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As the hunt for a new James Bond continues, Hannah Waddingham has made a solid case for widening the net beyond the usual suspects. Within the first hour of action-comedy series Ride Or Die, her character Judith proves herself more than capable of filling 007’s shoes, her high heels quickly swapped for Spy-Who-Loved Me-esque skis. That’s before you even consider the high-speed chase‚ or the high-speed way she celebrates a mission accomplished with some totty on the side. But the show’s creator Tessa Coates seems less concerned with making generic action than she is with exploring female friendship.

While there might have been a temptation to push Judith’s bestie into a hapless civilian role, it turns out Debbie (Octavia Spencer) is actually the stronger half of this particular double-act, emotionally speaking at least. Underestimate her at your peril, because Spencer’s character is just as capable as Waddingham’s highly trained assassin. As it turns out, it’s not the action that pulls you in so much as the chemistry between the two leads. With actors as accomplished and as charismatic as Waddingham and Spencer, it feels entirely plausible that this pair have been friends for 20 years, which becomes key when obstacles threaten to derail that connection.

Inevitably, Thelma & Louise comparisons come to mind when watching this show — telling, perhaps, because there simply haven’t been enough on-screen female pairings in this vein. The adventure that Judith and Debbie take certainly impresses more than recent big-screen alternatives like The Heat or The Spy Who Dumped Me, yet it’s hard not to imagine how much better the series might have been had the story been condensed into a feature-length runtime. Supporting actors like Ed Skrein, Bill Nighy and Sylvia Hoeks — who each play unhinged killers — add character to this world, but their involvement also piles on more subplots, resulting in a show that feels overstuffed, rather than the slick spy caper it clearly wants to be.

You don’t need to have picked up the broad, light paddle used for pickleball to know what a sporting phenomenon it’s become in recent years. Its selling-point? Essentially anyone can play it. Hence its mounting popularity among the elderly, the very young, and anyone who might want to avoid the pace and rigour of tennis, pickleball’s racier peer. Of course, if you like tennis, pickleball may feel like playing your preferred sport in a vat of hummus. Which is the predicament Dusty Boyd (Jake Johnson) finds himself in. He’s a fallen-prodigy-turned-tennis-coach, who after an injury is encouraged to build back his strength on a different kind of court, one frequented by those partial to a fanny pack and early-bird special.

The Dodgeball comparisons to The Dink are inevitable: a leftfield sport and an average Joe hero (Dusty is a corny showman who, underneath the bravado, longs for the approval of his pickleball-loathing pops). Ben Stiller even shows up as Dusty’s doctor. It’s got undeniable comedy chops behind the camera as well, courtesy of Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar filmmaker Josh Greenbaum. Yet rather than being a clean-cut David and Goliath story, The Dink instead finds its strength in the partnership of Dusty and his reluctant teammate Candace, played with boundless charm by Mary Steenburgen.

The script leans towards that frat-pack brand of humour from the era of Stiller, Owen Wilson and co.

The script leans towards that frat-pack brand of humour from the era of Stiller, Owen Wilson and co., with Johnson the immature underdog, all pageantry and insults shielding the wildly insecure and misdirected person underneath. The gags, however, have a recycled feel to them, and distract from Johnson’s better qualities, his strongest being connecting with his co-stars with a jovial ease. When he and Steenburgen are in hangout mode, trading playlists and watching movies, we get a glimpse of the movie that could have been: a sweet double act that would be satisfying whether it becomes romantic or not. It’s rare that we get to see Steenburgen in a larger supporting role and so when the story inevitably tapers to a pickleball showdown (although less obviously between Dusty and former tennis star Andy Roddick, playing himself), and Candace is ushered courtside, you really feel the loss of her twinkling presence. The central thrust of the plot — Dusty must win the tournament in order to appease his grouchy father (Ed Harris) and save his country club — just isn’t as strong.

There’s still plenty that makes this a pleasing popcorn movie: foul-mouthed pensioners, a couple of decent cameos, as much action as you’re going to squeeze out of a game where the ball is full of small holes. Yet bar the joyful chemistry between its top-billing talent, the script does little to nudge The Dink over the line.

We’re slap-bang in the middle of summer right now. But once The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The End Of Oak Street are done delivering popcorn thrills, it’ll be time to pivot to spooky-mode. And of all the horror offerings in the upcoming Halloween slate, one looks particularly exciting: Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil. The director of Weapons is already back with his follow-up film, a rollocking ride through the world of the beloved games, but with a story and character of Cregger’s own creation: Austin Abrams’ non-heroic normie, Bryan. The film’s latest trailer looks like an absolute blast – check it out here:

Now that’s how you deliver a great teaser while giving very little away. The trailer sets up everything that Cregger has said about the zombie movie so far: that its central character is a normal guy who is very much not equipped for the horrors of Resident Evil, and who battles with all the things players do in the game. Resource management! Finding bullets! Surviving attacks from horrific creatures! Abrams looks like a perfect way into that world, after proving a standout among the stacked cast of Weapons – and, as the end of the trailer makes it clear, he’s specifically heading into Raccoon City. Bad move, pal.

The good news is, there isn’t long to wait. Resident Evil is set to release in cinemas on September 18 – just when you want to be ramping up Spooky Season.

There are all kinds of fiends lurking in the darker parts of Middle-earth. You don’t want to catch Gollum on a bad day (does he even have good days?). There are cave trolls and Balrogs and Orcs and all kinds of beasts. And, as seen in Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings films, there are Sauron’s Ringwraiths – the corrupted former men whose nine rings turned them into fearsome ghouls. Since The Rings Of Power Season 3 sees Charlie Vickers’ Lord Sauron ascend in the Second Age, we’ll also get to see the origins of the Ringwraiths, aka the Nazgûl.

Or, as they’re known in The Rings Of Power, the Nazgnagôl. Here, they’re still men, working in service of Sauron and lusting for power. To figure out what this early iteration of the eventual Nazgûl would be, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay immersed themselves in Tolkien linguistics. “We love looking back at what inspired Tolkien,” Payne tells Empire. “He led with language. Language became a scaffold on which the myth would hang. The word ‘Nazgûl’ means ‘Ringwraith’ in the Black Speech of Mordor. But before they were Ringwraiths, we know that these were just men. So we were able to derive in the Black Speech that ‘nagôl’ could mean ‘servant’.” ‘Nazgnagôl’, therefore, literally means ‘Ring-servant’.”

One such Ring-servant is Zubin Varla’s incoming Khamûl the Easterling, a character who we already know is doomed to eventual inhumanity. “In a sense, they go on the same journey as Gollum,” says Varla of the Nazgnagôl. “Evil begets evil, and violence begets violence. Their souls, and their bodies, are corrupted until they are literally hollowed out, almost devoid of physical form.”

Not that the Nazgnagôl would see themselves as the bad guys. “Every character stays the hero of their own story,” says Payne. “From Khamûl’s point of view, he is a warlord who deserves to be a king, whose power has been usurped by a dark wizard. Sauron offers him a way back to the top.” Remember: some ‘gifts’ are worth saying no to.

Read Empire’s full The Rings Of Power Season 3 cover story – spending three days on set of the epic Middle-earth saga, and speaking to Patrick McKay, J.D. Payne, Charlie Vickers, Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Daniel Weyman and more – in the September 2026 issue, on sale Thursday July 30. Pre-order a copy online here. The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 3 streams on Prime Video from November 11.

Debuting in 2022, Heartstopper — based on the graphic novels of the same name by Alice Oseman — was the rare TV series that didn’t sideline its queer characters, instead allowing them to thrive in the spotlight as protagonists. More than that, the show (also written by Oseman) has always highlighted queer joy, a tonic to the overwhelming number of stories about LGBTQ+ people rooted in trauma.

Though the show is widely celebrated, it has garnered its fair share of criticism for being twee and overly wholesome. That’s a critique Heartstopper Forever, the feature-length film that doubles as the series finale, hasclearly internalised. Written by Oseman and directed by Wash Westmoreland (who previously directed Colette, a film which makes a cameo appearance here), this is Heartstopper at its most mature. There’s less of the heart-fluttering whimsy that dominated the series, though this is especially impressive in how it balances heavy topics like sex (of which there’s plenty), anxiety, and self-harm with the show’s trademark charm.

Heartstopper has always been about Nick and Charlie, and Oseman’s script does wonderful work with the pair.

We re-join Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) at a major transition point. Because Charlie’s a year younger, Nick will be off to university before him, and he’s chosen Leeds, a considerable distance from Kent. More concerning is that Nick is in crisis over his upcoming departure. Long-distance is a major challenge for any relationship, and they both know it. Nick has spent so much time caring for Charlie as he struggled with an eating disorder and self-harm that he’s lost sight of who he is; to cope with it, he’s started to depend on alcohol. Heartstopper may be known for a light touch, but it deals with their conflicts with a striking sincerity. This is a film that explores the idea of soulmates, and how despite loving each other so much, you can lose sight of what’s right in front of you.

Such is the focus on the main couple that if you’re hoping for any big storylines from anyone but Nick and Charlie, you’ll likely be disappointed. There are lovely moments involving Elle (Yasmin Finney) and Isaac (Tobie Donovan), which neatly wrap up their stories, but Heartstopper has always been about Nick and Charlie, and Oseman’s script does wonderful work with the pair. Both Connor and Locke deliver the finest performances of their young careers; their chemistry feels lived-in and authentic, lending tremendous heft to the film’s sweet and hard-hitting moments.

Movingly, Heartstopper Forever is also acutely aware of the show’s impact — there’s a touching plotline on the impact Charlie has had on a younger student for being proudly and openly gay, a fitting avatar for everyone who’s been affected by the show. Westmoreland’s film is an apt send-off for these characters, a more complex and humane version of Heartstopper than was found in the series.

2026 has, by any metric, been a big old year for Tom Holland. He's entered the Nolanverse and earned rave reviews for his performance in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. He's about to thwip back onto our screens as everyone's favourite friendly neighbourhood in Destin Daniel Cretton's Spider-Man: Brand New Day. And he's both starred in a Pepsi advert with Lionel Messi and married his beloved Zendaya. But while Holland could've been forgiven for taking a siesta after a seriously rammed summer, the 30-year-old actor isn't slowing down: he's limbering up to finally make his long-gestating Fred Astaire biopic with Wonka director Paul King. Check out the man himself giving an update on the ambitious undertaking to Good Morning America below (skip to 3:30 approx.);

“We have Fred Astaire next, that's what we’re planning on doing," said Holland when asked what he had coming up after Brand New Day, which hits cinemas on 29 July. "And as soon as I finish with these tours, I’m diving back into the dance studio." Elaborating on his prep to play arguably the big screen's greatest and most iconic dancer, Holland — who, lest we forget, started out playing Billy Elliot on the West End — revealed that rehearsals have already begun on the film. “I did my first few rehearsals recently, and it both filled me with excitement and absolute dread because I’ve got so much work to do to try and do Fred proud," he shared, excitingly adding that he has "a desire to use no doubles, to do all of the dancing, to shoot those dances in one shot – how [Astaire] would have done it."

Set to be directed by King from a script by Fosse/Verdon and the Tick, Tick... BOOM! movie writer Steven Levenson, Holland's Fred Astaire biopic is expected to centre around the legendary performer's relationship with sister Adele Astaire, tracing their journey from simple midwestern Vaudeville act to Broadway, the West End, and beyond — first together as a duo, then apart, as Adele settled down while Fred's star rose to the Hollywood heights.

While much has been made of the decision to make an Astaire biopic when the man himself always made it explicitly clear while alive that he never wanted to see his story dramatised, in the right hands — which King, Holland, and Levenson's certainly appear to be — Fred Astaire's story is an inspirational one, well worth telling, and one that could bring the dancer's brilliance to a whole new generation. Here's hoping the film will be Top Hat, and won't leave us pulling a Funny Face...

Turns out you still can't stop the thunder. As Tom Cruise continues to light up our screens well into his sixties, submarine diving in Mission: Impossible, flying fighter jets in Top Gun: Maverick, and — very soon — giving a (possibly dead) cat a bath in upcoming satire Digger, it seems as if Mr. Movies himself is only gaining in power as he ages. Now, after years of whispers and rumours, THR has today confirmed that the star is set to reprise the role of hotshot NASCAR driver Cole Trickle in long-awaited sports drama sequel Days Of Thunder 2, which is officially in the works at Paramount Pictures. And, what's more, we also know who's in pole position to direct.

Per THR's reporting, Long Shot and Warm Bodies director Jonathan Levine — whose upcoming David Corenswet vehicle Mr. Irrelevant, itself a sports drama, has been scoring raves with test audiences and hits Prime Video this Christmas Day — is in talks to helm the sequel to Tony Scott's original 1990 classic. While the OG movie, which reunited Cruise with his Top Gun director, didn't perhaps come in for the same love as the duo's first team-up on release, its dirtrags-to-Victory-Lane-riches tale has endured as a favourite among petrolheads and film buffs in the decades since its release. And with Joseph Kosinski's critically acclaimed and commercially massive Top Gun Maverick having shown the voracious appetite among Cruise fans for legacy sequels to his adrenalinised early-career fare, a sequel to Days Of Thunder has felt inevitable for some time now.

