an Uber.

The final entry, ‘Sister Brother’, changes things up, with American twins Skye (Indya Moore) and Billy (Luka Sabbat) in Paris on one last visit to their deceased parents’ flat, a tender stroll through empty rooms and down memory lane. Perhaps because it has no present parental figure, it lacks the bite of the previous stories, but replaces it with something more heartfelt and reflective, offering a gentle reminder that the uneasy get-togethers and prickly tea parties might later feel more like wasted opportunities.

All of this is perfectly played across the board and beautifully shot. Threaded throughout each yarn are recurring motifs — slow-mo shots of skateboarders, Rolex watches, riffs on the phrase “Bob’s your uncle” (best uttered by Waits) — that are less Easter eggs, more telling reminders that, despite geographical distance, we all experience the same stuff. Simple and generous towards its flawed people, it seems the only thing bigger than Jarmusch’s hair is his heart.

The Little Mermaid and Bridgerton’s Duke of Hastings team up in this new romcom, which pairs up two of Hollywood’s hottest young things, Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page, as a couple drawn together against a backdrop of wine, pasta and Tuscan sunshine. An idyllic setting, sure — but You, Me & Tuscany is far from perfect.

We meet Bailey’s Anna in New York. Still grieving her mother and the Italy-based culinary dreams they shared, she’s trying to escape her own chaotic life by living vicariously through other people’s, house-sitting in luxurious abodes. When she meets handsome Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), and hears of his family’s restaurant in Tuscany, she ends up travelling there, letting herself into his vacant villa, and telling his family that she and Matteo are engaged. But as she grows closer to his vineyard-owning cousin Michael (Page), it’s clear she can’t keep up the façade for long.

Fun filmmaking flourishes are let down by a script drowning in cliché.

Bailey is luminous, star quality shining through even the most eye-rolling dialogue. Anna gets by on sheer likeability, and Bailey does the same — she’s funny when she needs to be, and delivers a stirring speech in the final act that is the best thing in the whole movie. Page is as dashing as ever, only showing us cracks of vulnerability beneath that leading-man exterior.

They have decent chemistry; best in the low-key conversations, rather than the prosaic romantic moments. Somewhat disappointingly, though, the thread of them being the only two people of colour in the small Tuscan town is only hinted at and made the subject of jokes, rather than properly interrogated or informing their relationship. The supporting cast bring some much-needed energy, especially Aziza Scott as Anna’s wisecracking bestie, and Stella Pecollo as Matteo’s oversharer sister.

Director Kat Coiro has experience in this arena, after helming 2022’s Jennifer Lopez-starring Marry Me. That same glossy sensibility shows up here, as well as some of the playfulness with form seen in her episodes of Marvel’s She-Hulk. But some fun filmmaking flourishes are let down by a script drowning in cliché, dialogue so stilted it verges on parody. Most of the emotional developments feel undercooked, and the only out-loud laughs come from a blooper reel in the credits with clips solely of bit-part improvisers barely seen in the film. A movie like You, Me & Tuscany obviously doesn’t require kitchen-sink levels of realism, but something this lacking in depth or grounding makes it hard to care about the characters, and whether they get their inevitable happy ending.

I was nervous for the oncoming onslaught, surrounded by strangers, quietly dreading the sequence and – right on cue – as it began, I began to crumble. Emotionally exposed among the Royal Albert Hall’s 5,000-strong throng. But also adrenalised. Call it masochistic if you like, but I do enjoy my heart being thumped about by cinema. Reduce me to rubble! Figuratively speaking.

I had seen Interstellar only twice before – upon release in November 2014, and then a few weeks later at an open-air screening in a park in Sydney, bats swooping in front of the setting sun while Hoyte van Hoytema’s own magic-hour golden glow also bathed the audience. That was special. Both times, the scene in which Matthew McConaughey’s astronaut Coop receives video messages from his kids at home had the same effect on me as it did him. As he sat there uncontrollably sobbing in his spaceship, having suddenly – thanks to relativity – lost 23 years in a matter of mere hours, I sobbed too, such is the massive, merciless wallop of it all. That residue had stuck with me since. So, on Easter Sunday in London, I knew it was coming. And yet I was, it turned out, unprepared. “Hey, Dad.” “Hey, Murph.”

There in the Royal Albert Hall, Interstellar was projected while the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra played Hans Zimmer’s score live, among them the soundtrack’s organist Roger Sayer, sat behind the venue’s 70ft-high towering beast of an organ (built in 1870, boasting 9,999 pipes and looking like something from Frankenstein’s lab). I had already lost it before the video-messages bit. Coop driving away from home – ripping through the cornfield as he heads to NASA, tears in his own eyes after leaving his distraught daughter behind – had kicked things off. And I went multiple times after that too, right up to the final stretch and Ellen Burstyn’s beatific smile: “I knew you’d come back.” “How?” “Because my dad promised me.”

There are I believe three explanations for the intensity of my response that evening.

1: The film is really fucking emotional.

2: I have my own daughter now, and so my own brain chemistry has changed, as well as my perspective on the world and my experience of life, and of cinema, particularly a film like this, particularly this exact film. Murph’s distress is my daughter’s distress. Cooper’s interactions with her are mine. My defences are down. Dismantled.

3: Seeing and hearing the orchestra provide that incredible score as it happens, at the risk of supreme corniness, was to witness human excellence. These world-class musicians overwhelmingly committing to the work, together creating something so astonishingly beautiful… that alone is a thing of awe and wonder. The movie purist in me tells me that live scoring shouldn’t work, that it would be distracting, diverting our eyes away from the screen, seeing behind the curtain as the film unfolds. But watching these people make that music infinitely enhanced Interstellar. To look down every so often, to see them right there, bringing such sonic grandeur to the room – there was, for me, something truly transcendental about it.

I have listened to the Interstellar score more than any other over the past 12 years. It does feel spiritual. It does feel cosmic. It does feel like you’re being carried into another realm. This was the intention.

When director Christopher Nolan first approached Zimmer, the screenplay still being written, he told him barely anything about it, simply asking him to spend a day making a piece of music to accompany a story – typewritten on a single page of paper – about a man leaving his kid because he had an important job to do. There were just two lines of dialogue on that page of paper: “I’ll come back.” “When?” Also referenced, though, was something Zimmer himself had said to Nolan a year earlier about the fact that once your children are born, you “look at yourself through their eyes.” Assignment in hand, Zimmer spent a day writing a piece about what it feels like to be a father. Nolan then stuck that piece on heavy rotation while he wrote the rest of the script.

Zimmer chose Roger Sayer for the organ work, brought to life on a then 90-year-old church organ. It’s impossible to imagine the film without it. “I made the case very strongly for some feeling of religiosity to it,” said Nolan of the score. “The film isn’t religious, but… the organ, the architectural cathedrals and all the rest, they represent mankind’s attempt to portray the mystical or the metaphysical.” It’s a deeply human instrument. An organ. Not a synth. “It can only make a sound with air, and it needs breath,” said Zimmer. “And on each note, you hear the breath, you hear the exhale.” You could hear that – and see it, and feel it – in the Royal Albert Hall. Sayer with his back to us, in thrall to the pipes, making majesty behind the keys. Taking us to church.

The silence in the Hall was deafening. No pins were dropped, but you could hear the tears.

Show-stoppers were in no short supply. Interstellar's docking sequence – during which Cooper has to connect his lander to the Endurance space station, despite being informed it’s impossible – is bravura enough on screen. But witnessing the orchestra play the accompanying piece, ‘No Time For Caution’, the other night, it felt like genuine life or death, Sayer going for broke, every string-player thrashing away as if there were genuinely no tomorrow. “Okay, we’re out of orbit”, said Coop, impossible mission made possible, and the Royal Albert Hall audience spontaneously erupted into applause – for Coop, for Nolan, for Zimmer, but most of all for the orchestra in the room, recreating the work with perfect precision and to overwhelming effect. (Incidentally, when Nolan and Zimmer had finished their work together, the director gifted his composer a watch – just as Coop does to Murph before he leaves for his mission. On the back of the one Nolan gave to Zimmer, he had inscribed, “This is not the time for caution.”)

Nolan took on Interstellar because of how it made him feel as a father; his producer and wife Emma Thomas said she didn’t think he could have made it before being one. “Having children,” Nolan later told The New York Times, “absolutely fine-tunes your sense of time and time passing. There’s a desperate desire to hang on to moments as your kids grow up.” Which is Interstellar in a nutshell. That sentiment is why the video-message scene is so integral, and so powerful. What we see on screen there is raw footage in every sense – it was McConaughey’s first take, and he hadn’t seen the messages before doing so. His reaction was real, and it shows. By the time Jessica Chastain’s adult Murph arrives, having refused to send any messages up to this point, the score gradually disappears. The silence in the Hall was deafening. No pins were dropped, but you could hear the tears.

Confession: I don’t cry much in the real world, despite sometimes having good reason to. For me, it all comes out in the cinema. Films help us to process things, to make sense of them. To feel them. Cinema gives us permission to cry. Possibly due to the fact that I’m having an emotional time with my own daughter at the moment, seeing Interstellar with that orchestra the other night was an extremely physical catharsis, the film’s meditations on love and loss and time hitting me like never before. Man, it’s amazing to be alive. “I’m here now, Murph. I’m here.”

Just in case there was any remaining doubt that video game adaptations are the new comic book movies, another one's strafing our way — and it's a biggie! This evening, THR is reporting that Sony's Columbia Pictures are gearing up to bring Hideo Kojima's stealth combat franchise Metal Gear Solid to the big screen. And, what's more, the studio has already found one of the hottest directorial duos around to make it: Final Destination Bloodlines duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein.

With stock in Lipovsky and Stein rising following the critical and commercial success of last year's Final Destination reboot (Final Destination 7 is, as you may expect, already well on its way), Sony has snapped up the duo on a 'sweeping and expansive' first-look deal. This will see the pair make 'wildly fun, commercial, character-driven, genre-bending films' for the studio under their own Wonderlab banner — and clearly Solid Snake (Snake! Snaaaaaake!), long since cemented as one of gaming's very greatest characters, has slithered onto Lipovsky, Stein, and Sony's radar for the big-screen treatment.