Plot details on Days Of Thunder 2 are being kept well under wraps for the time being, as is whether or not we can expect to see the returns of any of the original movie's ensemble (Nicole Kidman, Cary Elwes, and Randy Quaid most notably.) Still, with this expected to be Cruise's next feature and shooting potentially set to get underway as early as next year, expect to hear more about this one over the weeks and months to come. The journey back to Victory Road begins here...

Considering it's the American national pastime, baseball has been subject to surprisingly few cinematic home runs. For every Bad News Bears, Bull Durham, or A League Of Their Own there's also a Rookie Of The Year, The Benchwarmers, or Bad News Bears remake. But as Deadline reports, the director of that last movie, one Richard Linklater, is looking to raise baseball's big-screen batting average with a new biopic about New York Yankees' legendary first baseman Lou Gehrig. And what's more, Linklater has already found the film's Iron Horse: his Everybody Wants Some!! and Hit Man star Glen Powell.

Despite being one of the most iconic sportspeople of all time, Lou Gehrig — who made a staggering 2,130 consecutive appearances for the Yankees, winning six World Series titles before being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS, MND, and, formerly, Lou Gehrig's disease) in 1939 — has only actually been the subject of one major movie to date: Gary Cooper starrer Pride Of The Yankees, released just a year after Gehrig's untimely death in 1941. Linklater's film then is set to pull out all the stops to do the great man justice.

Lifelong Yankee fan — and SNL mastermind — Lorne Michaels is aboard to produce the Universal picture, with Linklater (whose Nouvelle Vague has already stormed into our best movies of 2026) set to direct from a script by SNL alum and An American Pickle writer Simon Rich. Powell meanwhile is coming off the back of charming audiences in Hulu comedy sports series Chad Powers, which has already been renewed for — and wrapped shooting on — its second season. And, of course, Powell is no stranger to playing a baseball player in a Richard Linklater joint, having played Everybody Wants Some!!'s college team veteran Walt 'Finn' Finnegan (not that Powell got a hell of a lot of baseball playing done in that film.)

While specifics in terms of the time period and central focus of Linklater and Powell's Lou Gehrig movie are unknown at this point, it is believed that Babe Dahlgren — the man tasked with replacing Gehrig at first base following Lou's shock early retirement — will play a pivotal role in the movie. However the director-star duo go about telling this story, you can rest assured they'll take a big swing to deliver a hit worthy of their subject. Watch this space for more updates as the project takes shape!

It's almost hard to believe that it's been 12 whole years — or a Fargo, a Spiral: From The Book Of Saw, and a Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie — since iconic funnyman Chris Rock last assumed the directorial hotseat. That last movie, Top Five, was a real treat as well, a sweet-hearted and serrated-edged look at Hollywood from someone on the inside. Misty Green, Rock's A24-bound directorial return, looks to find the multi-hyphenate filmmaker back on familiar ground, this time telling the story of an Emmy-winning actor (Slow Horses' Rosalind Eleazar) eyeing a comeback after her career catastrophically hits the skids. Check out the trailer below;

What's that we see upon yonder? An incoming awards season run for a film about the film industry? Surely not! Or maybe... If this first trailer for Misty Green is anything to go by, then we wouldn't rule it out. It's got the underdog comeback story angle Hollywood loves, with Eleazar playing the eponymous Misty — a live-wire with undeniable talent, self-destructive tendencies, and a cadre of influences (positive and negative) surrounding her as she looks for a second shot at the big time. It's got a stacked cast, including a tatted-up Adam Driver, Anna Kendrick, Topher Grace, Rock himself (as a fedora-wearing, smooth-talking potential savant/suitor for Misty, naturally), and — in his first live-action big-screen appearance since 2022's Nope — Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya, bringing the heat as Misty's unpredictable brother. And it's got a showstopper of a scene where Eleazar sings 'One Night Only' with the kind of emotional punch and she-did-that-for-real energy that feels predestined for an Oscar highlight reel. What more could you ask for?

Misty Green's short but sweet synopsis simply states that Rock's self-penned movie "follows an actress whose career has stalled years after her breakthrough role, as she fights for her second act." Deadline expands a little further, describing how the movie "follows Misty, an undeniably talented actress, but her vices have derailed every attempt to revitalize her career. Her best opportunity in ages arrives in the form of Jordan (Rock), a film director with the perfect role for her – were it not for their contentious past.”

Given that the inciting incident for Misty's career tailspin here seems to have been a high-profile physical altercation with another actor, it's hard not to imagine that Misty Green will once again find Rock on somewhat autobiographical — or at least autofictional — form. And armed with a killer cast, an instantly hooky premise, and the backing of A24, Chris Rock's big return to the director's seat is already shaping up to be one to watch when it hits cinemas this October. Here's hoping this one slaps in all the right ways, eh?

Did you ever watch Barney back in the day and fear that somewhere beneath the "I love you, you love me" sing-song bravado and big hugs, deep in that purple dinosaur's cold, unblinking eyes, there could be something more sinister afoot? Well, firstly, Barney was and forever will be a total sweetheart, you monster! But also second, Buddy — the nightmarish new horror from Too Many Cooks creator Casper Kelly — may just be the cinematic vindication you crave. Prepare to meet the titular Buddy, a bright orange unicorn from a forgotten, fictitious 90s kids' TV show whose cheery look belies an altogether more sinister nature... check out the teaser trailer below;

Creepy laugh? Check! Static-fuzz, grainy Backrooms style presentation? Check! A broom dropped in rage, a bunch of scared-looking kids, and is that a unicorn horn covered in blood? Triple check! Okay, okay, okay, we may have literally seen about 50 seconds of pure vibes footage from Buddy here, but that's plenty enough to have us both intrigued and mildly terrified of what Kelly has been cooking. The edutainment series sets are eerily on-point, the glimpses of strange dolls and blood-spatter are super creepy, and the lack of context for the chaos that's clearly about to erupt only adds to the whole thing's malevolent aura. And for anyone who saw Casper Kelly's aforementioned 2014 Adult Swim short Too Many Cooks — which concealed a killer within its genre-boundary-blurring aping of 70s, 80s, and 90s TV show opening credits sequences — this looks very much of an effed-up piece with its short-form predecessor.

The official synopsis for Buddy reads: "Inside the colorful world of "It's Buddy!", a group of children spend their days singing, dancing, and helping Buddy spread happiness. But when one child refuses to play along, Buddy is not pleased and cracks begin to appear in this seemingly perfect world." Along for the ride are stars Cristin Milioti as a suburban mother who finds herself drawn into Buddy’s nightmare world; Delaney Quinn as a courageous kid who resists Buddy's reign of terror; Keegan-Michael Key as Buddy himself; and the likes of Topher Grace, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswalt, too.

With stock in original, internet culture steeped horror movies at an all-time high just now thanks to the likes of Talk To Me, Backrooms, Iron Lung, Obsession, and more, Buddy may have a friend in the box office when it hits cinemas stateside on 28 August — and screens here hopefully soon after. Until we have an official UK release date though, enjoy your newest sleep paralysis demon. And Ayo Edebiri, if you're reading this then please don't make your A24 Barney movie a horror... our hearts couldn't take it.

The last time we heard The Flaming Lips' psychedelic rock ditty 'Do You Realize??' in a James Gunn produced film, it was 2023's Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, a comic book movie in which several poor, defenceless creatures find themselves horribly disfigured and mutilated — trying to reconcile what's inside with what they see in the mirror. The same tune plays again over the first full trailer for James Watkins' upcoming DC Studios body horror Clayface, a comic book movie in which... well, you get the idea. See Tom Rhys Harries' actor Matt Hagen going through some, er, changes below;

You wanna know how Matt Hagen got these scars? Well, as we learn in this deeply unnerving new trailer for Clayface, it's an unfortunate run-in with the mob that leave the promising actor with life-changing injuries, driving him to seek out an experimental scientist (Naomi Ackie) who provides him with the rejuvenating drug — the substance, you could say — that will eventually turn him into the movie's titular malleable malcontent. And if the glimpses of Hagen's monstrous transformation we get here — a melting face, the classic silhouetted form of DC's blobbiest baddie, and a wince-inducing incident involving some fused eyelids and a pair of nail scissors — are anything to go by, then it looks like the DC Universe's Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini penned movie is going all out (and surprisingly practical effects heavy) on its massive genre swing.

The official synopsis for Clayface — which also stars David Dencik, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan, Nancy Carroll, and Joshua James — reads: “Matt Hagen’s meteoric rise from Gotham street kid to Hollywood leading man is tragically cut short when a local crime boss’ actions leave him horribly disfigured. Abandoned by his team and with nothing left, Matt seeks out a cutting edge treatment that miraculously returns him to his former self … but also unexpectedly affects his grip on reality, spiraling him down a destructive path of all-consuming revenge.”

One of the rogues' gallery standouts of the classic Batman: The Animated Series, mid-noughties toon The Batman, and DC's Batman comics, Clayface is long overdue a big-screen outing to draw out the terror — and the tragedy — of the character. We'll see whether Speak No Evil filmmaker James Watkins' movie breaks the mould and delivers an r-rated DC Studios banger when Clayface oozes into cinemas on 23 October.

For the past few years, Jamie Campbell Bower has been in all-out villain mode – as Stranger Things’ monstrous Vecna, he flayed minds, bodies and souls alike. But as he enters another mammoth streaming series, Bower is switching things up. He’s one of the new cast additions to Season 3 of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, entering the Tolkien-verse in a role that has, until now, been kept tightly under wraps (and much rumoured-over by fans). Empire can finally confirm Bower’s role: meet Celeborn, Elf lord and warrior.

And, notably, the husband of Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel. The character – briefly portrayed in Peter Jackson’s films by Marton Csokas – is something of a “lover-boy”, says Bower. The anti-Vecna, then. How they introduce Celeborn – who canonically married Galadriel in the First Age, and in TROP has been apart from her for centuries – remains to be seen. But their dynamic is partly inspired by Tolkien and his wife, Edith. “This idea of longing and yearning is so pervasive in Tolkien’s relationship with Edith for the time that they were apart,” says Bower. “I really feasted on that idea. Celeborn has had to find a way to survive whilst longing for something that he so dearly loved and so dearly missed as well.” And Clark was more than game to contribute to the pair’s sparkling interplay. “She’s kind of rude to him in the books,” she chuckles. “She’s the queen! But Jamie looks exactly like how I would imagine Celeborn. He’s such an Elf.”

Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay saw hundreds of tapes for Celeborn – but even without Elf ears and the rest, it was clear that Bower had the stuff. “He has this voice that is rich and hypnotic and sonorous that feels it has the wisdom of the ages buried inside of it,” says Payne. “And then we did a chemistry read [with Clark], and instantly it just felt like he loved her so much. It felt so natural, and so organic, and so right.” In the age of Sauron, Middle-earth could use a few more lover-boys.

Read Empire’s full The Rings Of Power Season 3 cover story – spending three days on set of the epic Middle-earth saga, and speaking to Patrick McKay, J.D. Payne, Charlie Vickers, Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Daniel Weyman and more – in the September 2026 issue, on sale Thursday July 30. Pre-order a copy online here. The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 3 streams on Prime Video from November 11.

Nearly 40 years after he first took to the streets, RoboCop still proves to be a compelling idea. Paul Verhoeven’s legendary 1987 satire – charting the literal dehumanisation of Peter Weller’s law enforcer Murphy as he’s mangled into a crime-exploding cyborg – has endured in the culture ever since, with a slew of sequels, some maligned TV adaptations, a kids cartoon (!), and a reboot movie. But his journey isn’t over. No, the brain of RoboCop is being scooped out again and placed into another mechanised body – by which we mean there’s a new adaptation on the way, this time a streaming series with some major players behind it.

The combined powers of Blumhouse and James Wan’s Atomic Monster will present an eight-episode RoboCop series for OmniCorp- sorry, Amazon’s Prime Video streamer (somewhat ironic, given the not-so-subtle anti-capitalist satire of Verhoeven’s film), with Peter Ocko down as its showrunner. Original RoboCop creators Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner are also on board as executive producers, with James Wan as a named producer too.

“I’ve been a massive fan of RoboCop forever, so getting to help bring this world to television is a dream,” Wan says in a press release. “What Paul Verhoeven created in 1987 was decades ahead of its time, and its questions about technology, identity, and who corporations really serve have only grown more urgent.” Wan also celebrated “Peter’s distinctive vision and bold approach to storytelling”, promising a show that will “honour what made the original iconic and highlight its relevancy in this modern, tech-driven world, while building something unmistakably new for a global audience.”

Will a new version of RoboCop find more to say about consumerism and depersonalisation, nearly 40 years on? Will we get a whole episode on the background of Emil, the melting toxic waste guy? And who will play the latest gen of RoboCop? Stay tuned for answers as the show moves towards production.

There we were, sippin' on some gin and juice at Empire HQ, when all of a sudden some fresh music biopic news dropped like it's hot onto our desk. That news? Well, per Deadline's reporting, Universal Pictures' upcoming Snoop Dogg biopic, Snoop, has officially displaced the studio's previously slated Summer 2027 'Untitled Event Movie' and is now set to hit cinemas on 6 August, 2027.

Set to be directed by Song Sung Blue and Hustle & Flow helmsman Craig Brewer from a self-penned rewrite of Black Panther co-writer Joe Robert Cole's original script, Snoop will chronicle Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr.'s rise from selling sweets and delivering newspapers as a kid in Long Beach, California to becoming one of the most successful, instantly recognisable figures in the world of hip-hop. Do Revenge and Outer Banks star Jonathan 'J.D.' Daviss is set to play Snoop in the movie, which follows in the footsteps of movies like 8 Mile, Get Rich Or Die Tryin', Straight Outta Compton, and outside-of-the-box brick-based Pharrell Williams biopic Piece By Piece when it comes to capturing the world of hip-hop, gangsta rap, and beat-making music moguls on film.

“After my brothers got to tell their story with Straight Outta Compton, now it’s my turn,” Snoop Dogg told the crowd at CinemaCon earlier this year, building hype for Snoop. “My director, Craig Brewer, he just showed us how hard it is out here for a pimp from Hustle & Flow. And then last year, he got us all singing ‘Sweet Caroline.' [...] My movie is going to be rated R, I guarantee that. So get your parents’ permission."

With music biopics continuing to prove all the rage this summer as MJ movie Michael soars past the billion-dollar mark at the global box office, there's no time like the present for The Doggfather to remind us it's a Doggy Dogg World and we're all just living in it. Roll on 6 August, 2027. Roll on Snoopey (yes, The Bluey Movie x Snoop double-feature is on!)

It is with great sadness that we bring you the news Kaylee Hottle, child star of Godzilla Vs Kong and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, has tragically died at the age of just 18. The young, deaf actor, who announced herself as an exciting new talent — and industry trailblazer — with her performances as Jia Andrews in Adam Wingard's two most recent MonsterVerse movies, was killed in a car accident on Monday. News of Hottle's death was first shared by her father Joshua Hottle in an emotional video posted to Facebook, with the Texas School For The Deaf — where Kaylee studied as a child — further confirming the news in a statement on Instagram.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia in 2007 to American Sign Language speaking, hard of hearing parents Ketsi Carlson and Joshua Hottle, Kaylee Hottle caught her first break on-screen before she'd even reached high school. In 2017, Hottle — who had already appeared in several TV ads and projects made in support of and advocacy for the hearing impaired community — starred in a commercial for video relay service Convo. By the end of the following year, the fully fluent ASL speaker had caught the attention of Godzilla Vs Kong casting director Sarah Halley Finn, who just so happened to be on the lookout for a young star to play Jia Andrews, a deaf orphan who shares a very special non-verbal bond with the blockbuster's outsized simian star.

While the MonsterVerse movies aren't often remembered first and foremost for the depth and rich inner lives of their human characters, Kaylee Hottle brought real heart and soul to the franchise as Skull Island native Jia. Starring opposite the likes of Rebecca Hall, Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, and Brian Tyree Henry (the first two of whom learned ASL from Kaylee and her mother, Ketsi, for the film), Hottle brings real emotional depth to the only character in the franchise with a genuine connection to Kong. Through her physicality and the passion of her signing alone, she expresses and explores a kinship with the Titan that grounds the heavily effects-driven spectacle we go to these movies for in something human, tactile, and resonant. It comes as no surprise to read Hottle's co-star Skarsgård telling Junkee all the way back in 2021 that the young star "steals the movie" in Godzilla Vs Kong — praising her comfortability in front of camera, her receptiveness to directorial notes, and the subtleties of her expressions as an actor.

Having made a one-off appearance in NBC's Magnum P.I. reboot the same year that Godzilla Vs Kong released, Kaylee Hottle reprised the role of 'Kong whisperer' Jia in Adam Wingard's 2024 Titan team-up offering Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. A few years older and with her character's psychic abilities expanded further than before, Hottle once again proves the blockbuster's beating heart in The New Empire, and landed herself a richly deserved Saturn Award nomination for her work in the movie. Not only does Jia play a pivotal role in the MonsterVerse's grander narrative here ('Envoy Of Mothra' is a pretty damn cool calling card for anyone to have on their CV), but — through her relationships with Kong, her tribal Skull Island roots, and her adoptive mother Andrews (Hall) — she once again gives the franchise palpable emotional beats to play between its bursts of kaiju chaos. It would've been so exciting to see what awaited Jia in next summer's Godzilla x Kong: Supernova.

Speaking to The AU Review while promoting The New Empire, Kaylee Hottle laid out her hopes for what starring in the MonsterVerse movies may be able to do for the community she always held so close to heart and championed her whole life through. "I’m acting in monster movies as a deaf person," Hottle told the outlet. "I want deaf people to know that they can do that too, just like me.  There are no limits."

In the hours since news passed of Kaylee Hottle's death, MonsterVerse studio Legendary has taken to X to pay tribute to one of its movies' true shining lights. "We are devastated by the tragic passing of Kaylee Hottle," reads the statement on the studio's socials. "Through her unforgettable portrayal of Jia, Kaylee brought extraordinary heart, humanity, and light to Godzilla, Kong, and the Monsterverse. She was a cherished member of our film family, and her kindness, warmth, and remarkable talent touched everyone fortunate enough to work alongside her. Our hearts are with her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her during this unimaginably difficult time. Rest in Peace, Kaylee."

While Kaylee Hottle's life — and what would've surely been a long, successful career — have been cruelly cut short, her legacy will live on in the movies that she gave us and the trail that she has blazed for the young deaf actors who will now carry the torch and follow in her footsteps. She will be sorely missed, and the thoughts of Team Empire are with her family, friends, and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.

For two seasons, he was The Stranger – a mysterious Middle-earth figure who hotfooted it around with Harfoots and gained a mentor in the one and only Tom Bombadil. But in Season 3 of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, actor Daniel Weyman is a Stranger no more. It just takes one look at that beard, the staff, and – yes – the pointy grey hat to know that he is, in fact, one of the most beloved creations of J.R.R. Tolkien: Gandalf The Grey.

Heading into the new season, Weyman was told by the Rings Of Power showrunners J.D Payne and Patrick McKay that it was time to go full-Gandalf. “Just before we started Season 3, J.D. and Patrick told me: ‘We want to see that Gandalf has arrived. We want to see him as the wizard we all love from Tolkien’s writings’,” the actor tells Empire. It was exactly what he wanted to hear. “I found this new side to him, the side that we all hopefully recognise: the mischief, the twinkle in his eye.”

As well as finally donning the full Gandalf get-up (wearing the hat is “unbelievably spine-tingling,” Weyman says, “I was pinching myself all the way through”) there is much for the wizard to get to grips with, as Middle-earth gets darker and Sauron makes big moves. This season, explains Payne, Gandalf is “going from learning how to control his powers, to understanding that wizards actually have a prophetic dimension. That their job is to inspire the hearts of the people around them to find their own courage to unite against the darkness.” Who can remember the Elvish word for ‘friend’?

Read Empire’s full The Rings Of Power Season 3 cover story – spending three days on set of the epic Middle-earth saga, and speaking to Patrick McKay, J.D. Payne, Charlie Vickers, Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Daniel Weyman and more – in the September 2026 issue, on sale Thursday July 30. Pre-order a copy online here. The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 3 streams on Prime Video from November 11.

2020 was, in basically every way, a horror show. But, the one good kind of horror that year was Rob Savage’s Host – the super-sharp (and super-scary) Zoom-séance movie that announced him as one of Britain’s most exciting horror voices. From there, he went even more subversive with swift follow-up Dashcam, and then adapted Stephen King in his Hollywood studio debut The Boogeyman. Now, he’s back, and teamed up with another great – the legendary James Wan – for another big, bombastic fright-fest: Other Mommy.

Post-Boogeyman, and forced to take some time out during the Hollywood strikes, Savage saw that horror audiences were “hungering for something new and subversive” on their screens. “I knew that the next movie had to be something a little louder and something that was kind of bucking convention. And then I got sent this book,” he tells Empire. That book being Incidents Around the House, from Bird Box author Josh Malerman, in which a young girl is faced with a malignant maternal doppelgänger: Other Mommy. “It tries to be something that you're familiar with, that you're comfortable with, someone that you know that you look up to, to protect you,” says Wan, who produces. Be very afraid.

Now that the Other Mommy trailer has arrived, here’s what Savage and Wan told Empire about it…

Home sweet home

We open in a nice domestic setting, with kid Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark) at home with mum Ursula (Jessica Chastain). “Bela’s seven years old – that age where you're starting to see your parents less as perfect fairytale figures, and more as human beings, flaws and all,” explains Savage. “Just as those cracks start to form in Bela’s perception of her parents, that's exactly where Other Mommy worms her way in.” (Note: Savage, a true Brit, still pronounces it ‘Other Mummy’.) Get ready for some characterful, psychological fears at play. “The emotional journey of the mother-daughter story plays in parallel with all the different ways that Other Mommy’s manipulating and gaslighting and turning up the heat on Bella and the family, as she pursues them across the movie,” Savage says.

Off the Cha(sta)in

Jessica Chastain has always been a screen powerhouse. And she’s no stranger to horror either – see Mama, or IT: Chapter Two. With the dual role of Ursula and Other Mommy, we should be in for something special. “She's horror royalty,” says Savage. “She comes from horror. She loves horror. She understands horror. So being able to play the nuance of that, the villainous role, I think is going to be an iconic horror villain. She's able to put such care and emotion into her role as Ursula, Bela's mother, and play those two characters off each other.” Savage is always looking for a new piece of horror iconography that can become part of wider popular culture. “With the right actor, the right execution, this could be a Halloween costume,” he says. “This could be something that has a legacy.”

Keeping it real

The trailer lets us sit in this domestic dynamic for a while as the tension – and the pasta – boils over. And that’s key to what makes Other Mommy so scary, per its director. “The whole thesis of this book is well, what if this actually happened to you and your family?” says Savage. “What would you actually do? What decisions would you make, that aren’t movie decisions? Real life decisions. What are the ramifications, and how does that affect the family unit?” That realism is heightened by playing through the eyes of its young protagonist. “So much of the story is seen through the perspective of the little kid,” notes Wan. “It has almost a fairytale quality to it. Rob has been able to take something that is fantastical, yet make it in a way that feels grounded and real.”

A mother’s love

One particularly creepy line from Other Mommy gets a moment in the spotlight here: “Can I go into your heart?” It’s a line that holds significance for the creature’s dark intentions. “This is a movie that comes down to a decision that Bela has to make,” teases Savage, tiptoeing around spoilers. “The whole movie plays that tension between Other Mommy and the mother. Her insidious goal is trying to drive a wedge between Bela and her family. That idea of who you let in – good or bad, family or foe – is central to the movie.” We’re going to say, don’t let Other Mommy into your heart. OK?

HOLY FUC-

BOOM. There’s a big jolt, as we see Other Mommy tucked under the kitchen table, limbs tangled, entire body askew. It’s a moment that gets the thumbs-up from Wan, a master of the jump-scare. “Rob really got it,” he beams. “I don't really have to do much, as a producer. So much of what you do is picking the right person for the project, and Rob was definitely the right guy.” For all the psychological stuff at play, Savage promises a terrifying ride of a movie. “Once it starts, it never stops,” he says. “It disrupts all of the usual horror beats and rhythms that you associate with the genre. It's got some of the most scary, jump-filled scenes that I've ever shot.”

Having a ball

You can’t end the trailer without another big Other Mommy jolt. Cue the creature delivering terror in a car-boot ball pit. I mean, who hasn’t had a spooky ball pit experience in their youth? “I was shocked that nobody had ever done a ball pit scare,” says Savage. “I'm sure that now I've said that out loud, somebody's going to say, ‘Well, this movie from 1984…’” It’s a moment that’s original to the movie, scripted by Nate Alston as he adapted the novel. “It’s an image that, again, I thought could be really bold and really iconic – and also set the standard for the movie, which doesn't look like a normal horror movie,” Savage notes. “This is full of colour. We’re seeing the world through a kid's perspective. It's not the kind of grey-green horror palette that audiences are used to.” In Other Mommy, nowhere is safe.

Other Mommy comes to UK cinemas from October 9

Streaming on: Netflix

Episodes viewed: 10 of 10

“I’m from the early 2000s!” says Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins (Will Ferrell), by way of apology for his political incorrectness, in The Hawk. He certainly is. Everything about this Netflix series feels exactly like the sort of thing Ferrell might have appeared in 20 years ago: a frat-pack-adjacent goofy comedy, featuring Saturday Night Live veterans in the cast, a high-concept premise, juvenile humour, at least one Wilson brother — and at the heart of it, a big, brash, balls-out comic performance from Ferrell.

There’s a lot that feels familiar here. Like Talladega Nights, Semi Pro or Blades of Glory, Ferrell plays a goofy, guileless sports star vying for competitive redemption. Like Old School and Step Brothers, he is forced to contend with a smarmy bad guy (here played by SNL’s Chris Parnell). Like Anchorman’s Ron Burgundy, he gets a massive erection (and like that film’s Brian Fantana, he has nicknames for his testicles: Alanis and Morissette).

For the most part, [Will Ferrell's] signature zaniness reigns supreme here, and your mileage may vary on that.

The Hawk is a classically Ferrellian creation, and the actor once again puts in a fearless, vanity-free performance. With his golf visor, chinstrap facial hair, insane tan line and penchant for talking to his golf balls (“Oh, you wanna go into outer space?”), he is a wild and unpredictable presence — he briefly gets his hand stuck in a pickle jar, and has sex on the ashes of his late best friend — as well as a rabid narcissist who completely sidelines his loved ones in favour of golf.