"Metal Gear Solid was nothing short of a groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece that forever revolutionised video games," said Lipovsky and Stein in a joint statement accompanying today's announcement. "We are thrilled and honoured to bring Hideo Kojima’s iconic characters and unforgettable world to life.”

The Metal Gear series — so named after the superweapon that special forces operative Snake is recurrently tasked with finding — is renowned for not only creating the blueprint for stealth games and expanding the gaming world's understanding of what the medium could be, but also for its inherently cinematic nature. The last mainline entry in the series, The Phantom Pain, had almost four hours of Kojima crafted cutscenes, while the one before that — Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots — had over eight hours of 'em, some feature-length on their own. Consider our curiosity piqued to see how, er, solid Snake's movie debut will be. This is good, isn't it?

One batch, two batch, penny and dime... Frank Castle is back, and it's Punishin' time! Last month we learned that the finale of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 will be directly followed by the release of _The Punisher: One Last_Kill, a one-off Marvel Studios Special Presentation centred around Jon Bernthal's skull-armoured vigilante. And now today, the first full trailer for King Richard and Top Boy director Reinaldo Marcus Green's one-shot has been released. And while there's no shortage of violence in store from — and for — our man Frank here, it looks like the anti-hero is searching for peace, too. Check out the trailer below;

Now there's a trailer! And as we teased above, it looks like this isn't just Frank Castle in pure, baddie-pulping mode. Sure, there's Frank locked and loaded, Frank on fire, Frank running with a baseball bat, and Frank roaring like a beast unleashed over the course of this trailer. But there's also Frank surrounded by his demons, haunted by memories of his loved ones lost, and, honestly, kind of just cracking up a little bit. The presence of an unseen character (potentially comics villain and recurring thorn in Punisher's side, infantryman Barracuda?) goading Frank, asking if he "thinks God's gonna forgive us for what we've done", only adds to the sense that this isn't going to be a straight-up bloodbath. The tone here is, if anything, as elegiac as the content is brutal — clearly something co-writers Green and Bernthal have hashed out and worked on together.

We still don't know the full plot of One Last Kill just yet, but we do know the logline teases how this special presentation follows as "Frank searches for meaning beyond revenge, when an unexpected force pulls him back into the fight." Again, 'unexpected force' — it's not not giving Barracuda vibes. (And, lest we forget, Jamal Lloyd Johnson — not seen in the trailer — is playing a mystery character called Barry in this...)

With Daredevil: Born Again's finale coming before it and Spider-Man: Brand New Day set to hit cinemas shortly after, it'll be fascinating to see how The Punisher: One Last Kill fits into the bigger MCU picture — and where it leaves Frank Castle and his bloody calling. We'll find out for ourselves when Marvel Studios' latest Special Presentation hits Disney+ on 12 May. Bring. It. On!

Fans of animation are no strangers to Brad Bird. He brought to life Vin Diesel’s super-sized robot in The Iron Giant, gave us one of the best superhero films of the 2000s with The Incredibles, and introduced audiences to the internet’s favourite chef Remy in Ratatouille. But his latest project actually dates back to before all of those films, having been gestating in the director’s mind for more than 30 years.

The project in question is Ray Gunn, a blend of 1940s noir detective films and sci-fi that has just revealed its first images along with its voice cast. Check out the first shots from the film below;

Leading the lineup is Oscar-winner (and all-round great dancer) Sam Rockwell, voicing the titular private eye Raymond Gunn. He is joined by Scarlett Johansson as multimedia star Venus Nova, with Johansson describing working with Bird as a “career milestone”. Also among the cast is Tom Waits, who will voice a character called Eyera.

Alongside the cast announcement comes a first look at the film itself. Set in Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future, Ray Gunn follows private eye Raymond Gunn as he is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and the mysterious multimeida star Venus Nova. Based on these first images, the film looks like it could be a blast, bringing something of a Knives Out energy to the world of sci-fi. Or, as Bird himself describes the film to Tudum, “It’s The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers.”

Bird has spoken about Ray Gunn numerous times over the years, and now the long-gestating passion project will finally hit screens later this year thanks to Skydance Animation and Netflix. Judging by this first look, it might just be a case well worth signing onto. Watch this space!

As Game Of Thrones' Tyrion Lannister, Peter Dinklage faced more than his fair share of monsters — both human and otherwise. One monster the Toxic Avenger and Roofman star has never faced however is the xenomorph... until now. Per Deadline's reporting, four-time Emmy winner Dinklage is the first new cast member boarding Noah Hawley's Alien: Earth Season 2 at FX ahead of production starting on the sci-fi series' sophomore outing next month.

Set to shoot at Pinewood Studios in May, bringing the Alien franchise back to its original home, Alien: Earth Season 2 — as creator Hawley himself has teased to Empire — is about to spell big trouble for Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and co following *that* 'Now we rule' Season 1 finale mic drop. And while we have no confirmation as of yet when it comes to who Dinklage may be playing when the proverbial faeces hits the fan in Season 2, there may be a potential clue in Hawley's further comments on his future plans for Alien: Earth. "There’s a bit of Game Of Thrones to the corporate world that feels interesting to me," Hawley told Empire recently, teasing a desire to dig into the "corporate politics" of the series' future-Earth setting further with its next outing. Could Dinklage — a man who knows a Thronesian thing or two — pop up as a prominent figure from one of the show's warring corporations perhaps? He has landed a series regular role, after all. Honestly, we don't know at this point... but we're sure we'll find out soon enough.

What we do know about Alien: Earth Season 2 is that while Hawley has said Wendy and her Lost Boys' growing autonomy will continue to be the beating heart of the show, there are still far bigger ideas at play here, too. "It’s a story about humanity trapped between nature that’s trying to kill us and the technology we’ve created that also seems to be trying to kill us," Hawley told us. "That feels a lot like the world that I live in, and so I feel like there’s a lot there to really grapple with.” Consider us ready to enter the figurative ring and grapple with it all — T. Ocellus, Xenomorphs, Weyland-Yutani, uneasy human-synth/alien alliances, all of it — whenever Alien: Earth Season 2 arrives on terra firma. Or just Disney+, really.

We've got an itch for an action movie threequel — and Netflix has a Rake to scratch it! Yes, after technically dying in Sam Hargrave's Extraction, and having gotten better in testosterone-fuelled follow-up Extraction 2, Chris Hemsworth's Aussie merc Tyler Rake is officially coming back for a new mission with the ingeniously titled Extraction 3. And what's more, per Deadline's reporting, we know that he's not coming back alone: Sam Hargrave is returning to the directorial hotseat, while Rake's BFF/manager Nik (Golshifteh Farahani) and mysterious 'Man In The Suit' Alcott (Idris Elba) are also re-entering the fray on-screen.

Having somehow pulled off a prison riot, car chase, and train face-off all rolled into one insane 21-minute 'oner' with Extraction 2 (not to mention setting Hemsworth's excellently named Tyler Rake on actual fire), upping the ante for the surprisingly brutal and brilliantly choreographed action franchise, Extraction 3 has got a lot to live up to. That being said, according to Deadline, Hemsworth — fresh from the release of Bart Layton's heist thriller Crime 101 — was taken enough with writer David Weil's latest script for the action sequel that he's readily committed himself to spending this summer shooting the movie. Plot details on the film are, as you may expect, under wraps — but we imagine the gist will be that Tyler Rake gets given a mission that necessitates lots of badass action set pieces and explosions and such. After all, what more could we possibly want from a third Extraction?

With both of its first two entries ranking among Netflix's most popular English-language films, the Extraction franchise has successfully shown what a life beyond Thor and the MCU could look like for the hammer-wielding Hemsworth brother. And after the sensorial assault (in a good way) that was Extraction 2, consider us fully aboard with Extraction 3 — or 3xtraction as all the cool kids will no doubt be calling it. Next stop: Extr4ction.

In the early 2000s, before TikTok virality and algorithmic fame, there was a potential different route to stardom: invent an entirely new identity and hope nobody notices. That, more or less, is the true story behind California Schemin’, the directorial debut of James McAvoy. It’s a scheme so unhinged it doesn’t need much embellishment, though the film, inevitably, shapes the chaos of real life into something a little neater, smoothing out some of the edges in favour of conventional underdog-story beats.

Best mates Gavin Bain (Séamus McLean Ross) and Billy Boyd (Samuel Bottomley) are aspiring rappers from Dundee with a familiar problem: talent alone isn’t enough. In a music scene obsessed with credibility, their thick Scottish accents mark them as novelties rather than contenders. So they do what any sensible young artists might do: adopt American accents, invent Californian backstories, and relaunch themselves as the fictitious rap duo Silibil N’ Brains. Cue clumsy accent practice, montage sequences, and the occasional snort of disbelief from those closest to them, especially Billy’s girlfriend Mary (Lucy Halliday), who is the lone naysayer to an increasingly elaborate deception.

McAvoy proves himself a capable storyteller with an instinct for comedy and tone..

Against all logic, the plan works. A few accent tweaks and some swagger later, the pair are suddenly being taken seriously by London record-label executives. What begins as an attempt to expose the music industry’s shallow obsession with image soon gathers momentum. As the attention grows, the lie becomes harder to abandon and Gavin in particular begins to let ambition overshadow friendship.

McAvoy directs with an appealing lack of fuss. There’s nothing flashy on screen, but he captures the texture of working-class friendship and small-town ambition with warmth. The Dundee scenes in particular have a loose, affectionate energy, grounded by the easy chemistry between Ross and Bottomley. Their double act is the film’s strongest asset: Bottomley’s Billy is the cautious realist, while Ross’ Gavin grows increasingly intoxicated by the promise of fame. That shift gives the film a brief darker edge, where it hints at the psychological toll of living inside a lie.