For the most part, the actor’s signature zaniness reigns supreme here, and your mileage may vary on that. But the tone occasionally finds room for other registers: sometime indie darling David Gordon Green directs a few episodes, lending it a gentle, easygoing charm. (Golf is a huge waste of time,” observes one character. “Best waste of time in the world”, responds The Hawk.) The show also holds a clear fondness for parking lots, tailgates and working-class Americana, in a nod to lovely 2024 doc Will & Harper (that film’s Harper Steele is a writer and co-creator here).

There’s half-decent stuff here. But with comedy’s centre of gravity shifting to the small screen these days, what might have once been a tight 90-minute feature now becomes a lengthy ten-episode 5-hour series, and it often drags, especially in the early episodes. Some strange subplots — Hawk’s ex-wife, played by Molly Shannon, spends a lot of time trying to sell her golf-branded alcoholic drink for some reason — puncture the comedic balloon a touch. Still, by the time the final episode swings around, The Hawk remembers some time-worn sports movie tropes with a climax that’s as sweet as it is stupid. Which is perhaps all it needs to do.

Every episode of the Pilot TV Podcast is a joy, but this week's is an extra special joy — an Anya Taylor-Joy in fact. Yes, the Dune: Part Three and Furiosa star is our guest in the studio this week, talking both her new show Lucky on Apple TV and her mutual love of dogs with our very own Steph Seelan.[32:50 — 50:51 approx.]

But that’s not all, folks, because the team — James Dyer, Boyd Hilton, and Steph — also talk through the TV teachers they wish had filled them with knowledge during their formative years; cast an eye over this week's telly news — including Colin From Accounts' third and final season and The Shards trailer; and review three new shows. To wit: the return of twisted crime thriller The Crow Girl (1:10:07) on Paramount+; Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer’s buddy action comedy Ride Or Die on Prime Video (1:32:00); and Will Ferrell’s golfing comedy The Hawk on Netflix (1:43:58). You lucky, lucky lot!

You can watch this week's episode below;

Prefer your pods to be purely audio? Well, you can also listen to this week's episode — which, if you're counting, is #398 — 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.

Streaming on: Apple TV

Episodes viewed: 7 of 7

To be a skilled grifter is to confidently twist almost any situation to one’s advantage. And the greatest pleasure of Apple TV's Lucky — an excellent miniseries created by Jonathan Tropper (The Adam Project, See) and adapted from Marissa Stapley’s 2021 novel of the same name — is watching Anya Taylor-Joy’s titular protagonist quickly adapt to her ever-changing circumstances. An unpredictable and propulsive crime drama, it starts off as a simple on-the-run story on the surface before giving way to an engaging coming-of-age tale.

Lucky goes on quite the journey across these seven episodes. Waking up in a hotel to find her husband Cary (Queer's Drew Starkey) has absconded with their multi-million-dollar loot, she immediately has to spring into action to avoid and evade both the cops and Mob hitmen. Lucky is scrappy, smart and resourceful, but far from invincible, making these encounters tense without being unrealistic. And the big question in the early episodes of where and why Cary ran off with the money — which inevitably has Lucky looking at their relationship in an entirely new light — has a surprising and satisfying mid-series resolution. It also becomes clear that this is a story about the impact of influential childhoods, and how difficult it is for children to outgrow and break away from their parents’ wishes.

Whether Lucky is good, bad, or somewhere in-between, Taylor-Joy ensures that we’re always rooting for her.

This is especially compelling in the case of Lucky and her father John (played with smooth-talking charm by the perfectly cast Timothy Olyphant). The series gets a lot of fun mileage from this daddy-daughter bond; Lucky learned all of her con-artist tricks from John, effectively the Phil Jackson to her Michael Jordan, coaching her from the sidelines in both present day and flashbacks. But as Lucky begins to question the morals of what she does and the consequences it leads to, it puts a strain on their relationship. That there is clearly so much mutual love between them makes this knotty conflict that much more emotional.

Whether Lucky is good, bad, or somewhere in-between, Taylor-Joy ensures that we’re always rooting for her. Able to slip into different personas with a mix of lies laced with truth, it’s a thrill to watch her mentally calculate what she needs to do in any given scenario. And the fact that we’re in her headspace for the vast majority of the series pays dividends for both her character and the storytelling as a whole.

Elsewhere, while the cop and crime boss storylines are a bit clichéd, the performances more than make up for it. As the lead agent with a personal vendetta and the stern Mob leader who still cares for her son respectively, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Annette Bening bring some welcome heft to their roles. We even get William Fichtner giving some palpable menace to Whittaker, the boss to whom Bening’s character reluctantly answers. We should all be so lucky to have a miniseries with a cast this good, all bringing their A-game.

I have the power... to share some pretty exciting news about one of the low-key most fun movies to hit cinema screens in 2026. Yes, we are of course talking about Travis Knight's toyetic blockbuster Masters Of The Universe, which has brought Mattel's iconic 80s He-Man toyline — and its associated classic cartoon series and 1987 Dolph Lundgren flick — to a whole new generation. And the news? Well, despite having only hit cinemas just last month, Knight's movie is set to hit Prime Video this week, right on cue for the summer holidays! Check out the announcement teaser below;

Yup, you heard 'em right. Masters Of The Universe has officially set a 22 July Prime Video drop, meaning viewers can look forward to taking a trip to Eternia from their sofaplex in just a couple of days' time. Having taken the best part of two decades to finally reach our screens, Amazon MGM Studios' swords-and-sorcery caper launched to strong reviews and positive word-of-mouth from fans in June, with cinemagoers revelling in Nicholas Galitzine's turn as Eternia's fish-out-of-water Prince Adam and Knight and writer Chris Butler's tongue-in-cheek yet deeply earnest take on their film's already incredibly campy source material. Despite proving popular among those who made it to the multiplex to watch MOTU's long-awaited big-screen return however, the film — which reportedly cost $170m to make — ended its run with a surprisingly modest $113 million haul at the global box office.

With Masters Of The Universe having found itself in the rare position of being both well-reviewed and well-received by fans but simply not having found its footing at the box office, it'll be fascinating to see over the next few days whether Travis Knight's second major toy-inspired blockbuster (after 2018's Bumblebee) has the power... to become a streaming hit. And honestly, the movie's such an unmitigated hoot — a big, vibrant, knowingly dumb, incredibly fun sci-fi fantasy romp — that we wouldn't be surprised to see it follow in the likes of The Fall Guy, The Suicide Squad, and Mortal Kombat's footsteps as a movie that enjoys a rich second life on streaming. Get it seen, folks! Our hopes of a sequel depend on it...

There are very few TV series playing on the scale of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power. Prime Video’s fantasy epic is a canvas on which to explore the Second Age of Middle-earth, long before Frodo went on his epic trek – a time that saw its own major conflicts of good and evil. But everything you’ve seen so far in Season 1 and Season 2 is just the beginning. The Rings Of Power Season 3 is fast approaching – and it’s about to take everything you’ve seen so far and plunge it into darkness. Sauron is rising. Mordor awaits. And the promise of the show’s title is about to pay off.

Yes, a pivotal piece of Middle-earth history is imminent. “This is the season,” co-showrunner Patrick McKay confirms to Empire, “where Sauron makes the One Ring in the volcano.” Charlie Vickers’ menacing Sauron is no longer in disguise, done with lurking in the shadows. And as he gets on with the business of corrupting Men, Elves, Orcs, and anyone else who steps his way, the stakes of The Rings Of Power are raising considerably. “We have a full-on villain this season, in a way that was quite different before,” says McKay’s fellow co-showrunner J.D. Payne. Sauron’s emergence “changes the tone of the show,” McKay adds. “This third season is darker, more dangerous. No-one is safe.”

For Vickers himself (pictured in the exclusive image above as Sauron, in his stronghold Barad-dûr) the chance to enact such a core moment in the Legendarium was not taken lightly. “The first day I walked onto that set, I cried,” he tells Empire. “What an amazing privilege and honour to be able to tell that story.” The forging of the scene was as epic as the forging of the Ring itself. “We were doing the Ring across two weeks, because the sequence is so long,” says Vickers. The result is, McKay promises, “the single most ambitious, technically challenging sequence we’ve ever done on the show. Charlie’s performance is absolutely staggering. We never could have prepared for it.”

Get ready for a season that will blow Middle-earth wide open. “The first two seasons were all about building out this world,” says McKay. “But throughout that time, we’re lighting all these fuses and setting all these stories in motion. The third season is when all those bombs are starting to explode.” Sauron’s time is coming.

Read Empire’s full The Rings Of Power Season 3 cover story – spending three days on set of the epic Middle-earth saga, and speaking to Patrick McKay, J.D. Payne, Charlie Vickers, Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Daniel Weyman and more – in the September 2026 issue, on sale Thursday July 30. Pre-order a copy online here. The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 3 streams on Prime Video from November 11.

From the very beginning, The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power has been leading to this. The none-more-epic television saga, charting a pivotal era in J.R.R. Tolkien’s world, has transported audiences into the Second Age of Middle-earth with plenty of spectacle, moving its players – Elves, Orcs, Men and more – across the board. And in Season 3, everything’s about to change. Darkness is rising. Sauron is ascendant. And the most important of those Rings Of Power is about to be forged. Get ready for one season to rule them all.

The new issue of Empire brings you a world-exclusive first look at what’s in store in The Rings Of Power Season 3, spending three days on set at Shepperton Studios, where we prowled the halls of Khazad-dûm and Rivendell, the streets of Númenor and the bowels of Mordor, to report on the most epic episodes yet. Inside, we speak to showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne on stepping up – and flashing forward five years – to get to the dark heart of their planned five-season saga. And as well as speaking to Sauron himself, Charlie Vickers, we come face-to-face with Gandalf (Daniel Weyman), Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and more to discuss the forces of good and evil warring for the soul of Middle-earth. It’s packed with never-before-seen images, new character reveals, and plenty more (dor).

This month’s newsstand cover sees Sauron in his stronghold of Barad-dûr, ready to plunge Middle-earth into darkness.

And this month’s subscriber cover sees Gandalf face off against a fearsome Mûmak, with an exclusive piece of art by Carlos Huante.

But that’s not all. Also inside this month’s mag, we pay tribute to the late, great Sam Neill, gone far too soon; venture to Raccoon City for Zach Cregger’s take on Resident Evil; reunite the Wyld Stallyns themselves, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, for a celebration of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey; pay a visit to British stop-motion legends Aardman as they prepare their next feature; shake it all about with a report on the rising popularity of 4DX; and leather up with the director of I Want Your Sex. Don’t miss it.

Empire’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 3 issue comes to newsstands from July 30. And if one does not simply walk into your local newsagents, you can pre-order a copy online here. The Rings Of Power Season 3 comes to Prime Video from November 11.

What are you doing on December 18 this year? If you’re reading this, surely you’re spending the whole day at the cinema doing back-to-back screenings of Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday, which both hit the screen on the same day. (Codename: ‘Dunesday’.) And while we’ve had a few trailers for Denis Villeneuve’s trilogy-closer, things have been thin on the ground on the Avengers front, barring a few tiny teasers. Until now. We finally have a full Doomsday trailer, absolutely packed full of heroes from across various branches of the MCU Multiverse – and offering our first proper look at Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. Watch it here:

Phew! Much to take in there. First, let’s talk our heroes. It seems Thor is taking a major role as one of the final OG heroes still on the board. And in the shiny New Avengers tower, we see Bucky, Ant-Man and Captain America being greeted by the Fantastic Four, along with the God Of Thunder himself. We see Shuri’s Black Panther coming face-to-face with Namor. We see Gambit battling against… Shang-Chi?! And Loki feeling some major stress as the TVA man holding all the timelines together. Yelena battling… herself – except it’s Mystique in disguise! And in the final moments, a “miracle”, in Thor’s words: Steve Rogers, back and bearded and ready for battle. Or will that be Battleworld?

Exciting as it is to see all the above heroes cross paths (notably, there’s no Spidey or Doctor Strange here), we have the arrival of Doctor Doom – Doomsday’s namesake and major selling point. And we’ve long known, of course, that Doom is being played by none other than Robert Downey Jr. He pops up a few times in the trailer, masked and cloaked, but looking seriously formidable. He even goes toe-to-toe with Thor and leaves Asgard’s finest shaken. Here's a shiny new Doom-centric poster, too:

How will all these threads intersect? Will Doctor Doom have any connection to Tony Stark? Will ‘Dunesday’ work as a big blockbuster gambit? (Doomsday actually has Gambit, which helps.) We’ll find out when Avengers: Doomsday hits cinemas on December 18.

Platforms: PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch 2

At a glance, Granblue Fantasy: Relink might look like any of a dozen anime-styled JRPGs. Sure, it has some similarities in the character designs, and there are a few genre-typical tropes at play — you play a teenage adventurer, tracking down a needlessly cryptic clue left by your absent father, all while protecting an innocent maiden with magic powers from an evil empire — but it plays with that familiarity and throws you in at the deep end.

As the game starts, you’re not some directionless waif thrust into a hero’s journey; you’re already captain of the airship Grandcypher, in the company of a six-strong party of warriors and mages, and mid-way into your quest through the floating kingdom of Zegagrande Skydom, searching for the fabled land of Estalucia. Less than an hour in, Lyria — aforementioned mystic maiden — has been kidnapped by an empire of religious zealots, and you’re off to rescue her, uncovering the odd ancient elemental force or impossibly powerful weapon along the way.

Think of it more like a gorgeously animated soap opera with fighting, rather than a cinematic epic.

For genre veterans, it’s refreshingly to-the-point, skipping the usual plot beats (which, it has to be said, bear some strong similarities to Sega’s Dreamcast classic Skies of Arcadia) in favour of getting you into the action, while still proving accessible for anyone who doesn’t understand why 16 fantasies can all be “final”. Although the plot never really delivers anything particularly original in the whole, its various character arcs and the relationships between its increasingly vast cast will keep players invested — think of it more like a gorgeously animated soap opera with fighting, rather than a cinematic epic.

There’s plenty of fighting, too. Playing as the captain — either the male Gran or female Djeeta; interchangeable avatars where the choice doesn’t impact gameplay or story — you wade into real-time battles with a mixture of hack-and-slash combat and special moves on cooldown cycles. Your crew forms the rest of the party, with whom you can pull off even flashier Link Attacks and powerful group special moves. Generally, the party will be controlled by the computer, but optional online play for side quests lets other players fill those slots.

The wider crew is another area where Granblue stands out from the JRPG crowd. While there’s that core cast as the game opens – marksman Rackam, salty skysailor Eugen, witch Io, knight Katalina, and mysterious Rosetta – you can recruit over a dozen more characters to customise the party. That’s a bit of a throwback to the Granblue franchise’s earliest roots as a mobile game, where extra characters were randomly unlocked, but thankfully here, you can choose who to recruit through Crewmate Cards, earned by completing quests. Each extra character has their own play style to master, which can entirely change the synergy of your squad.

Although Granblue Fantasy: Relink was originally released back in 2024, this new Endless Ragnarok edition adds a significant expansion of endgame content, introduces power summons to spice up combat, and tightens up the base game with some quality of life improvements (and brings the whole package to the Nintendo Switch 2 for the first time).

This expansion adds in a chunky new story arc that sees powerful new monsters menacing the world, a half-dozen more characters to unlock, and the new ‘Conflux’ game mode. This is a sort-of roguelike – think Hades II – where you’ll battle through a barrage of baddies, earning a randomised buff after each wave to prepare you for the next. Like much of Granblue Fantasy: Relink, it emphasises perfecting combat builds, and offers plenty of replayability.

Unfortunately, that replayability is sort of mandatory. The added content is vast and welcome, but does highlight one of the biggest stumbling blocks for the game as a whole: to get the best from anything, it requires a lot of grinding.

Along the course of the core game, that often means replaying side quests at ever-greater difficulties to farm the resources to upgrade character stats and weapons, while in Endless Ragnarok’s extra sections_,_ it feels like constant power-scaling to take on the ferociously tough new battles – and that’s before you get to the insanely daunting ‘Chaos’ difficulty tier. Thankfully, the combat system is enjoyable and versatile enough that it never feels like too much of a chore, and the absolute torrent of stuff to improve through that grinding means there’s always something to do, and makes it a rare JRPG that can be digested in brief chunks.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Endless Ragnarok stands as the definitive edition of what was already an engaging game, further enhancing its appealing combat, and packed with activities and interesting characters to discover. Its grand story doesn’t pack in many surprises, but it’s still a fantasy world you’ll enjoy getting lost in.

Can you believe it? 2026 is already half-done. Just over half-done, actually – and thankfully those first six months (plus) have been absolutely stacked with must-see movies. It’s been a bountiful first half of the year, delivering major horror hits, blockbusters on an unparalleled scale, charming comedies, stunning sci-fis and uncategorisable originals.

To mark the midway point of the year, Empire’s critics gathered to tot up a top 10 list of the best movies to have hit our screens so far. These picks were agreed by Empire’s expert staff, comprising films released in the UK from January 1 to now – and there’s really something for everyone here. So, whether on the big screen or on your sofa-plex, check out these 10 must-sees, and prepare for many more cinematic riches to arrive in the back half of the year.

10. Nouvelle Vague

A film... about the making of a film? Has Hollywood run out of ideas? Happily, Nouvelle Vague is full of ideas, perhaps because it is as far away from Hollywood — geographically or creatively — as possible. Despite being made by an American director, the great Richard Linklater, this semi-fictionalised tale of how French New Wave auteur Jean-Luc Godard (Guillaume Marbeck) made his groundbreaking 1960 debut Breathless is très français, down to its red-wine-stained, cigarette-smoke-stenched core. Like any good Linklater joint, it’s a film where an ensemble of creative, intelligent, thoughtful characters muse on life and art. Except, this ensemble is like a Madame Tussaud’s waxwork exhibition of mid-century French filmmaking luminaries, and a hell of a drinking game for arthouse cinema nerds — take a shot every time Éric Rohmer appears on screen! Funny, fascinating and a fierce tribute to the act of making art. JN

Read the Empire review

9. The Christophers

Steven Soderbergh’s fake-out retirement continues to deliver bangers. Hot off last year’s double-whammy of Presence and Black Bag, his art-heist-of-sorts The Christophers proves to be a sly, smart thing; not exactly a thriller, but a shape-shifting, table-turning two hander between Michaela Coel’s unfulfilled forger Lori, and Sir Ian McKellen’s cantankerous artist Julian Sklar. She’s hired by Sklar’s ungrateful kids to secretly finish his ‘Christophers’ portraits, to flog once he’s dead; he takes her on as his assistant, with a side-hustle in psychologically torturing her, but gradually thaws as they try and outwit each other. Compelling, spiky, and charming in equal measure, with a late-career great performance from McKellen, and Coel more than proving his match. BT

Read the Empire review

8. Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie

Of all the films on this list, Nirvanna’s existence feels the least likely. A movie follow-up to a cult Canadian comedy show spun off from a niche online webseries, Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol’s film seamlessly interweaves footage shot way back in 2008 into present-day scenes. For all the technical trickery and editing jiggery-pokery, it is narratively seamless, carefully constructing its timey-wimey plot while packing it with a barrage of full-guffaw jokes. The CN Tower plan. The Hangover scene. The gun payoff. All of these moments are electric to watch with an audience; and the film itself feels alive, too, in its guerrilla street scenes, as Matt and Jay interact with the unsuspecting public. The results are oddly charming, deeply funny, and sweet too. Any chance of ‘Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie: The Sequel’? BT

Read the Empire review

7. Sirāt

Christopher Nolan isn’t the only filmmaker to have delivered an unforgettable, gruelling odyssey about a parent desperately looking to be reunited with their child hit cinemas this year. And what French-Spanish filmmaker Oliver Laxe's Sirāt lacks in Cyclops and Sirens, it more than makes up for in LSD, sick beats, and the kind of sensorial assault that leaves you dazed, confused, and utterly awed. Following a middle-aged dad (Sergi López) and his young son as they search for his missing daughter amid a Moroccan desert rave, Laxe's movie — part road movie, part acid trip, part aching meditation on grief — almost defies explanation. And as it twists and turns, like bodies writhing on the dance floor, it becomes impossible to distinguish the movie's thudding bass from the thumping of your own heart. This is explosive filmmaking. Literally... JK

Read the Empire review

6. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

How’s that for a one-two punch? Nia DaCosta follows up Danny Boyle’s masterful zombie comeback with a deeply soulful, fearsomely sadistic and narratively daring sequel. Returning writer Alex Garland picks up where his previous script left off: with young hero Spike (Alfie Williams, excellent again) entering the ranks of the psychotic Jimmy gang, led by Jack O’Connell on stellar form as Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal. What unfolds is a violent odyssey (no, not that one) through the twisted psyches wrought by the Rage apocalypse, all balanced out by the breathtakingly tender relationship that develops between Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) and infected Alpha, ‘Samson’ (Chi Lewis Parry). When those two threads collides, it delivers a final act for the ages. Crank it up to 11. BT

Read the Empire review

5. The Secret Agent

Memory has been a throughline of Kleber Mendonca Filho’s entire filmography – but never explored more thoroughly than in this lookback at Brazil under the 1977 dictatorship. A cocktail of tension, drama and explosive violence, The Secret Agent is anchored by Wagner Moura’s exceptional performance as Marcelo, a man on the run, quiet and calculating. It fires on all cylinders as a political thriller, but as its near three-hour runtime sizzles away, it's impossible not to let the sun-kissed vibes of small town Recife wash over you, along with its electric cast of characters (Dona Sebastian MVP). In the end you'll find an affecting tale of memory and history, and a stark reminder us that even when those in power try to bury the past, time will always allow it to find a way back to the surface. HS

Read the Empire review

4. The Invite

“Let’s talk about sex, baby,” as Salt-N-Pepa once sang. Never has it been more fitting than in Olivia Wilde’s one-apartment comedy of awkwardness. Feelings, frustrations and, well… the other f-word become the centrepiece of a tale of two couples (Edward Norton, Penelope Cruz, Seth Rogen, and Wilde herself – all excellent). For all its jokes about pegging, The Invite reveals itself to be a tender dissection of long-term relationships, looking at resentment, self-discovery and whether we can truly find each other again after we've lost ourselves. Wilde proves Booksmart was no fluke, kinetically moving the camera around her actors and making a giant cinematic canvas of a single location, all timed to Devonte Hynes’ cello-led score. It's filmmaking that constantly keeps conversation alive, even when the characters want nothing more than to avoid it. An invitation you don't want to pass up. HS

Read the Empire review

3. Obsession

Whoever asked the One Wish Willow for a knock-your-socks off horror ride in 2026, your prayer was answered. Obsession, from rising mega-talent Curry Barker, takes the age-old monkey-paw premise and amps it up into a contemporary nightmare, prodding at notions of consent, coercive control, and the dangers of emotional immaturity with nerve-shredding results – all delivered in a must-see popcorn rollercoaster. Bear (Michael Johnston) is the young man who gets way more than he bargained for when he wishes that crush Nikki (a jaw-droppingly good Inde Navarette) would love him more than anyone else in the world. Cue bludgeonings, night-time nastiness, and some seriously grim cat business as she pledges her devotion to him to inhuman degrees. An instant classic that isn’t afraid to go seriously hard. BT

Read the Empire review

2. Project Hail Mary

Let’s get it out the way: Project Hail Mary is, indeed, amaze amaze amaze. The long-awaited live-action comeback of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller sees them once again seamlessly blend genres: this is sci-fi epic, rib-tickling comedy, pathos-laden tragedy, heart-swelling melodrama, and full-on Muppet buddy movie too. Ryan Gosling gives an astonishingly deft performance as unlikely astronaut Ryland Grace, stuck in a distant galaxy on a mission to save many worlds, straddling those many tones with ease – and once he’s teamed up with alien life-form Rocky (brilliantly performed by James Ortiz and an army of puppeteers), you get a cinematic duo for the ages. You already sense that Hail Mary will become a perennial favourite, a warm and witty blockbuster twinkling with cosmic magic. Two thumbs down. BT

Read the Empire review

1. The Odyssey

Most filmmakers might take a breather after delivering something like Oppenheimer. Christopher Nolan continues to prove he is not ‘most filmmakers’. The Odyssey is another staggering piece of work – taking one of the fundamental stories of human history, blowing it up to mega IMAX proportions, and populating it with a Hollywood who’s-who cast. Captured out in the wilds – on the seas, on cliffs, in caves and castles – it brings Homer’s epic poem to tangible life, embracing its more fantastical elements (Cyclops! Sirens! Transmutation!) with deft filmmaking trickery, as Matt Damon’s Odysseus slogs his way home post-Trojan War. It’s a thunderous, rollocking blockbuster. But in its final reel comes the emotional sledgehammer ending, letting the audience reckon with what Odysseus has wrought before stumbling out of the cinema. Gods-tier cinema. BT

Read the Empire review

Some people watch for the shocking plot-twists and the sexposition. but if you’re trying to follow the history of Westeros through Game Of Thrones and its now-numerous spin-offs – House Of The Dragon, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms and more – you might struggle to map it all out.

Happily, author George R.R. Martin has a detailed timeline for his world, and we have gathered the screen story to date (don’t worry – no book spoilers here!) in one handy, digestible and not-even-poisoned parcel. Hey, after the Purple Wedding it’s best to make these things clear.

How we sorted the timeline order

Our Game Of Thrones timeline order is primarily based on the TV adaptations – which features some subtle but important changes from George R.R. Martin’s novels. The dates of when everything take place are defined by ‘BC’ and ‘AC’ – before and after Aegon’s Conquest, an important moment in Westeros lore (read on for more on that front).

Once upon a time…

Before we seriously get into it, here are a few important bits of early Westeros history.

The Before Times (12000 BC)

12,000-odd years ago, the First Men settled on the continent. It was not entirely empty before their arrival: there were giants, and crucially also the Children of the Forest, small nature-worshipping creatures with mysterious powers. Think Yoda, but antisocial; Tinkerbell, but bigger. The Children planted the weirwood trees that some Westerosi still consider sacred, and warred against (but eventually made peace with) the First Men.

The arrival of the White Walkers and Night King (6000-8000 BC)

Around the 6000 / 8000-years-ago mark there came the Long Night, where winter fell for a generation and the zombie-like Others, aka the White Walkers, came to Westeros. In Game Of Thrones, the White Walkers – and the Night King himself – were created by the Children Of The Forest, intended as a weapon against Man, who was ruining their whole Eden situation. Safe to say, their plan gets a bit out of hand. In Martin’s lore, it’s whispered in legend that an oathbreaking commander of the Night Watch took a “corpse queen” as his lover, and he became the Night King. Either way, the White Walkers necessitated the building of the Wall and the Night’s Watch to keep them at bay.