California Schemin’ rarely strays far from the familiar rhythms of the music biopic: struggle, breakthrough, excess, fallout. For a story this strange, the storytelling does feel overly conventional. Yet the film remains a buoyant watch. The performances are lively, the pacing brisk, and the satire of an industry obsessed with “authenticity” lands neatly enough. McAvoy may not reinvent the genre with his first outing behind the camera, but he proves himself a capable storyteller with an instinct for comedy and tone. It’s a little scrappy and thoroughly predictable, but undeniably a hoot while it lasts.

Think about it: you’ve probably never seen Danny Dyer on a horse. That’s because he can’t ride one, despite having it on his acting resume. Or, at least, he couldn’t ride one until he stepped into the role of working-class millionaire Freddie in hit series Rivals – the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s romping ‘80s novels, packed with sex, scandal, and some serious heart to boot. When it came to the horseback polo scenes in the upcoming Season 2, it was officially time for Dyer to saddle up.

There was no way Dyer was going to be the only cast member not on a real horse. “The alternative is that they have a quad bike with a fake horse on the back, and they pull it along,” he tells Empire. “So the fear of having to sit on that, when everyone else was riding the horse, I was like, ‘No way. I’ve got to do this.’ And I did it!” There was one particular steed that Dyer bonded with. “Had a lovely horse called Snaffles who really did look after me,” he says. “I’m really proud of myself, actually, because I lied on my CV for all them years about being able to ride a horse, and now I actually can ride a horse.” Giddy up.

The new season is set to dial up everything that fans loved about the first run, though it now moves ahead without Jilly Cooper herself – who gave the show her blessing, and had a cameo in Season 1, but who passed away in late 2025. “She loved that I was playing Freddie,” says Dyer. “I could see a little glint in her eye every time I was talking to her, because I’m a little bit naughty as well, you know. I loved her little cheeky glint. And I’m not gonna lie — I flirted with her a lot.” If you’re in the Rutshire Chronicles, that’s exactly how you’re meant to behave.

Read Empire's full Rivals Season 2 feature in the Steven Spielberg issue – on sale Thursday April 9. Order a copy online here. Rivals Season 2 comes to Disney+ from May 15.

Ready for the truth to be revealed? Disclosure Day is coming, Steven Spielberg’s new summer blockbuster set to spill extra-terrestrial secrets – and the new issue of Empire has the first word on the master’s latest original.

You’ll find the magazine on newsstands from Thursday April 9 – and you can order a copy online here right now – but first, here’s a sneak peek inside its pages.

Steven Spielberg

Over 50 years ago, he invented the blockbuster. Now Spielberg is back with a fresh one – and he sits down for a major new interview, revisiting his sci-fi classics, and exploring his relationship to the genre as he readies Disclosure Day.

Disclosure Day

Plus, we take a deep dive into his new film, speaking to stars Josh O’Connor, Emily Blunt, Colman Domingo and Eve Hewson, plus writer David Koepp, to get the first word on the summer’s most secretive film.

Mother Mary

Are you ready for it? David Lowery is back with a pop psychodrama that sees Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel go head-to-head. He talks Empire through its original songs, the styling, its central rivalry, and the psychological power-struggle at its core.

Power Ballad

Nobody delivers harmonious cinema like John Carney. His latest sees Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas face off in a case of a stolen song – and they tell Empire all about hitting the high notes on a music-based comedy.

Jet Li

For decades, Jet Li has been delivering mind-blowing martial arts in action cinema. As he prepares to release his book, he talks Empire through his game-changing career – from Hong Kong to Hollywood.

The Sheep Detectives

You’ve seen murder-mysteries, but never one where the sleuth is a flock of sheep. Enter The Sheep Detectives. The film’s sprawling cast – including Hugh Jackman, Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Regina Hall, Nicholas Braun and Hong Chau – talks Empire through its mad making-of.

Rivals: Season 2

The sauciest – and most surprising – show on TV is back. Empire goes on set of Rivals’ ripping return, speaking to the cast and crew about going deeper on the Jilly Cooper series that had everyone hooked.

First Word

In the news section, we tap in to Toy Story 5 with director Andrew Stanton; talk art and arseholery with Ian McKellen for The Christophers; get a fresh slice of Beef as Season 2 looms; peek ahead to what’s in store in Dune: Part Three; look at the latest series from Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd, Half-Man; and much more.

Final Cut

In the home entertainment section, we look back on the reception of The Running Man with Edgar Wright; go beat-by-beat on Zootropolis 2 with its directors; rank the films of the late, great Robert Duvall; revisit the game-changing Hard Boiled with John Woo, and much more.

Reviews

In this issue, you’ll find reviews of starry relationship nightmare The Drama; James McAvoy’s directorial debut California Schemin’, Mark Jenkin’s latest singular Cornish original, Rose Of Nevada; Season 5 of galactic drama For All Mankind; the return of Jim Jarmusch with Father Mother Sister Brother; and many more.

At last: a film which warns of the evils of podcasting. Undertone is a very effective kind of horror, especially in how it tells a story both about, and via, the audio form. While it may trade in somewhat unoriginal genre tropes — the haunted house, the evil demons, the creepy children’s songs, the jump scares — its form and its function feel fresh, fluent and flippin’ frightening. At the very least, it is a deeply unsettling sensory experience.

This comes from first-time writer-director Ian Tuason, who partly based the story on his own experiences in caring for his dying parents, and — in a staggering move which must have been at least a little bit psychologically triggering — filmed the entire feature within the walls of his own childhood home in Toronto. Tuason’s set-up is smart, never leaving the claustrophobic walls of that home, its shelves heaving with Catholic trinkets and religious bric-a-brac. A statuette of the Virgin Mary looms with benign menace.

This is the family home of Evy (Nina Kiri), whose mother (Michèle Duquet) is suffering from a terminal disease, bed-bound and nonverbal. Evy is a podcaster who co-hosts a spooky show with her friend Justin (Adam DiMarco; like most of the characters besides Evy, never seen, only heard). While Evy is acting as her mother’s caregiver, she and Justin are in different time zones, hence Evy is conveniently forced to stay up until the inherently spooky witching hour of 3am to record new episodes of the show.

Technically and sonically, this is as sharp as it gets.

Undertone began life as a found-footage radio play, which you can totally see: Tuason and his sound team carefully and deliberately use the aural space as a storytelling realm all of its own. When Evy slips on her expensive-looking headphones, we the viewer slip into the pristine, noise-cancelled space she occupies; when she starts hearing things that may or may not be there — from the increasingly disturbing recordings of a cursed married couple, to the possessed-sounding podcast phone-ins — we hear them too, the entire span of the audio space utilised to full, nerve-jangling effect. (If you’re able to see the film in a cinema kitted out with the most modern, spatially crisp speakers, it makes a difference.) But we are also invited to imagine what we can’t hear, the noise-cancelling headphones generating a unique kind of anxiety, alluded to by Tuason’s camera, which often lingers in unsettling angles and ominous framing.

Technically and sonically, this is as sharp as it gets, buoyed by strong, subtle performances, especially from Kiri, who essentially carries the entire film. This being an A24 horror, the script leans heavily on family trauma (see also: Hereditary, Bring Her Back, Midsommar, Talk To Me) — by now a slightly tired conceit, albeit here given a very specific dose of Catholic guilt to underpin it. Evy clearly cares for her infirm mother but also holds complicated feelings for her, and the strictly religious childhood in which she was brought up. Nods to pregnancy and abortion feel extra weighty with the Catholic strictures they infer — made even more complicated by a demon named Abyzou.

If the ground it treads on feels recognisable, the way in which Undertone unravels its story is distinctive enough to leave an impression. Tuason’s insistence on ambiguity and mystery, to the end, might alienate some, but it is entirely in keeping with the enigmatic mood his film establishes from the off. It’s one thing to be scared of things that go bump in the night; it’s quite another to hear those things go bump in full Dolby Atmos surround sound.

To me, my X-Men news! Here at Empire HQ, we've had mutants on the mind these past few months: Wonder Man's Simon Williams has a mutie-shaped question mark over the source of his powers; the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer's had Jean 'Dark Phoenix' Grey on our minds; and we already know a mutant x-travaganza awaits in Avengers: Doomsday later this year. But now, courtesy of Collider, we have fresh news about a 100% confirmed actual mutant project — Jake Schreier's solo MCU X-Men movie.

Speaking to Collider ahead of Beef Season 2's 16 April release, Schreier — who directs on the show — gave an update on his inbound MCU X-Men reboot, confirming that Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and series scribe/The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo have come aboard to help write the latest draft of the movie's script. "We're still developing," teased Schreier of his X-Men, praising Sung Jin and Calo's contributions to Beef and to his first MCU team-up movie, Thunderbolts*, before sharing how "they have come in and are working on a draft right now, which is really exciting to be able to put that group of people together again."

As anyone who has seen Beef, The Bear, or Thunderbolts* will know, both Sung Jin and Calo are no strangers to handling stories on an intimate, interpersonal level, dealing with characters who hold vastly differing moralities and worldviews. As Schreier explains, that's the secret sauce he's after for the X-Men's long-awaited entry into the MCU. "When you go back and read X-Men [comics], there's ideology but also interpersonal drama, almost of a soap opera quality," said the director. "Having writers who understand both how to drive ideology from personal stakes, if we get that right, that's what will feel most honest to what X-Men can be."

Having already teased his "very exciting" X-Men movie to Empire last summer, it looks like Schreier is locked in and bringing together the best of the best to help guide his next MCU blockbuster. If the team in front of the camera is as talented as the team working behind it, then the new age of mutants could be a glorious, golden one indeed. And until we hear more on Schreier's plans, there's still X-Men '97 Season 2 coming this summer to get hyped for... Bwa-na-na-na naaaa na-na!