This is the era of Westerosi history that the cancelled Naomi Watts-starring pilot ‘Bloodmoon’ would have covered – but don’t hold your breath for that one, it sounds like it’s never going to be made after the first episode was scrapped.

The founding of Dorne (Date unknown)

Another series in development was set around this time: Ten Thousand Ships would cover the legendary Queen Nymeria’s foundation of Dorne, a thousand years before Thrones. Brian Helgeland was working on it before it was shelved in 2024, but later that year George R.R. Martin claimed that Pulitzer Prize-winner Eboni Booth was writing another draft, so it might still emerge. It apparently involves giant turtles as well as a boatload of boats, so sign us up.

Game Of Thrones: Aegon’s Conquest (2BC to 1AC)

You know how it goes: a few thousand years pass, not one or two but Seven Kingdoms firm up around the great houses that have already established themselves, and over in Valyria, people use magic to tame dragons and create an empire. A few of those come to Westeros – including the Targaryen family, who build Dragonstone. A century or so later, a guy called Aegon Targaryen and his sisters (who were also his wives) decides that the rest of Westeros looks nice and they’ll take it, thanks. In two years Aegon, his missuses (sissuses?) and their massive dragons conquered and united six of the Seven Kingdoms (Dorne would follow by marriage 200 years later). Aegon’s Conquest is the date from which all others on Westeros are measured; it is their Battle of Yavin, in Star Wars terms. Aegon brought with him the tradition that the people in charge of everything would be super-duper blond and super-super-duper incestuous. It’s a choice!

According to the 2026 Warner Bros presentation at CinemaCon, Game Of Thrones: Aegon’s Conquest – the first cinematic outing for the saga – will hit the big screen sometime after 2027, telling the story of this epic war. Expect dragonfire on the largest possible scale (no pun intended), with Andor’s Beau Willamon on writing duties.

House Of The Dragon: Season 1 (105AC – 129AC)

Season 1 of HBO’s Game Of Thrones prequel – set generally around 200 years before its parent show – covered a lot of time, often at a gallop. King Viserys (Paddy Considine) loses his wife/cousin in Episode 1, and appoints his teenage daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock and later Emma D’Arcy) as his heir. Then he undermines her by marrying her BFF, Alicent (Emma Carey, later Olivia Cooke) and having three sons over the following years: there’s no tradition of Targaryens having ruling queens so this presents a challenge on who’ll rule next. Rhaenyra also has sons, marries her uncle Daemon (Matt Smith), and makes plans to claim her throne.

Alas, she is on Dragonstone when Viserys dies in 129AC, and soon discovers that her half-brother Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), son of Viserys and Alicent, has been crowned instead, at the behest of his mother, grandfather Lord Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), and a faction that become known as the “Greens” to Rhaenyra’s “Blacks”. A civil war looms. Though Rhaenyra initially hesitates to war with family, the tragic death of her son Lucerys at the hands – OK, dragon-teeth – of his cartoonishly villainous uncle Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) sets her on the warpath.

The series also adds an additional wrinkle to the whole quarrel that isn’t present in Martin’s books: Rhaenyra believes, via prophecy from her late father, that some kind of catastrophe (read: the Night King) is eventually coming to Westeros, perhaps imminently, and that it is her duty for her lineage to remain on the Iron Throne for the future apocalypse. This makes House Of The Dragon a more literal Game Of Thrones prequel series, and adds an extra dimension to her quest for power.

House Of The Dragon: Season 2 and 3 (AC 129 – AC130?)

After an opening season that spanned 24 years, Seasons 2 and (so far) 3 have taken place across a matter of months. The civil war known as the Dance of Dragons means that Season 2 boils down to “everyone manoeuvres for position and tries to line up allies for the fight.” Rhaenyra’s son Jaecerys (Harry Collett) flies oop North to talk to the Starks, while Aegon sends Tyland Lannister (Jefferson Hall) over to Tyrosh to enlist the Triarchy fleet against Rhaenyra’s oldest ally, the impossibly cool Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), aka the Sea Snake (he may get his own prequel spin-off, if rumour is to be believed).

Season 3, however, has story coming out its… dragonmouth. Corlys’ fleet defeated the Tyroshi pirates in the Battle Of The Gullet, though at the cost of Jaecerys’ life and dragon, and Corlys’ life savings. Shortly after, Rhaenyra and Daemon take control of King’s Landing and start preparations for her coronation. Alas, the Greens emptied the Treasury and there are rumblings of discontent from the populace. Meanwhile a new and formidable Green military leader has arrived in Lord Ormund Hightower (James Norton), who’s a sneaky bastard with a fondness for the C-word. So far this season promises some devastating drama and more dragon action than the Reign Of Fire poster.

A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: Season 1 (209AC)

It’s no spoiler for House Of The Dragon to say that a branch of the Targaryen family remains; they’re all Targaryens in that war. But 80 years on – and still around 100 years before Game Of Thrones – when the story of The Hedge Knight takes place, the dynasty is much reduced. Their dragons have died, leaving them without their nuclear trump card. Here, young Prince Aegon (Dexter Sol Ansell) is packed off to become a squire for his drunken older brother Daeron (Henry Ashton). Instead he takes up with the lowborn-but-likeable Dunk (Peter Claffey). Dunk ends up fighting for his life in a trial by combat against a more sadistic Prince Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett) as a result – also encountering the rambunctious Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings), and earning the respect of Prince Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvell) along the way. He and “Egg” develop one of the most heartwarming relationships in Westerosi history, which continues in…

A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: Season 2 (211AC)

It’s official: Dunk and Egg will return. Shooting has wrapped on 2027’s Season 2, which we now know will cover The Sworn Sword book. That sees the pair swearing their service to Ser Eustace Osgrey (Peter Mullan), who unfortunately has potentially fatal beef with his neighbour, Lady Rohanne Webber (Lucy Boynton). Alien: Earth’s Babou Ceesay also has a role as Ser Bennis, another knight sworn to service who’s even less level-headed than Dunk, so there should be loads more medieval tomfoolery.

The Mad King (281AC – 283AC)

People have often called the plotting in Westeros “Shakespearean,” and the Royal Shakespeare Company clearly agrees. They’re staging a play of The Mad King, which chronicles the fall of Aerys II (Michael Shaeffer) into madness, the abduction of Lyanna Stark (Harmony Rose-Bremner) by Prince Rhaegar (Noah Ritter) and the rebellion led by Robert Baratheon (Callum Woodhouse) and Ned Stark (Michael Abubakar). It’s set 17 years before the main action of Thrones, though elements of this story were seen in flashback in that show’s later seasons.

Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark are BFFs as we head into Game Of Thrones (keep reading). And The Mad King acts as the missing link between A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms and Game Of Thrones: according to TV continuity (which skipped a generation mentioned in the books, for simplicity) “Egg” is this Aerys’s father. There were rumours of a Robert’s Rebellion TV show in 2021, but this may be as close as we get. The play will be onstage in Stratford-upon-Avon this summer, and promises major Thrones figures as we’ve never seen them before – plus puppets!

Game Of Thrones (298AC – 303AC, approx)

A word of caution: timelines for the Game Of Thrones TV show differ from the Song Of Ice And Fire books. The showrunners wanted slightly older Stark kids, both for production purposes (they can work longer hours) and storytelling reasons (sex and violence). Also as a matter of practicality, while the TV show keeps dates woolly, a rule of thumb is that one year passes per season, in line with the aging of the child actors – at least for the first four or five seasons. By the end, the seasons probably cover a shorter period, so everything becomes woollier still. Oh, and Daenerys’ dragons grow much faster than those in House Of The Dragon; maybe because of all those centuries their eggs spent fossilized? But here’s our best guess.

On TV, it’s been 17-odd years since Robert’s Rebellion (rather than the book’s 15), and Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) in Season 1 asks his auld mucker Ned Stark (Sean Bean) to become his Hand (aka right-hand man), which sets in motion a chain of treachery leading to the death of both men – largely through the machinations of Robert’s wife Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). The War of the Five Kings erupts as a result, and Robb Stark (Richard Madden) tries to unite the North to avenge his father. Meanwhile in Essos, one of the surviving Targaryens, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), is reluctantly married off to Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) of the Dothraki horse people. Over weeks or months they make the relationship work, only for him to be killed and her attempts to resurrect him with dark magic to fail disastrously, taking her unborn child with him. But hey! She hatches three dragon eggs in his funeral pyre, the first dragons born in centuries, so she has that going for her.

By Season 2, Robb takes Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) hostage and attempts to swap him for his sisters Sansa (Sophie Turner) and Arya (Maisie Williams). Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane), Robert’s older brother, unsuccessfully attacks King’s Landing, while Daenerys loses and regains her small dragons in the city of Qarth. Winterfell, the home of the Starks, is burned by the Boltons as war spreads across Westeros and even beyond the Wall in the North, where the Night King is stirring.

In Season 3, more armies are on the march. Robb dies suddenly at his Red Wedding, while Sansa is divorced from abusive King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) and remarried to Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage). North of the Wall, Ned’s bastard son (or is he??) Jon Snow (Kit Harington) enlists the Wildling people against the Night King only to betray them; while in Essos, Daenerys and her lizardy brood hire the eunuch army of the Unsullied and start building an empire.

RIP Joffrey in Season 4, whose own nuptials are brought to an abrupt, choking end at the Purple Wedding – so at least enough time has passed to arrange a Royal Divorce and Royal Wedding. And then, of course, a Royal Funeral. Meanwhile, Jon fights Wildlings at the Wall; young Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) gets in touch with ancient, Children of the Wood-related powers by way of a Three-Eyed Raven, and Daenerys frees the slaves of a slaver’s city.

That’s all very well until the slavers regroup and strike back in Season 5, forcing Daenerys to flee on the back of her favourite dragon, Drogon – who is, pun intended, an absolute beast by this point, despite being a decade younger than little Tessarion in House Of The Dragon. ANYWAY. Tyrion, who was scapegoated for the Purple Wedding, joins forces with her, so she has one new buddy anyway. Jon tries to form an alliance between the Wildlings and Watch, only to be stabbed to (temporary) death for it, and Arya starts training with the Faceless Men in Braavos.

Some time passes, at least, for Arya to learn some skills before she heads back to Westeros in Season 6. Jon is resurrected by Stannis’ right-hand priestess, reunites with Sansa – who has been through it, marriage wise – and takes down the really very dastardly Boltons to reclaim Winterfell and be hailed King in the North. Meanwhile Daenerys gathers her allies and armies and sails to Westeros.

In Season 7, things start to move really fast, and the amount of time it takes to – for example – march from North to South gets extremely fuzzy. Daenerys arrives at Dragonstone and teams up with Jon Snow – and then really teams up with him, bow-chicka-wow-wow – to fight the Night King. Bran learns, in a vision, something that book readers guessed years before: Jon is the trueborn son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, who actually fancied each other; he is both Targaryen and Stark. And technically Daenerys’ nephew (gross). This all ties back in to Robert’s Rebellion and the Mad King.

In Season 8, Daenerys and the surviving Starks reunite at Winterfell and prepare for the attack of the Night King – who Arya dispatches with a surfeit of sneakiness (and a Valyrian steel dagger). That leaves Daenerys free to resume her campaign for the Iron Throne – and, as it turns out, to break bad, torching the city with her dragons in a fit of madness. Eventually, Jon has to kill her to save Westeros. Huh. Luckily for him, a bystanding Drogon doesn’t immediately barbecue him and just flies off instead – not before melting the Iron Throne itself into scrap metal.

Jon, Sansa, Tyrion and the rest of the survivors put Bran on the throne because “Bran The Broken” sounds cool where they come from. Tyrion will be Bran’s Hand and Sansa the Queen in the North. Arya sails off into the West, presumably looking for Gandalf, while Jon rejoins the Night Watch. The end – for now.

What’s next?

In the years since Thrones ended, various rumoured spin-offs have also included whispers of shows set after that big finale. But despite word of an Arya-focused spin-off following her sea voyage, or a Jon Snow spin-off, neither has so far seriously gone into development. But we’re sure Martin will continue the story into the future as well as the past. Any day now…

Everything about Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has been, in a word, big. Big cast. Big budget. Big cameras. Big canvas. Big buzz. And now that the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer filmmaker's Homeric epic is finally playing in cinemas, this outsized trend has continued with a massive opening weekend for the movie at the global box office. Per Variety's reporting, Nolan's newest blockbuster — the first movie ever shot entirely on IMAX cameras — has set sail with a Cyclops-dwarfing $264 million worldwide open.

To put the first frame performance of The Odyssey into context, the movie — which follows Matt Damon's Trojan War hero Odysseus and his gruelling, ten-year journey home to his wife (Anne Hathaway) and son (Tom Holland) — took $124.5 million from 3,919 cinemas stateside this weekend, marking Nolan's best American open since The Dark Knight Rises ($160m) back in 2012. What's more, The Odyssey has also landed Nolan the biggest global opening of his career (not adjusted for inflation), towering over The Dark Knight Rises ($249m), The Dark Knight ($198m), and Oppenheimer ($180m). An impressive feat for an r-rated adaptation of a 3,000 year old poem.

Given that Nolan's latest reportedly cost an eye-watering $250 million to make, and another $125 million in marketing, the Brit auteur will surely be breathing a sigh of relief at his latest epic's expectation-exceeding first weekend takings. Then again, The Odyssey's success probably shouldn't come as any surprise to filmgoers or filmmakers. Not only is Nolan one of the highest profile directors working today (and one riding the post-Oppenheimer Oscars success wave), but recent trends in cinemagoers seeking out celluloid cinema, near-universal critical acclaim and positive word-of-mouth, and that constellation-level starry cast have driven Odyssey hype into overdrive. And with Spider-Man: Brand New Day still almost a fortnight away and IMAX screenings still packed out for weeks to come, there's no reason to suspect The Odyssey's box office, well, odyssey will come to an end anytime soon.

After the recent less-than-stellar performances of DC's Supergirl, Disney's Moana, and Illumination's profitable yet franchise-lowest grossing Minions & Monsters at the box office, this statement-making box office open for the latest Christopher Nolan movie will go some way to helping ensure 2026 delivers Hollywood's biggest summer at the cinema since 2019. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're just off to go and get the next stamp on our Odyssey format punchcard. Hey, you don't have to face Sirens and monster whirlpools to undertake an odyssey, y'know?

Okay. Let’s get the awkward bit out the way first. It’s not coming home — not this year at least, despite Thomas Tuchel and his Three Lions’ best efforts. But while England may have stumbled at the last hurdle, the World Cup Final — pitting Lionel Messi’s Argentina against Lamine Yamal’s Spain — is almost upon us. And even though the prospect of a Jude Bellingham-free final still smarts a little, we’ve checked in with the docs at Empire HQ and football fever still has a hold on us all.

And so, before the big game kicks off at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium this Sunday evening (8pm, don’t forget!), we thought we’d round up a hat-trick of essential football movies to get you in the mood for the big game. Now obviously the world's game has a long, storied, and colourful cinematic history — and as such you'll have to forgive us if we missed your faves (let the record state that strong cases were made in office for Mike Bassett: England Manager, The Damned United, Next Goal Wins, and the modern classic that is Goal!) But still, we reckon the golden trio we've landed on are all cup-worthy bangers.

Without further ado then, rip into a bag of queso-flavoured crisps, crack open a Quilmes, and get ready to triple-bill these three essential football movies. As the great Alan Partridge would say, “Back of the net!”

Escape To Victory (1981)

Director: John Huston | Runtime: 1hr 56m | Buy/Rent on: Amazon, Apple TV, Sky Store

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow, Pelé, Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of John Huston’s loosely true story inspired 1981 classic Escape To Victory — which pits a squad of allied POWs in WWII against the dirtiest German XI imaginable with freedom on the line — is its insane ensemble. Here is a movie in which the likes of Sly Stallone and Michael Caine share a callsheet with some of the greatest players to have ever graced a pitch — from Pelé to Bobby Moore to Osvaldo Ardiles. But look past the star players, the bicycle kicks, and what surely remains some of the best cinematic football ever committed to film, and you’ll find a rousing testament to the indomitability of the human spirit that exemplifies the very best that the beautiful game represents. It’s still a mad shout to have had Sly between the sticks, mind, but that’s football for you! JK

Diego Maradona (2019)

Director: Asif Kapadia | Runtime: 2hrs 10m | Buy/Rent on: Amazon, Apple TV, Sky Store

‘Rebel. Hero. Hustler. God.’ So reads the tagline for acclaimed Senna and Amy documentarian Asif Kapadia’s Diego Maradona. And while that may sound to the uninitiated like a little bit much for a footballer, it’s pretty much bang on the money for this footballer — for Diego Armando Maradona. Pieced together from over 500 hours of never-before-seen footage, Kapadia’s doc charts Maradona’s rise from the slums of Villa Fiorito to World Cup winning glory at Mexico ‘86 and a borderline messianic spell at Italian outfit Napoli. But this isn’t just another rags-to-riches tale. Maradona’s is a story of gangsters, glory, goal-scoring and addiction, of on-pitch heroism and off-pitch hubris that’s equal parts inspirational and cautionary, brilliant and tragic — and Kapadia somehow manages to capture both man and myth, allowing us to draw our own conclusions. If you love football, this is unmissable. And if you don’t? Honestly, still pretty unmissable, actually. JK

Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

Director: Gurinder Chadha | Runtime: 1hr 52m | Streaming on: Netflix

Starring: Keira Knightley, Parminder Nagra, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

David Beckham has been spotted at many of the World Cup matches in the last few weeks – and he looms large over this early ’00s sports comedy favourite, in which Parminder Nagra’s Jess defies her Punjabi family’s wishes and joins an all-female football team. Along with Keira Knightley’s Jules, she experiences the highs and lows of the game (and everything that comes outside of it), all while hoping to channel her idol: Beckham. Add in cameos from Gary Lineker, John Barnes and Alan Hansen, and you have a stone-cold Brit-com classic. Back of the net! BT

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Finished watching these footie films? Why not check out The 59 Best Movies Streaming On Netflix UK? Or our guide to what to watch on Disney+? Or why not start working through Empire’s 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time, a list studded with more stars than Argentina and Spain combined? Just because the World Cup’s coming to an end, it doesn’t mean your summer of top-notch, blockbuster viewing has to be.

Calling all True Believers! Spider-Man: Brand New Day is just days away from hitting cinema screens, bringing with it the return of Tom Holland as Peter Parker — aka everybody's favourite Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man. But as anyone who's been trying to binge-watch all the previous Spidey movies — from Sam Raimi's _Spider-Man _to multiversal epic Across The Spider-Verse — ahead of time will doubtless already know, it has historically been a bit of a nightmare keeping track of where the movies are streaming in the UK. Rejoice then, Spider-Fans: all 10 Spider-Man movies to date just landed on BBC iPlayer!

Yep, you heard us right — as of Sunday 19 July, you can catch up on the whole Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, both of Andrew Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man outings, the complete MCU 'Home' trilogy (including Jon Watts' Spider-Man: No Way Home), and Sony Pictures Animation's spectacular Into The Spider-Verse and Across The Spider-Verse movies for free on BBC iPlayer. (Well, 'free' in the sense that if you have a TV licence then all of the films are available at no extra charge on the streamer.) If you happen to have ever wondered why the complete big-screen adventures of Marvel's web-headed wall crawler aren't all just on Disney+ — or, rather, why only some of them are on there some of the time — then that'd be because Sony Pictures holds the distribution rights to Spider-Man's back catalogue, not Disney, and so the various Peter Parker/Miles Morales movies tend to be given the same treatment as most major studios' titles, hopping between whichever streamer currently has a licensing deal with Sony. And right now, that streamer just so happens to be the Beeb's!

So, with 10 days to go until Destin Daniel Cretton's Brand New Day thwips into cinemas at the time of writing this, you could ditch the World Cup Final, start your Spideython tonight, and finish right on cue to see the MCU's Peter Parker enter 'Spider-Puberty', meet Jon Bernthal's Punisher, and get thwacked by what very much appears to be a returning Savage Hulk. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

Ever since we first learned that Gina Prince-Bythewood would be following up her bone-crunching 2022 historical action epic The Woman King with a blockbuster take on Tomi Adeyemi's brilliant, bestselling YA Afro-fantasy novel Children Of Blood And Bone, we've been chomping at the bit to see what the multi-talented filmmaker has been cooking. And that bit's been getting chomped even more since the reveal of the movie's all-star line-up — including *deep breath* Viola Davis, Regina King, Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tosin Cole, Damson Idris, Bukky Bakray, Lashana Lynch, Amandla Stenberg, and young lead Thuso Mbedu. Happily then, we now have our first proper look at Prince-Bythewood's veritable constellation of stars in action as Paramount Pictures has released a slew of eye-catching new photos from the fantasy movie. Check them out below;

And there you have it: our formal introduction to the mythical, magical African kingdom of Orïsha — whose stunning aesthetic and garb belies, as genre convention dictates, uglier truths and machinations at work within its fractured realm. Among the characters glimpsed here are ruthless rulers Queen Nehanda (King) and King Saran (Ejiofor); Saran's imperious second-in-command Admiral Kaea (Erivo); magic-wielding sacred high priest — or sêntaro — Lekam (Elba); sage Seer Mama Agba (Davis); and the story's troublemaking heroine, white-haired young maji clan member Zélie (Mbedu), who finds herself on a quest to return to her Ikú Clan the magic that was once violently taken from them and lead a rebellion to end their mistreatment in the process. Also pictured here are Zélie's brother Tzain (Cole) and royal sibling duo Amari (Stenberg) and Inan (Idris), all of whom ally to defy — and end — King Saran's brutal rule.

An ambitious coming of age story, a caustic reckoning with slavery and oppression, and a rollicking fantasy adventure indelibly infused with West African mythology, Children Of Blood And Bone — together with its sequels, Children Of Virtue And Vengeance and Children Of Anguish And Anarchy — represents some of the best, most resonant storytelling the genre has produced in the 21st century. With Gina Prince-Bythewood at the helm of its cinematic adaptation and a phenomenal cast in tow, the movie's 15 January, 2027 release cannot come soon enough.

This week's episode of The Empire Podcast sees one of the most revered Chrises in the movie business finally sit down with the director of The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, Oppenheimer and now The Odyssey. Yes, our Chris Hewitt has a lovely chat with Christopher Nolan, as the latter's Odyssey odyssey finally comes to an end. [47:24 — 1:09:28 approx.] Either side of that, Chris (Hewitt) is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Alex Godfrey to pay a heartfelt tribute to the great Sam Neill, who passed away this week at the age of 78; make their selections for the Mount Rushmore of Neill films (by popular public demand); discuss the week's movie news, including the trailer for Tom Cruise's Digger; and review Heartstopper Forever, Couples Weekend and, yes, The Odyssey. With the latter review, in particular, proving so epic it might take you ten years to recover. 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 #725) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Interviews, in which we bring you even more chat with the stars and filmmakers behind each week's biggest movies. The most recent edition finds Chris Hewitt going on his own odyssean journey — to speak to the cast of The Odyssey. Yes, not only did Chris chat to other Chris (Nolan, that is) for the main pod, he also sat down with Matt Damon and Tom Holland, and then Himesh Patel and John Leguizamo, for The Interviews. You lucky ducks! And if you're after even more podcasting goodness, our newly launched Empire+ subscription awaits... go check it out!

Christopher Nolan has long been fascinated with depicting fear on screen – just think back to Batman Begins and its depiction of Scarecrow, or the PTSD flashes in Oppenheimer. But The Odyssey might be the closest he’s come yet to giving us full-on horror setpieces — from Odysseus' cave ordeal with the Cyclops, to the brutal Laestrygonians, to a terrifying encounter with Samantha Morton's enchantress Circe. All of which has left everyone online asking the same question: when will Christopher Nolan make a horror movie?

“I’ve always been interested in doing a horror film," Nolan tells Empire, speaking on this week's Empire Podcast. "But horror is most successful when the conceptual framework of whatever the story is is just so undeniable. I think there are very few really great horror movies.” The only thing stopping him from going full-horror is that he simply hasn't found the right project yet. “I’ve never clicked with a particular idea or concept that worked for me," Nolan explains, though his passion for the form is undeniable. "I love the genre," he says. "Of all genres, it’s the most visceral. Where the direct response to the audience is the most important. That is to say, you’re trying to make people literally feel something in their bones about what’s going on on-screen.”

It is, he says, a “genre in which experimentation is demanded," the appeal of which is clear for a man known for changing the game. "I go to see a lot of horror films with my kids and stuff these days, and you’ll see things in the first half an hour, 45 minutes of any horror film that you’d never see in another genre," explains Nolan. "Risks that are taken. Dangerous approaches to things and all the rest. Admittedly, a lot of movies can’t sustain that to the end. But in the horror genre, that kind of innovation is not just respected – it’s really demanded.”

When it came to crafting The Odyssey's scariest sequences — like Samantha Morton's Circe scenes — Nolan and his team took cues from some true greats. “I come from that really cool era of ‘80s transformation movies, with incredible technology by geniuses like Rick Baker and Rob Bottin," shares Nolan, nodding to effects legends from the likes of An American Werewolf In London, The Thing, and The Howling. "We wanted to get back to that era of tactility in visual effects, and try and add something to it. I challenged my team to come up with a technology that could be driven by performance, so that rather than telling [Samantha Morton] exactly where to stand, or exactly how to do things, we wanted to come up with an approach to that sequence where she could lead it. Her performance could lead it. It was really thrilling stuff to shoot, I have to say.” Here's hoping Nolan goes full-Scarecrow soon and delivers audiences a real lungful of fear gas.

The Odyssey is out now in cinemas

Nobody makes movies like Christopher Nolan. From his beginnings making brain-twisting psychological thrillers like Memento and Following, he went on to make brain-twisting psychological thrillers with massive budgets, practical action set-pieces galore, and a whole generation of A-list stars. From Inception to Interstellar, via Dunkirk and The Dark Knight Trilogy, he’s done things his own way, drawing incredible performances from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey (even Harry Styles too), staying firm and true to his predilection for IMAX cameras and analogue film, while conjuring massive original summer movies in an era dominated by sequels, remakes and familiar IP.