It's hard to believe it's been almost two years exactly since writer-creator-star Richard Gadd's Baby Reindeer dropped on Netflix. The Scotsman's darker-than-dark thriller — inspired by his own experiences with an obsessive stalker — turned Gadd from Edinburgh Fringe comic to international superstar seemingly overnight, bagging BAFTAs, Emmys, and Golden Globes like nobody's business as the series dominated social media discourse for months on end. Now, Gadd is back (and seriously jacked) with Half Man, a BBC-HBO drama in which he and Jamie Bell (All Of Us Strangers) play two Glaswegian men who come together, and apart, and together again in a story spanning four decades. Check out the trailer below;

Okay, so the bad news is it looks like Richard Gadd is not giving himself a break from bleak drama for a fun multi-cam sit-com. The good news is that Half Man looks like the kind of meaty, thematically hefty, generational drama you sense that nobody could do quite like Gadd. As we see here, Half Man tells the story of Niall (Bell, played in his teenage years Mitchell Robinson) and Ruben (Gadd, played in his teens by Stuart Campbell), two opposite-sides-of-the-tracks lads who find each other as kids and — through trauma-bonding, toxic brotherhood, and numerous twists of fate — find themselves still held in each others' orbits as adults. If the two minutes of Niall and Ruben we glimpse here are anything to go by, it seems that there's layers to their relationship plenty enough to put both onions and Shrek to shame, and there probably won't be a dry eye in the lounge by the time the series is over.

The official synopsis for the six-episode series reads: "Niall and Ruben are brothers. Not related in blood but the closest you can get. One, fierce and loyal. The other, meek and mild-mannered. Inseparable youth. Brought into each other’s lives through death and circumstance, all they have is each other… But when Ruben turns up at Niall’s wedding three decades later, everything seems different. He is on edge. Shifty. Not acting like himself. And soon, an explosion of violence takes place which catapults us back through their lives, from the eighties to the present day."

What's up with Ruben? What's up with Niall? And what's up with Ruben and Niall? We'll find out for ourselves when the first episode of Half Man lands on BBC iPlayer on 24 April at 6am sharpish. While we wait, we're off to drop Mr Gadd a text asking for his workout schedule. Seriously, the man looks like he'll be dashing from the set of this to star in the next season of Gladiators!

Streaming on: Prime Video

Episodes viewed: 6 of 8

A lot has changed since The Boys’ brand of vulgar, violent and gross satire first arrived on the superhero storytelling scene in 2019. Most notably, as its world has darkened, so too has our own. Where once the social commentary it offered felt like a funhouse mirror with bite, the political climate of the real world has become so outrageous that parodying it in 2026 simply offers a not so dimly lit reflection of our current times. Still, even if this final season makes it clear that the show’s ability to provoke and surprise has diminished, showrunner Eric Kripke and his crew have still got a few smart tricks up their sleeves.

Though the Season 2 conclusion of The Boys’ sister series Gen V teased an exciting alliance between the young Supes led by Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) and Starlight (Erin Moriarty), disappointingly little is done with it. By Episode 2, the status quo of past seasons is restored, with Butcher (Karl Urban) leading his ragtag group on a mission to end Homelander (Antony Starr) once and for all. It’s all a bit too familiar, and after four preceding seasons, it feels too drawn-out. Indeed, though there are big moments that occur in the first episode, the momentum it generates is neither seized nor built on, and there is a surprising lack of urgency throughout. For a show that’s in its endgame, The Boys is content to spin its wheels far too often.

At a time when so many are currying favour with fascists, the social commentary here feels especially pointed and sharp.

Pacing issues aside, the character work remains strong. Ever more convinced of his Godhood, Homelander is by turns terrifying and pathetic, and Starr deserves kudos for the amount of interiority he brings to such an outwardly evil psychopath. The increased focus on religion means a lot of screen time for series newbie Oh-Father — a televangelist Supe through which the show skewers the hypocrisy of Christian evangelicals — and Daveed Diggs is a consistent, pompous highlight in the role.

There are some nice flourishes and shake-ups elsewhere, too. One standout episode is fragmented into vignettes from multiple characters as they go about their business, with Firecracker (Valorie Curry) emerging as its MVP. At a time when so many are currying favour with fascists, the social commentary here feels especially pointed and sharp. And the fact that Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) can now talk to her partner Frenchie (Tomer Capone) just in time for rich conversations about what using or not using a Supe-killing virus will do for their relationship and the lives of others is another strong component of the season. It’s this heartfelt humaneness at its core that makes sticking with The Boys worthwhile, even if its final journey towards the finish line isn’t as flawless as we hoped.

When Toy Story first arrived in 1995, it came at a time when the majority of kids’ playtime involved… well, toys. But fast-forward over three decades later, and things have changed. A lot. So it is that Toy Story 5 tackles something genuinely existential for Woody, Buzz, and Jessie: the arrival of tech, embodied by Lilypad. The film’s incoming villain, voiced by Past Lives’ Greta Lee, will give youngster Bonnie a whole new way to play – one that’s much more enticing than her dolls.

As director – and Pixar legend – Andrew Stanton sees it, our beloved heroes are truly no match for Lily. “When tech comes in, it wins," he says. “It happens to adults and kids. It just wins. So that was the more interesting slant to take: there’s no competition. Have a kid playing with toys, drop in a screen device and see what happens. And so we leaned into the truth of that, and had fun with that.” It was, he says, the reason to make a fifth Toy Story – to speak to the fundamental change in the way kids play today. “The biggest thing that was lingering all this time is the way that technology has usurped playtime in real life. Lily is representative of what we’re up against,” he explains.

Still, it won’t all be doom and gloom – don’t expect another trip to the furnace for Woody and co., necessarily. Stanton reckons the kids are alright. “My co-director, McKenna Harris, is 30, which is my kids’ age,” he says. “I’m not writing them off as some lost generation. They’re just as hungry and passionate and clever as you ever thought your generation was. It’s made me a lot more hopeful about how the youth are going to navigate through this than I was before.” Let the war for Bonnie’s attention begin.

Read Empire’s full Toy Story 5 story in the Steven Spielberg issue – on sale Thursday April 9. Pre-order a copy online here. Toy Story 5 comes to cinemas on June 19.

You could never accuse David Lowery of being one-note. The filmmaker began his career with a riff on Bonnie and Clyde in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, and has since given us arthouse spookfests (A Ghost Story), Earthy-toned Disney remakes (Pete’s Dragon, Peter Pan & Wendy), and existential epic fantasies (The Green Knight). Oh, and he directed episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew too. Next up? He’s going full pop star psychodrama in Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway as a legendary pop icon, reconnecting with Michaela Coel’s mysterious dressmaker after they parted ways years previously.

The film boasts true pop cred, with songs penned by Charli XCX, super-producer Jack Antonoff, and fka twigs – but it doesn’t stop there. To craft a genuine pop spectacle, Lowery found himself in his Taylor Swift era. “Her Reputation concert film is one of the best concert films ever. It's truly phenomenal. And for our concert sequences we looked at that repeatedly,” he tells Empire. “You would not believe the amount of time we were talking about Taylor.”

Swift’s 2018 tour proved pivotal in helping Lowery and his collaborators figure out how to put on a Mother Mary production within tight budgetary constraints. “We took three songs from Reputation and broke it down, shot by shot, and looked at them like, ‘Okay, if we were doing these, how much would these shots cost to do in visual effects?’,” he explains. “We used that as a budgeting tool, because we didn't know how to wrap our heads around actually pulling off a stadium concert-show on a minimal budget. We were literally using Reputation as a guide. I can go on about Reputation all day.” Baby, let the games begin.

The spirit of Taylor lived on through the Mother Mary shoot and beyond. “When we wrapped, Annie [Hathaway] gave me a Taylor Swift style beaded bracelet with ‘Anti-Hero’ on it,” reveals Lowery, adding that they both went to see the Eras Tour in Europe. “I definitely brought a lot of Taylor Swift to the table in terms of who Mother Mary was. I would often would be like, ‘Imagine Taylor Swift in ten or 15 years – that’s sort of who this character could be.’” Mother Mary is coming. Are you ready for it?

Read Empire’s Mother Mary feature in the Steven Spielberg issue – on sale Thursday April 9. Pre-order a copy online here. Mother Mary comes to UK cinemas on April 24.

It’s in the DNA of dystopian fiction: things don’t tend to end well. That includes Stephen King’s – or, Richard Bachman’s – original novel of The Running Man, depicting an all-out deathmatch as Ben Richards bets his life to save his family. We’ll save the spoilers for the next paragraph (you have been warned), but let’s just say, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows come the closing credits. While Edgar Wright’s film adaptation, starring Glen Powell as Richards, is far more faithful to the book than the 1987 film, it still makes some significant changes to King's ending – and the director is clear on why.

Spoilers follow for The Running Man.

While King’s book sees Richards’ wife and daughter die – and ends with Richards sacrificing his own life to stick it to The Network – Wright’s film sought a different course. “In the original draft, we did do the thing where Sheila and Cathy passed away,” he reveals to Empire, in an interview looking back on the film. “But to be honest, as soon as you cast actors in those roles, I don’t think I could have done it, even if it had been in the script. Like, this is too brutal.”

As for saving Richards, there was a more obvious reason to change the novel. “We wanted him to be the spark of the revolution. That was in the first draft,” Wright confirms. The book saw Richards fly a plane into the Network building, but the world has changed a lot since 1982. “We were never going to do the ending from the book,” says Wright. “It obviously has real-life parallels with a horrific real-life tragedy. We thought it’d be in incredibly poor taste to evoke 9/11. That was not ever a discussion.”

Though The Running Man struggled to find an audience in cinemas in November, Wright has hope that it will continue to reach people for years to come. “I’ve been in this position before,” he says. “Scott Pilgrim didn’t do well on its initial release, and over time has become a cult movie, or even a catalogue title for Universal. I feel like The World’s End, the perception of it has changed over time.” This Running Man won’t stop running, then. “I’m proud of the movie,” says Wright. “There’s a lot to talk about, and there is a life beyond the opening weekend.” Shoes on, people.

Read Empire’s full Edgar Wright interview – looking back on The Running Man, and its reception – in the Steven Spielberg issue, on sale Thursday April 9. Pre-order a copy online here. The Running Man is out now on digital, 4K Ultra-HD, Blu-ray and DVD.

Just when you think you’ve seen everything a legend like Ian McKellen can offer on screen, along comes something like The Christophers. The new film from Steven Soderbergh gives the beloved actor a deliciously juicy role to sink his teeth into: Julian Sklar, a bitter British artist with a penchant for devastating putdowns, harbouring wounds from his past as he faces the end of his career. Set him up against Michaela Coel’s hustling forger Lori in a more-or-less two-hander, and you have all the right ingredients for a twisty-turny battle of wills.

For McKellen, Sklar’s scabrousness was a major draw to taking on the role. “He was such a one-off half-monster, it was fun to impersonate someone like that. And just be glad that I don’t feel I am anything like that myself,” he tells Empire. While the real McKellen is a world away from the cantankerous Sklar, he saw ways in which his own experience could inform the character. “The way [Sklar] related to young people, the way he related to his fans and his detractors — well, it was easy enough to feed off my own life there. It didn’t take much to imagine what it would be like to be Julian,” he admits.

Still, Sklar is a complex figure, whose layers are revealed over the course of the film. He’s a character who’s lived a full life, just as McKellen has – and that inevitably works its way into the performance. “He’s about my age, he’s had some celebrity. He’s been in love. He feels betrayed. He feels disappointed. He loses faith,” says McKellen. “Well, anyone of my age could have been close to those situations.” Get ready for another stellar performance from one of the greats.

Read Empire’s full Ian McKellen interview on The Christophers in the Steven Spielberg issue – on sale Thursday April 9. Pre-order a copy online here. The Christophers comes to UK cinemas from May 15.

Everybody loves a murder mystery movie. Recent years have given us the arrival of super-sleuth Benoit Blanc in the Knives Out trilogy, as well as a bunch of Kenneth Branagh Poirot adaptations. And soon, a very different sort of detective story will be hitting the big screen. It has all the regular ingredients; a dead body, a knotty plot, surprises in store. But let’s just say, when it comes to the actual crime-solvers this time around, ewe aren’t ready.

The Sheep Detectives – scripted by The Last Of Us and Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin, and directed by Kyle Balda – delivers exactly what it says on the tin. Because, the yarn it’s unravelling regards the death of a shepherd, Hugh Jackman’s George Hardy, with his flock setting out to discover whodunnit. It was the unexpectedness of this combination that drew Jackman in. “It really got me because I was like, ‘This sounds pretty nutty — Knives Out meets Babe’ — and it’s intriguing because I think we’re all looking for things that are really inventive and new,” he says. It made for a very different kind of shooting experience to, say, Wolverine. “There were a couple of sheep, but mainly it was puppets that I was working with, which were incredible,” he says of his ovine co-stars. “I had something incredibly real to interact with, and beautiful and magical. It wasn’t just a tennis ball.”

Chances are, you’ve never seen anything quite like The Sheep Detectives – it’s a leap of faith, similar to the one George’s sheep take when they decide to track down his killer. “I think it’s very much about what we can achieve when we come together and when we believe in ourselves, not just individually but as a group,” says Jackman of the film. “And that takes courage.” Now, when can they team up with Benoit Blanc?

Read Empire’s full The Sheep Detectives feature in the Steven Spielberg issue – on sale Thursday April 9. Pre-order a copy online here. The Sheep Detectives comes to UK cinemas from May 8.

Streaming on: Disney+

Episodes viewed: 8 of 10

After getting sliced in half following a legendary introduction and duel (of the fates) in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Darth Maul’s story was done after six glorious minutes. But that was just the beginning. Arguably no Star Wars character who debuted in live action has benefitted more from the medium of animation than the universe’s most famous Dathomirian. Each appearance in The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels added new layers and edges to his unpredictable journey. And now Dave Filoni (who masterminded the aforementioned series) has finally seen fit for the iconic villain to take centre stage for the first time in Maul: Shadow Lord. It’s a choice that pays dividends.

Maul contains multitudes, and we see a great many of them over the course of the season. Maul the schemer takes precedence early on as he looks to take revenge on his enemies. Maul the teacher is one of the strongest storylines, his not-quite-allies-but-not-quite-enemies dynamic with young Jedi Padawan Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon) one of the backbones of the season. Through them, the political undertones that have always been a part of Star Wars become more explicit too, with dialogue like, “What does it mean to be a Jedi? Guardian of peace and justice in a time of lawlessness,” and, “You don’t realise the fragility of these institutions until they’re ripped away,” nodding to the US’ current political moment. Later, Maul the betrayed comes to the fore in a moment of startling vulnerability that leads to well-earned tears.

When the time comes to draw lightsabers and do battle, Maul is often an overwhelming threat.

That takes nothing away from his menace, however, and when the time comes to draw lightsabers and do battle, Maul is often an overwhelming threat. Each swing of his lightsaber emphasises his brutality, and the red glint of his weapon has rarely felt so imposing, with the messier, grungier art style accentuating the darkness of this world. When the Jedi and Inquisitors join the fray, the animation rises to the challenge in spectacular fashion.

Under the direction of Brad Rau (The Bad Batch), the vocal performances are uniformly strong. As overwhelmed police captain Brander Lawson, Wagner Moura gets better as the series progresses, bringing a weariness and ultimately asense of desperation and fear that feels convincing and authentic. Richard Ayoade adds some welcome levity as Lawson’s naive robot partner Two-Boots, and Adlon infuses Devon with a youthful, determined vigour.

But primarily, this is Sam Witwer’s show. From calm seduction to venomous menace and even some surprising vulnerability, it’s another great showcase of why his vocals for the titular Maul are so definitive. And with Season 2 already green-lit, we’ll thankfully be getting more of him — and the show — sooner rather than later.

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S

Think of the biggest, most feature-rich video game you’ve ever played. No, bigger than that. Whatever you’re picturing, imagine more stuff to do in it, a litany of play mechanics, an even more complex story, a host of characters to meet. Make a mental mash-up of The Witcher III, The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Skyrim, Final Fantasy, and even a dash of… Starfield, maybe? Congratulations – you might just about be conceiving of something close to Crimson Desert.

To call developer Pearl Abyss’ staggeringly ambitious open world RPG “vast” is to paint it too small, and to say it’s packed with content is to undersell the concept of density itself. Crimson Desert is positively crammed with ideas, resulting in a game that blurs genre lines and almost gives players too much to do.

Crimson Desert really is almost anything you want it to be.

As Kliff, you’re a rugged member of the Greymanes, a tribe of grizzled, wolf-themed warriors slaughtered in the opening motions by rival clan the Black Bears. Skewered by a sword and cast into a river, you wake up mysteriously healed in the province of Hemand, where you can set about rebuilding your life and seeking vengeance. At this point, you might expect a fairly standard high fantasy romp – and with an English language cast full of regional accents and liberal use of the C-words (the inventive “cockswagglers” as well as the other one you’re thinking of), one not so subtly drawing on Game Of Thrones. Then a beggar leads you on a subquest to a series of technologically advanced flying islands and basically gives you superpowers, and you start to cotton on to the fact there’s a whole lot more going on in the world of Crimson Desert.

As you explore the continent of Pywel – eventually crossing paths with some other surviving Greymanes – there’s tremendous freedom to do just about anything you like. There are all the usual RPG diversions, from helping villagers with their low-stakes chores to upgrading weapons, to less expected fare, like trading in stocks and commodities. There are a bevy of side games, from arm wrestling in taverns (which, thrillingly, isn’t just down to hammering a button to win!) to rounds of rock, paper, scissors. You can become a wannabe private detective, hunting down people or property, or a full-on bounty hunter. Eventually, there are both dragons and other fanciful mounts to pilot, although you’ll start off with a humble horse. Fancy a bit of environmental puzzle solving, lugging blocks or curious tech around with a sci-fi energy beam? Or some platforming around floating fortresses? How about some good old fashioned meaty combat, blending thunderously powerful melee strikes with an agility belying Kliff’s intimidating size, alongside a tonne of powers and abilities? There’s all that and more to get to grips with here – Crimson Desert really is almost anything you want it to be.

It’s also strikingly gorgeous. Pywel won’t win any awards for originality when it comes to medieval styled fantasy worlds, nor the stranger, more cosmic elements that weave in and out but carry a degree of familiarity to them, but it is all incredibly beautiful to look at. Pearl Abyss even gets a little cocky on this front – there’s a moment early on where you’re guided to "take it slow" while crossing a bridge, purely for the devs to show off the world they’ve made. It would be frustrating if it weren’t actually worth slowing down to take it all in.

Unfortunately, it’s all let down by some of the most obtuse and unintuitive controls of any game in recent memory. There’s a degree of common language that’s evolved in games over the years, particularly when playing on controllers, and Crimson Desert seems to go out of its way to ignore almost all of that lingua gamer. For instance, aiming a weapon is best mapped to the left trigger, and firing it with a pull on the right. Yet in this case, Kliff both aims and fires his arrows with the left trigger, a frankly ludicrous choice that leads to wasted arrows. Or toggling between walking and sprinting – by now, it’s muscle memory to millions to click in on the left thumbstick, but in Crimson Desert, that’s the crouch command. If you want to run, you have to double-tap A (on an Xbox-standard controller), which just adds extraneous inputs.

Even if you’re a PC player with a streak of mouse-and-keyboard puritanism, things are no better. Commands are scattered across the keyboard in haphazard fashion, with different inputs mapped to the same keys, some activated on short press, some on long. Across the (key)board, there are utterly absurd design and input choices that, in congress with the sheer overabundance of stuff to do in the game, make it nigh on impossible to remember what you’re doing between play sessions. Pearl Abyss is pushing out patches that it claims will address some of these control malfunctions, but at time of writing, the physical act of playing the game far more troublesome than it should be.

If those control woes can be massaged away, Crimson Desert could establish itself as a modern titan of open-world gaming. Even in its current form, the game is compelling – undoubtedly over-stuffed, but with so many compelling avenues to explore that you can’t help being drawn in to its weird world.

The sci-fi blockbuster wouldn’t be what it is today if it wasn’t for Steven Spielberg. But as well as continuing to contribute to the genre – including with his upcoming alien conspiracy thriller Disclosure Day – the master filmmaker is keeping an eye on other directors’ works too. Among them, one stands particularly tall: Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films. And it sounds like Spielberg will be in line with the rest of us for Part Three this December.

“Recently, I’ve loved the Dune movies. They are among my favourite science-fiction movies, not just recently, but of all time. Especially the second film,” he tells Empire in a major new interview. “I think [Part Two] is the best movie Denis has ever made. I cannot wait to see the third one. I’m sure he’ll show it to me early. I’m such a fan of his.” He likens Villeneuve’s treatment of the Frank Herbert source material to the approach another modern master recently made with a literary adaptation. “I love the [Dune] books, and I just think his tribute to the books is like Guillermo [del Toro]’s tribute to Mary Shelley with Frankenstein: he honoured Mary Shelley as I think Denis honoured Frank Herbert,” says Spielberg.

It’s not just sci-fi that’s captured the legendary director’s attention; he’s been wowed in the horror arena too. “I haven’t directed a horror film yet, and I’ve always wanted to, and someday I may. But there have been some great horror films out already that satisfy that itch,” he says. Chief among them? The latest work from Zach Cregger. “When I see a great horror film like Weapons, I don’t have an itch I need to scratch. I see Weapons, and it doesn’t make me want to make a horror film that’s as scary or scarier than Weapons. It satisfies me so completely, it actually arrests my desire to someday make a really, really scary movie.” Aunt Gladys will be thrilled.

The new issue of Empire features a major new Steven Spielberg interview, on his lifelong sci-fi obsession, his legendary contributions to the genre, and how it all culminates in his new original feature, Disclosure Day. Plus, we sit down with the Disclosure Day cast – Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, and Eve Hewson – and screenwriter David Koepp to get the first word on the summer’s most top-secret blockbuster. Find the Steven Spielberg issue on newsstands from Thursday April 9. Pre-order a copy online here. Disclosure Day comes to cinemas from June 12.

There’s nothing quite like a Steven Spielberg action sequence. Think those incredible Indiana Jones setpieces (the Raiders boulder! The Temple mine-cart chase!), Jurassic Park’s dino mayhem, or Minority Report’s jetpack brawl. And while his new summer blockbuster Disclosure Day is many things – a sci-fi movie; a conspiracy thriller; an alien flick – it’ll also see the legendary director once again put pedal to metal.

“It’s an action movie,” the director tells Empire in a major new interview. “It has a large scale. It comes out of the gate very fast. I think this is a very experiential story.” And, in true classic Spielberg style, it has big ideas underpinning it all. “It’s also a very emotional deep dive into how people perceive each other, so it has echoes of the divisiveness that goes on today. Within the genre of science-fiction, it offers a few solutions regarding the importance of empathy,” he says. The film is being kept tightly under wraps, but sees the likes of Josh O’Connor, Emily Blunt and Eve Hewson wrestling with an extra-terrestrial cover-up, pursued by Colin Firth’s corporate contractor trying to keep the truth under wraps.

“It has a certain amount in common with certain ’70s conspiracy thrillers but in a completely different way from Close Encounters,” teases screenwriter David Koepp, who penned the script from Spielberg’s own story. “This felt like Three Days Of The Condor to me. Conspiracies are fantastic for movies because they’re an onion, and you peel away layers and find out more and more.” That’s the basis for more classic Spielberg setpieces, with “giant stunts, car chases and a massive train-sequence,” promises producer Kristie Macosko Krieger – the latter of which saw O’Connor and Blunt strapped to a real speeding locomotive. “It was not CGI,” she confirms. “Steven likes things as practical as humanly possible.” Get your popcorn ready now.

The new issue of Empire features a major new Steven Spielberg interview, on his lifelong sci-fi obsession, his legendary contributions to the genre, and how it all culminates in his new original feature, Disclosure Day. Plus, we sit down with the Disclosure Day cast – Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, and Eve Hewson – and screenwriter David Koepp to get the first word on the summer’s most top-secret blockbuster. Find the Steven Spielberg issue on newsstands from Thursday April 9. Pre-order a copy online here. Disclosure Day comes to cinemas from June 12. {#block-5449be0e-ecb6-487a-a293-7dba631918db}

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is an Easter bonanza, folks, that sees Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer (with new honorific firmly in place, at least for now) discuss the best resurrections in movies, wax lyrical about Richard Kind in The Producers, and cast their learned eyes over a glut of movie trailers, including the new one for Supergirl. The gang also review Fuze, The Drama, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice. Speaking of Fuze, Chris even finds time to have a lovely chat with that film's star and director, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and David Mackenzie, about their heist thriller, accents, working on a building site, and more. Pop this pod in the fridge, smash it from a great height, and feast on the shards of film-related fun. Enjoy!

And if all of the above isn't quite enough Empire Podcast for you, then there's plenty more where that came from. You can listen to this week's episode (which, if you're counting, is #711) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Interviews, which brings you even more chat with the cast and crew behind the biggest new releases. The most recent instalment sees Chris Hewitt chat accents, auditions, and more with Theo James, star of Fuze; Jamie Graham enjoying some trash talk with The Pope Of Trash himself, John Waters; and boasts an extended excerpt from our Ready Or Not: Here I Come spoiler special interview with that film's directors, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.

Want to make sure you never miss out on the latest movie news, reviews, and Empire exclusives again? Click here to add Empire as your go-to source on Google Feed.

Looking like the Devil himself and rocking a badass double-ended lightsaber, Darth Maul entered The Phantom Menace as one of Star Wars’ coolest villains. Then, scarcely six minutes, a fistful of lines, and one ‘Duel Of The Fates’ later, he died… or so we thought. Yes, somehow, Maul returned. And now, after scene-stealing turns in animated series The Clone Wars and Rebels, the Zabrak baddie is getting his own show, Maul: Shadow Lord, to complete his story. As supervising director Brad Rau tells Empire, we're about to see more of the Maul we know — and the one we don’t. “We wanted him to remain mysterious… brutal… dark,” teases Rau, smirking. “But there's so much nuance to this character anytime he shows up.”

For the uninitiated allow us a brief trip back to not so long ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Following his 50%-off trip down a Naboo reactor shaft courtesy of Obi-Wan Kenobi (“Kenobayyy!”) in Episode I, Maul resurfaced in Season 4 of The Clone Wars. Kept alive by the power of hate and reforged by magic — and, more importantly — metal spider-legs, Maul went on to be reunited with his weirdo brother Savage Opress; tried, and repeatedly failed, to exact revenge upon Kenobi (“Kenobayyy!”) and his former master, Palpatine; and eventually saw his remaining family mercilessly slain by the Sith. He even tried tempting Rebels hero Ezra Bridger to the Dark Side for a bit, before dying – again – in a final duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Bisection, it turns out, really wasn’t even the half of it.

Somewhere among it all though, the son of Dathomir reappeared in live-action in Solo, as the head of crime syndicate Crimson Dawn. So the question still remains: how did that happen? “We’re dealing with some of Maul’s missing years,” Shadow Lord head writer and co-creator Matt Michnovetz explains to Empire. “We've got some real estate on the timeline.”

Given Maul’s Clone Wars-era dealings as head of the aptly-named Shadow Collective — an alliance of crime syndicates rivalling the Sith Order — the idea of exploring Maul’s resurgence as a mastermind in Star Wars’ murky criminal underworld was on the board from the earliest conversations about the show. “Everything came up,” shares Michnovetz — including Maul material that had never actually made it to the screen before. “‘Do we keep [2014’s] Son Of Dathomir comic and those unproduced Clone Wars scripts as canon? Do we tell the crime story?’”

With an untold chapter in one of Star Wars’ greatest characters’ history waiting to be written, the time had come to give Maul centre stage. And it would be a return fuelled not by hate, or Dark Side powers, but... sushi.

———

Long before he became the co-CEO of Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni was the overlord of Star Wars animation. Hand-picked by George Lucas to lead The Clone Wars, Filoni went on to oversee Rebels, Resistance, The Bad Batch, and more. Next up, then? Something darker. Something pulpier. Something edgier. Something Maul. And he knew exactly who to call. “I was in a parking lot at my favourite sushi restaurant, and Dave called me up and pitched it,” recalls Michnovetz. The onigiri could wait. “We had a two-to-three-hour conversation. I was like, ‘Oh my god, let’s do it. This is incredible’.” The idea, as well as the sushi, presumably.

Elsewhere, deep in the inner sanctum of Lucasfilm Animation, Brad Rau was in the trenches on the final season of misfit clones series The Bad Batch. When he got wind of a Maul solo show, he too couldn’t resist the idea. “When I heard about it, I said, ‘Wait, what are you guys doing?’,” Rau remembers. Once he’d officially joined the team, Rau and Michnovetz met many times to talk Maul — over dinner, naturally. “Matty and I have had more than a few conversations about the show at that same sushi restaurant,” he laughs. Honestly, outside of Lucasfilm HQ, this might be the most important office in Star Wars. “This is where the deals go down,” Michnovetz confirms.

In Episode I, Maul was a cool-looking baddie with little-to-no hint of anything going on behind his Sith yellow eyes. But in the years since, we’ve seen his pain — and his hate — and come to understand him as a uniquely tortured being...

The real food for thought with Maul: Shadow Lord isn’t only the prospect of learning how its demon-faced protagonist seizes power in a Mid Rim criminal underworld: it’s the promise of a deeper dive into one of Star Wars’ most compelling figures. In Episode I, Maul was a cool-looking baddie with little-to-no hint of anything going on behind his Sith yellow eyes. But in the years since, we’ve seen his pain — and his hate — and come to understand him as a uniquely tortured being within this universe, a deadly yet damaged warrior forever trapped in a Sisyphean struggle to prove his worth.

“He’s a complicated guy,” says Rau. The director teases that there’s “the potential for vulnerability” in Maul that viewers “should watch out for” in Shadow Lord. Lest we forget, by the end of the Clone Wars, Maul’s list of losses runs to *deep breath* his childhood, his master, his mind, his family, his morality (if he ever had any), his criminal empire, his dignity and his legs. Hell, he even lost his ‘Darth’! That’s a vulnerable position for anyone to find themself in — double-ended laser sword or not.

These deeper depths and new shades of the Dathomirian have clearly been on Michnovetz’s mind, too. Shadow Lord shows Maul in different lights, conducting Cassius Tea ceremonies as well as saber-kebabbing mobsters in the neo-noir underworld of Janix. “You’ve got to remember that he was trained by the big bad guy, the most powerful villain in the whole series…” he muses. “He’s a manipulator, and he’s got this desire for larger schemes, and all these devious means to achieve them.” Still, any path taken through the Dark Side casts a long and looming shadow. “This is also a cautionary tale,” teases Michnovetz. “Maul’s a tragic figure, doomed to repeat his mistakes. He's stubborn, but because of that he's also a survivor, so you’ve gotta give him that.”

And give him that, you do gotta. When we meet Maul in Shadow Lord, the horned Houdini’s not long escaped the clutches of the Jedi and the Sith amid the chaos of Order 66, fleeing for the badlands of the Mid Rim in a stolen shuttle. Now, around a year or so post-Order 66, it's a dark time for the galaxy – but one rife with opportunity for those who move within its shadows. Maul's journey has taken him to the murky metropolis of Janix, out of sight of the Empire, where he plans to fan the flames of a turf war to seize power while his underworld rivals take each other out; as long as the Imperials don't catch him first. “We’re following him through these efforts to achieve all these crazy goals,” says Michnovetz of Maul’s burgeoning Janix operation. “Like Palpatine, he has a meticulous plan. But let’s just say he hits a lot more snags than his old master. He's got to adapt and change, and I think that’s where the fun and real excitement of the show lies.”

Of course, amid all the plotting and scheming and strategising, you’ll still get the Maul you’ve known and loved since Episode I’s ‘Duel Of The Fates’ showdown. “We want to see the brutal, action-packed side of this guy,” says Rau. “And we do – it’s pretty cool!” It’s time then for Maul to deliver some serious double-ended street justice. Yeah, we’re thinkin’ the Zabrak’s back.

———

Right at the heart of Shadow Lord – as he has been at the heart of all things Maul ever since the character’s 2012 Clone Wars return – is Sam Witwer. Peter Serafinowicz gave Maul’s first Episode I words life. Ray Park gave the Dathomirian’s physicality and ferocity form. But it is Witwer — affectionally referred to by both Rau and Michnovetz as their “Jedi Master” on this show — who has dedicated himself to the character for the last fourteen years.

Bringing menace, weight, seduction, and all-timer line reads (“Kenobayyyy!”) to the role, Witwer has been constantly reframing our understanding of Maul ever since The Clone Wars found him an incoherent, mentally shattered wreck on Lotho Minor. “He — and we — are constantly, all of us, looking for ways to see new facets of this character we haven’t seen before,” says Rau of Witwer’s approach. “Sometimes it boils all the way down to an emphasis or an attitude punch on a line read that’s different than we expected.”

It doesn’t hurt that Witwer is joined in Shadow Lord by a cadre of stellar voice actors, each of whose characters help to reveal Maul in new, unexpected lights. Across the season, Maul finds himself engaged in a Heat-like game of cat-and-mouse with Janix cop Captain Brander Lawson (The Secret Agent Oscar-nominee Wagner Moura), the duo’s honour codes fascinatingly bumping against one another as both try to achieve their goals while avoiding Imperial intervention and protecting their own.

And then there’s young Jedi-on-the-run Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon) and her diminutive master Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert), who find themselves involuntarily pulled into Maul’s orbit. Like Maul, Devon and Eeko-Dio have lost everything because of Palpatine. And like Maul, both find themselves hiding out from the Empire on Janix (fans are already theorising whether the Twi’lek will eventually become old-canon favourite Sith apprentice Darth Talon). If experience has taught us anything though, it’s that whenever Maul takes interest in making a young Force user his new apprentice, the teaching invariably flows in both directions — and things get very complicated, very quickly. Just ask Ahsoka Tano or Ezra Bridger.

“All you really need to know is that this is a fast-paced action thrill ride about a guy who's been wronged by a bunch of different people, and he wants payback”

Whether you’re a card-carrying Maul-head, haven’t been following Maul’s story since Episode I, or see the name and think somebody’s just misspelt a shopping centre, Shadow Lord is designed to welcome all comers. “All you really need to know is that this is a fast-paced action thrill ride about a guy who's been wronged by a bunch of different people, and he wants payback,” promises Michnovetz.

So yes, Maul: Shadow Lord is a Star Wars show. It is a Dark Side show. But it’s also a crime series, a mob drama, a pulp fiction about bad guys and worse guys as heavily influenced by the aforementioned Heat — and The Untouchables, and Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe mysteries — as George Lucas’ own THX-1138 and Ralph McQuarrie's OG trilogy sketches.

———

As ever with Maul, it seems his rise to the top of the galaxy’s criminal underworld won’t be straightforward. Michnovetz teases some “pretty crazy stuff” in store; we may know how and when Maul’s story ends, but that doesn’t mean we know the whole story. “We know Maul’s fate,” he states, promising “some zigs and zags that you're not expecting, 100 percent.” Plus, of course, it’s worth remembering that the survival of any supporting players isn’t guaranteed. As Michnovetz reminds us of the show’s new faces, “we don't know their fate or their timelines.”

In time, Shadow Lord will complete the story of Maul — but this chapter is only just beginning. Season 2 is already in the works at Lucasfilm Animation, and there’s still much to explore before we discover how Maul came to pop up in Solo. “Just wait ‘til you see where this goes,” says Michnovetz. As Episode I taught us all those years ago, you can’t keep a good Maul down.

Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord begins streaming on Disney+ from April 6.

Platforms: Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

The Fatal Frame series has been a survival horror staple since the days of the PS2 (when it was released under the name Project Zero in Europe), but unlike genre big hitter Resident Evil, it opted for more of a slow-burn approach to terror. Inspired more by Japanese folklore and ghost stories than by B-movie schlock, the series was centred on the Camera Obscura, a device that could detect and combat spirits through the power of… well-framed photography. Trust us, it’s scarier than it sounds.

The second entry, 2003’s Crimson Butterfly, has long been considered a series high point, a creeping tale of tension set in the abandoned village of Minakami, where twins Mio and Mayu Amakura find themselves trapped. Playing as Mio, you’ll either be guiding Mayu by the hand through the small town, or chasing her down as she’s spirited away by supernatural forces. While the girls’ relationship and backstory is the principal driver, it’s the wonderfully unsettling Minakami Village that proves the real leading lady. Notes and diaries build up the dark history of the setting and its vanished inhabitants, creating a drip-feed of trauma and tragedy that leaves players perpetually on edge.

Getting a titular fatal frame – a perfectly timed photo taken right as an enemy is about to strike, dealing a tonne of damage and stunning them – is supremely satisfying.

Tonally, it owes a debt to Hideo Nakata’s Dark Water or Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On: The Grudge, but expands the oppressive, inescapable claustrophobia of a haunted house to an entire cursed village. It’s a brand of terror aided by this second remake (one previously arrived for the Wii, back in 2012) shifting to full 3D environments, rather than the fixed camera perspective of the original. Actually creeping down crumbling corridors or through empty streets is far more intimidating when you have no idea what lurks behind the next corner, and with new locations and some additional story beats, there are suprises in store even for returning players.

Unfortunately, changes elsewhere mean that the signature camera-based combat now leaves something to be desired. You’ll still deal damage to rampaging ghosts by capturing them on film, hitting them harder the better you compose the shot. The idea still works in principle – spooks aren’t sitting around posing, instead slashing at you or otherwise taking umbrage at your modest ghostbusting efforts, leading to a desperate back and forth as you try to move the fragile Mio out of harm’s way, reposition, and snap away again. Getting a titular fatal frame – a perfectly timed photo taken right as an enemy is about to strike, dealing a tonne of damage and stunning them – is supremely satisfying as a result.

However, the addition of charms and filters to the camera adds a level of unnecessary complexity. They’re useful out of combat, giving you access to abilities like tracking ghosts through walls or finding hidden areas, but tend to create problems in battle. For too much of the game, you feel underpowered, even within the strictures of survival horror where you should be at a disadvantage. Ghosts too easily slip into an “aggravated” state where they can regain health and boost their damage, and there’s not a great deal to be done other than engage in a war of photographic attrition to whittle their health back down. Later, after upgrading some choice charms and pairing with an appropriate filter – and the right type of camera film, which can also massively impact your effectiveness – you’re almost able to literally one-shot some spooks. The balance feels completely off.

Worse, while the modern visuals of this remake mostly impress, helping make 2026’s Crimson Butterfly disturbingly atmospheric, the game struggles when it comes to performance. The frame rate is, charitably, uninspiring, seemingly capped at 30fps, while the Switch 2 release (version tested) suffers frequent pop-in for textures, effects, and lighting. It can be incredibly immersion-breaking.

Still, despite its flaws, Fatal Frame II remains a deeply affecting slice of interactive horror. It maintains the feel of the original where it counts, while the full 3D approach may make it more palatable to modern players. Enjoyable for what it is, but it’s those with a penchant for turn-of-the-millennium J-horror who are likely to get the most out of this.

Move over Rocky, Grogu, Yoshi, and that little capybara from Flow — there's a new lil' guy (well, gal) on the block and her name is Ally. Having wooed us last year with Mickey 17's inaccurately named cuties the Creepers, Bong Joon Ho is going all in on the charm with the protagonist of Ally, the director's debut animated movie. And now, having spent the best part of the last seven years developing his ocean-based odyssey alongside co-writer Jason Yu, director Bong has revealed a first proper look at the piglet squid at the centre of his latest film. Check it out below;

Don't say we didn't warn you — Ally is going to be on every little (and big) cinephile's Christmas list when director Bong's latest hits cinemas in late 2027. Billed as a 'family adventure', adopting a deep-sea angle on ideas of bravery and connection, Ally — whose creature designs are inspired by real-life marine biology — centres around its eponymous heroine, a piglet squid who calls the South Pacific Ocean her home. As the movie's logline reveals, Ally has "ambitions of reaching the surface and one day featuring in a wildlife documentary. Her world is upended when an aircraft goes down into the sea, setting her on an unlikely journey upward alongside a mismatched group of companions." If you've seen Bong Joon Ho's Okja, or the above-mentioned Mickey 17, you'll know that the South Korean filmmaker has form for deploying borderline mythic creatures at the heart of socially and environmentally conscious yarns — and with its deep-sea-dweller-meets-human-world set-up, Ally seems well placed to pick up that thread (albeit in more film night friendly form.)

An international production whose collaborators include animation supervisor Jae Hyung Kim (Toy Story 4), production designer Marcin Jakubowski (Klaus), and eight-time Academy Award winning British VFX and animation company DNEG (Interstellar, Inception, Ex Machina), Ally has no shortage of creative firepower aboard helping to bring Bong Joon Ho's vision to life. Here's to enjoying baby's first Bong in 2027 — which is not a sentence we thought we'd ever write in an Empire news piece.

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

The original GreedFall, released in 2019, introduced players to the fantasy-tinged land of Teer Fradee, a beautiful island filled with wondrous creatures and inhabited by a magic-wielding indigenous population — and then cast them as one the colonisers tearing it asunder. Sure, as an RPG, it meant you were playing an ostensibly neutral outsider who could choose to ally themselves with the natives, but the framing — unsubtly modelled on the real-world rush for the “New World” in the 1600s — was still uncomfortable.

Attempting to redress matters with its second go-around, developer Spiders opts for a prequel, set three years before the events of the first game, this time focusing on the native perspective. You play as Vriden Gerr, a trainee druid of sorts, and designed to your liking with a robust character creation suite. “Vriden Gerr” is more title than name though, meaning “Rootless” in the Teer Fradee language (one of The Dying World’s more impressive elements, an entire constructed language that’s fully voice acted), a moniker that underpins the returning choice-driven gameplay.

This latest GreedFall does present a captivating world to explore. Although not quite fully open world, its multiple vast areas are beautifully crafted.

Exactly how much you choose to associate with the outsiders, and whether or who to trust among them, could make for a deeper exploration of complex themes, but such complexity never materialises. Soon enough, your player character is captured by invaders and shipped off as a “prisoner”, with all the subtlety that implies. That, along with the game’s standing as a prequel leading inevitably into the downer vibes of the original game, undermines almost any later attempt at nuance – even though you’re rapidly freed and the game begins to open up after a fairly linear intro, why would you ever consider working with any of the colonisers? It nullifies almost any choice you may take or story thread you might pull at, the writing lacking anywhere near the consideration necessary to handle such sensitive material.

Still, this latest GreedFall does present a captivating world to explore. Although not quite fully open world, its multiple vast areas are beautifully crafted. From the earliest sections in your home village, where you’re accompanied by childhood friend Nílan, to the more “developed” regions populated by arch capitalists and cartoonishly evil villains, The Dying World is a gorgeous one. Special note has to be made for the sublime soundtrack too, composed by Olivier Deriviere, and elevating the entire package.

Structurally though, this all feels a bit by the numbers. All the standard hallmarks of a western RPG are here – assorted companion characters with their own plots and backgrounds to explore, missions and quests that can branch in countless directions, an attempt at a romance system, a glut of skills and customisations to master – but there’s nothing that really stands out as being unique to this game, this world.

The biggest departure from the original GreedFall is with The Dying World swapping out the previous real-time action-driven combat for a more tactical real-time-with-pause approach. At any point, you can freeze the action to issue specific commands to your characters, be it precisely where to move to or which ability to use. It’s reminiscent of RPG classic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, although not quite as intuitive. It’ll likely take a few battles to wrap your head around both the compexities and the possibilities of the system, but once you have, it’s a robust approach that adds an almost tabletop aspect to combat.

If you’re really struggling though, Spiders throws in a couple of difficulty modifiers to streamline things, either handling some of the minutiae for you while still allowing you to issue individual commands, or taking full control of any other party members while you control only Vriden Geer, an experience a bit closer to the original game. There’s even an invincibility toggle, if you just want to focus on the story.

Unfortunately, that story just isn’t enough to win most people over. There are hints of greatness in The Dying World, narratively and mechanically, and perhaps with more development time it could have achieved it, but ultimately it never does. While it’s not without its charms, this is one for hardcore genre devotees only.

You know the old saying about how today's news is tomorrow's fish and chip wrappers? Well, turns out, it still holds up today actually. Barely a week since we first learned that Ryan Gosling had been set to lead The Daniels' new sci-fi movie, the duo's first feature since Oscar-winning smash Everything Everywhere All At Once, Variety is reporting that Gosling has exited the buzzy blockbuster project.

Though neither Daniels Kwan or Scheinert — or Ryan Gosling himself — have commented on the Canadian actor's sudden departure, Variety cites 'a scheduling conflict' as the cause for Gosling's exit. With RG having only just finished up an extensive press tour for another hyped sci-fi blockbuster, Phil Lord and Chris Miller's Project Hail Mary, and also now just over a year out from the release of Shawn Levy's hotly anticipated Star Wars: Starfighter, it isn't hard to imagine a scenario where the three-time Oscar nominee's schedule could become a little conflicted. Even so, with production on Daniels' ambitious sounding EEAAO due to get underway in Los Angeles this summer, the Gos' departure from the project could well put a not at all inconsiderably sized spanner in the works.

Described by Daniel Kwan as "a fun sci-fi, action comedy with a big heart" that's "very existential" in a recent Collider interview, the Daniels' latest remains locked in for a 19 November, 2027 theatrical release as of right now. And while we don't know who'll step into Gosling's shoes just yet, we're hopeful that Daniels Kwan and Scheinert will throw their own Hail Mary and find their man soon enough. Watch this space!

David Mackenzie is a chameleonic sort of director. Starting his career in his native Scotland with arty films like Young Adam and Hallam Foe, he has since branched out into making a high-concept sci-fi (Perfect Sense), a gritty prison drama (Starred Up), a neo-Western (Hell Or High Water) and a New York-set thriller based around telecommunications devices for the deaf (Relay). Fuze represents another hard turn into new material, a sweaty heist genre film centred around the discovery of a World War II bomb on a building site. But despite a banging drum ‘n’ bass title sequence, complete with a handsome drone tracking shot of London’s skyline, this is in fact a rigidly old-fashioned, defiantly silly, dad-friendly sort of thriller.

It’s all plot and zero character. We know precious little about who these people are or what motivates them, the film seemingly uninterested in backstory until the final third, by which time it gets a bit daft. Our ensemble is introduced in workmanlike fashion: there’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson (essentially playing the same character he played in Tenet with a different accent) as Major Will Tranter, the bomb-disposal specialist called in when an incendiary device is discovered buried in a central London building site. There’s Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the police Chief Superintendent Zuzana, who lives in the obligatory Big Screens control room. And Theo James and Sam Worthington are there too as Karalis and X, respectively, the bank robbers who use the bomb disposal’s evacuation zone and power outage as cover to steal some precious diamonds.

Where this film succeeds is in its fast-cutting tension, evoking the grittiness and violence of a 1970s heist flick.

This is a vastly overqualified cast — Mbatha-Raw and The Souvenir’s Honor Swinton Byrne, as her deputy, seem bussed in from another film — but they just about sell the perfunctory dialogue and businesslike exposition. When the script tries for any kind of flourish or flair, it falls flat. “Don’t be shit,” is the Major’s best advice from his years of experience. “All roads lead to Afghanistan,” notes the Chief Superintendent, without context or reason.

Where this film succeeds is in its fast-cutting tension, evoking the grittiness and violence of a 1970s heist flick. The opening hour, which keeps things contained to a literal ticking time bomb, a tense bank job, and the law enforcement overseeing it all, feel like the film’s strongest suit. It's almost a shame it doesn’t keep that energy going. Still, Mackenzie’s direction is solidly edgy, continuing the mood he developed so successfully in Relay.

The final ten minutes, and a set of Animal House-style “where are they now?” end title cards, are largely misjudged. But on the whole this is a perfectly fine viewing experience, even if the ending never quite lives up to its sweaty first act promise — better when the fuse is actually lit.

Tom Wolfe's biting 80s New York satire The Bonfire Of The Vanities has lived many lives. It's been turned into an infamous Brian De Palma flop of epic proportions (which spawned Julia Salamon's must-read making-of book The Devil's Candy); it's had the full-on opera treatment; and at one time it was even set to get an event series from The Big Bang Theory producer Chuck Lorre. Now, The Bonfire Of The Vanities is being relit and retooled at Apple TV as a limited series, and — per Deadline's reporting — Presumed Innocent showrunner David E. Kelley and The Batman director Matt Reeves are the ones looking to rekindle the fire fuelling Wolfe's book.

For Kelley, The Bonfire Of The Vanities marks a return to Wolfe territory following his Jeff Daniels and Diane Lane led Netflix show A Man In Full. While that adaptation offered a contemporary take on its source material however, it remains to be seen whether this one will look to take the same approach. For those unfamiliar with the book (or film... or opera...), The Bonfire Of The Vanities takes aim at New York high society and the disparity between the Big Apple's haves and have-nots through the cautionary tale of Sherman McCoy, a Wall Street bonds trader whose life catastrophically unravels after his mistress runs over a young Black man in the Bronx, offering a has-been journalist the opportunity of a lifetime when he agrees to chase the story and write about it.

Dealing with heightened racial tensions, political volatility, class and wealth inequality, and the moral bankruptcy of the elite, you could say that The Bonfire Of The Vanities is a story that has arguably never felt more timely or more resonant. Here's hoping David E. Kelley and Matt Reeves' take on it is closer to the book than the film on the quality scale then, eh?

There's a new Duke in town (and no, thankfully, it's not got anything to do with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.) Following the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man in cinemas and on Netflix, the movie marking the final chapter in the book of one Tommy Shelby, writer-creator Steven Knight's focus has fully turned to the next generation of his Birmingham mob drama — and while Tommy's son Duke will be at its forefront, Barry Keoghan, who played him last, won't be. Per Deadline's reporting, Jamie Bell is set to play Duke Shelby in Netflix and the BBC's upcoming Peaky Blinders sequel series, and you can check out a first look at the All Of Us Strangers star in character below.