The arrival of a new Nolan film is nothing less than a major moviegoing event. Which is why, as Nolan's mythic epic The Odyssey sets sail in IMAX cinemas across the land, Team Empire presents its ranking of all 13 Christopher Nolan movies. And hey, they’re not presented in chronological order – consider that its own tribute.

All 13 Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked

13) Insomnia (2002)

If you're in a Christopher Nolan movie, chances are you're not going to get a relaxing night's sleep. Batman spends his evenings standing on the rooftops, glaring into the night. The dreamers in Inception wake up more knackered than when they dozed off. To paraphrase the Dylan Thomas verse that Michael Caine recites in Interstellar, nobody's going gentle into that good night. So it's no big surprise that one Nolan protagonist spends the entire runtime of a film failing to get 40 winks. Insomnia's bleary cop protagonist Will Dormer (Al Pacino) is haunted by guilt and plagued by permanent daylight, stuck in an Alaskan town until he shuts a grisly case. The film he anchors, a remake of a Norwegian thriller, has a reputation as a minor Nolan; after all, there's precious little of his time-futzing trademark, and zero Michael Caine. But if you give it another go, you'll be reminded that it's a cracking little psychological study of a man on the edge, full of haunting imagery (Pacino, gun in hand, whirling through fog) and boasting a sensational performance by Robin Williams as a friendly-looking killer. The two stars and Nolan are uncharacteristically muted, which only makes the movie's strange mood linger longer. Don't sleep on it.

Read Empire's review of Insomnia.

12) Following (1998)

Long before he went on to make some of the biggest movies of all time, Christopher Nolan made one of the smallest. But despite its micro-budget (reportedly in the realm of $6000), his lo-fi debut is unmistakably Nolan — a sly, paranoid crime story told in non-chronological order, stacked with twists that unfold right until the very last second. The title refers to the habit of its lead character (known only as 'The Young Man', and played by Jeremy Theobald), who looks out for interesting people and just… follows them. But when one of his stalking subjects turns out to be a slick criminal Cobb (Alex Haw), it's not long before our lead is groomed into becoming a burglar. Shot in central London in black-and white, Following is a particularly Hitchcockian noir — with its mysterious buttoned-up masculine protagonists, an alluring blonde bombshell (Lucy Russell), and a spiralling descent into crime. At only 69 minutes, it's a brief but potent introduction to a filmmaker who would go on to much, much bigger things — but taking the ethos established here with him the whole way.

Read Empire's review of Following.

11) The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

After the majestic arrival of Batman Begins and the exhilarating escalation of The Dark Knight, the final instalment in Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy had its work cut out for it. That it doesn't quite match either of its predecessors is less an indictment of Rises, more an acknowledgement that Nolan had raised the bar near-impossibly high. For all its flaws – a baggy middle act, plotting that doesn't hold up to the tightest scrutiny, some questionable people-vs-the-elite politics – it's still a thunderous final chapter, a summer-blockbuster-as-revolutionary-epic that dares to make big storytelling swings in its exploration of Bruce Wayne and Gotham City. In the shadow of Heath Ledger's Joker, Tom Hardy offers brute physicality in his intense (and occasionally unintelligible) performance as Bane, while Anne Hathaway adds lightness as a sly cat-burglar incarnation of Selina Kyle. In truth, it's not a wholly satisfying conclusion to the trilogy – but by anyone else's standards it's a towering work.

Read Empire's review of The Dark Knight Rises.

10) Tenet (2021)

When it comes to Nolan's palindromic spy thriller Tenet, we heed Clémence Poésy's words of wisdom: “Don't try to understand it. Feel it.” Sure, you could spend your time making flowcharts to map the movie's wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey chronology. And you could give yourself an aneurysm trying to track that bonkers third act. And yes, subtitles are probably advisable. But don't let any of that distract you from the fact that this movie — ostensibly Nolan's James Bond — is a stylish, sensorially striking 150-minute hoot! John David Washington is cooler-than-cool as The Protagonist. Robert Pattinson is aces as the mysterious Neil. And each set piece — plane crash, inverted corridor fight, temporal pincer movement and all — is a feat of brains and brawn. Is this Nolan's best film? No. Is it his most straight-up fun one though? Quite possibly. And we're still trying to figure it out, half a decade later.

Read Empire's review of Tenet.

9) Batman Begins (2005)

The big-screen Batman franchise was in a very, very different place before Christopher Nolan got involved. After Burton's gothic weirdness and Schumacher's campy neon-kitsch, the prospect of grounding Bruce Wayne's story in a Gotham that felt distinctly real-world seemed baffling. But that's exactly what Nolan did, taking a deep-dive into the psychology of its grief-stricken central hero, asking how exactly an orphaned billionaire decides to fight crime dressed as a giant bat. With its ninja-training sequences, tank-alike Batmobile, and evil pharmacologist baddie (Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow), it's a thrilling ground-up reinvention of the entire mythos that still feels inspired – everything from Bond to Superman to Sherlock felt its impact. As well as being an exploration of fear itself, in investing so much time in Christian Bale's characterisation of Bruce Wayne, it's the greatest outright 'Batman' movie of the three – especially since The Dark Knight, really, is all about the other guy... but more on him later.

Read Empire's review of Batman Begins.

8) Dunkirk (2017)

Of course a Christopher Nolan war movie wasn't going to operate like any other kind of war movie. For one, there isn't really much war in it — it's a flat-out survival story, thousands of Allied soldiers stuck on a French beach and hunkering down amid enemy attacks until civilian boats can whisk them away. And then there's the ticking-clock chronology, Nolan splitting the Dunkirk evacuation story into three distinct timelines, each running at a different speed — the boots-on-the-ground soldier's-eye view, the boats-on-the-sea position, and the planes-in-the-air perspective. Come the final reel, all three strands weave together ingeniously — and the ride there is absolutely breathless, the constant threat of danger and imminent death underpinned by a panic-attack tick-tick-ticking score from Hans Zimmer. For all the star-studded names (Branagh! Hardy! Rylance!) it's the casting of the newcomers – Fionn Whitehead, Aneurin Barnard, Harry Styles (who he?) – that's most effective, all looking so young and vulnerable, none of them assured to make it to the end credits.

Read Empire's review of Dunkirk.

7) Memento (2000)

On paper, it is a concept so hare-brained, highfalutin and head-scratchable that you wonder how a filmmaker ever managed to get it made in the first place. So it's going backwards, but also forwards? And it's in colour, but also black-and-white? And it starts at the end, but also the middle, and finishes at the beginning? Any film that needs to be explained with diagrams doesn't scream bankable blockbuster. And yet the confusing structure of Memento — a remarkably audacious American debut for a filmmaker who had not even turned 30 yet — is not a bug, it's a feature: inspired by our neo-noir narrator Leonard (Guy Pearce), whose anterograde amnesia, played like an anti-superpower, gives the film its elegantly disorientating structure. Forever fascinated with the nature of time, and how he can tamper with it through cinema, Nolan has tinkered with tempo like a watchmaker throughout his career, but perhaps never as successfully or as satisfyingly as this early entry. And you don't need a tattoo or a polaroid to believe that.

Read Empire's review of Memento.

6) The Prestige (2006)

Sandwiched between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, a rising Nolan snuck in this beguiling, intoxicating, and darkly disturbing tale of obsession, rivalry, and the power of illusion. Based on Christopher Priest's novel, it casts Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as competing 'magicians' in the Victorian age, each intent on one-upping the other and discovering their secrets, no matter the (perhaps terrible) cost. Bearing Nolan's trademark jumbled chronology, it's ingeniously structured like an illusion itself, laid out in Michael Caine's exposition as The Pledge (the set-up), The Turn (the surprise twist), and The Prestige (the big reveal). If this seems like minor Nolan compared to his heavyweight blockbusters, it really isn't –—it's just as exhilarating as any of his action spectacles. It's a film about what it means to have the audience in the palm of your hand, to deliver something they never expected, all the ingenious machinations hidden away, to create something that, on the surface, could only be pure magic. And that's Christopher Nolan through and through.

Read Empire's review of The Prestige.

5) Oppenheimer (2023)

Zeroing in on J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team of scientists' creation of the atomic bomb, Nolan's Oscar-winning Oppenheimer is a muscular, cerebral work of art that reckons with the price to be paid – both personally and on a global scale – for pursuing the act of creation, taking a world-altering theory and putting it into devastating practice. An all-star cast (Emily Blunt! Florence Pugh! Robert Downey Jr.! Matt Damon!) is spearheaded by a transcendent Cillian Murphy, who perfectly portrays Oppy's shock, awe, brilliance, and bone-deep guilt for playing Prometheus in an age of nuclear power. From the Trinity Test, to the courtroom, to some profound pond-side pondering with Albert Einstein, Oppenheimer's three-hour runtime may be daunting — and the movie's pace deliberate in the extreme — but man is the juice worth the squeeze here.

Read Empire's review of Oppenheimer.

4) The Odyssey (2026)

What do you do with all that Oppenheimer clout? You take half of Hollywood, a fleet of ships, and an army of IMAX cameras to the seas, the mountains and beyond and make The Odyssey. Nolan’s take on Homer's epic is both as lyrical as the ancient poem it draws from (boasting gorgeously dreamlike editing) and also an all-out, monster-packed summer blockbuster — tracking Matt Damon’s Odysseus and his journey from the ruins of Troy all the way back to Ithaca, via Cyclops, battle-giants, Gods, Sirens, witches and more. For all the sheer spectacle — captured entirely on IMAX for the first time in Nolan’s (or anyone else’s) career — it continues the filmmaker’s late-career preoccupation with the decline of the world, ultimately a soul-searching tale as Odysseus reckons with his rights and wrongs as he strives to reunite with wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland). Movies don’t really get bigger than this.

Read Empire's review of The Odyssey.

3) Interstellar (2014)

After conquering Gotham and then delving into the deepest depths of the subconscious in Inception, there was nowhere to go but up, outwards, beyond. And so Interstellar was the film that shot Christopher Nolan into the stratosphere, a movie that's simultaneously his most epic and intimate work. Envisioning a future Earth (an unspecified number of years away) facing annihilation as a crop blight threatens starvation to a decimated population, Matthew McConaughey's pilot Cooper is sent on an intergalactic mission: head into the cosmos, explore a wormhole, and find a new home for humanity among the stars. While some scoff at its out-there final act, Nolan uses his biggest and boldest ideas – bolstered by theoretical astrophysics courtesy of Kip Thorne – to tell an emotional father-daughter story. It's not without good reason that this film seems to get more and more popular year on year. It's a tearjerking doozy.

Read Empire's review of Interstellar.

2) The Dark Knight (2008)

And away… we… go! After constructing a whole new Gotham in Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan introduced the clown intent on tearing the whole thing down. Despite being a Batman movie (albeit the first ever not to have 'Batman' in the title), The Dark Knight is absolutely The Joker's show – the late, great Heath Ledger (an initially controversial choice) putting in a visceral, transformative, truly terrifying performance as the Clown Prince Of… not exactly Crime, but pure, unadulterated Chaos. Less than a decade after 9/11, Nolan re-conceived Batman's greatest foe as an unpredictable terrorist intent on turning the people of Gotham against each other — his actions intended to spark mass discord pulled off in jaw-dropping set-pieces. For all the spectacle, this is a very different blockbuster from the off — the genius opening clown-mask bank heist is the film in miniature, an ambitious crime saga clad in superhero trappings, daring and ruthless and full of surprises. The Dark Knight is full-strength, no-holds-barred, firing-on-all cylinders Nolan.

Read Empire's review of The Dark Knight.

1) Inception (2010)

Emboldened (and financially empowered) by the success of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan then went to a place only he could: several layers into his own subconscious. Inspired by his own experiences of lucid dreaming, Nolan spun the potential of malleable dreamworlds into an ultra-smart, ultra-exciting blockbuster that pumps adrenaline and taxes the brain at the same time. Leonardo DiCaprio is Dom Cobb, visionary, dream-weaver, plus criminal, who has a talent for hacking into people's dreams and stealing their secrets. But his latest job will be more complex – planting an idea inside the mind of Cillian Murphy's Robert Fischer while he sleeps, aided by a team of gunslingers, architects, and thieves. The result is part Bond movie, part action spectacle, part mind-bending psychological thriller, playing out across multiple dream-layers that threaten to topple at any moment as Cobb's own brain-glitch (the guilt-ridden memory of his dead wife Mal, played by Marion Cotillard) brings its own complications. Dizzying, complex, and unlike anything else around – it's a masterpiece that only could have been made by Christopher Nolan.

Read Empire's review of Inception.

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Finished with our Christopher Nolan ranking? Why not see how many of the master's works have made it onto our 100 Best Movies list? And if you're craving more rundowns of auteurs' filmographies, then our Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Quentin Tarantino ranked lists have you sorted!

The Odyssey is finally here. Trojan Horse popcorn buckets are out there. Ludwig Göransson’s lyre and aulos are all we can hear. And everyone is talking about aspect ratios, film formats, and the discerning cinephile's holy grail that is IMAX 70mm. After all that build-up, Christopher Nolan has just delivered a mythic epic for the ages.

And now that we have all joined Matt Damon’s Odysseus on his long journey home to Ithaca, we're happy to let you know that there are several films that can satisfy your Homeric appetite even further. To wit, Empire has gathered three great Odyssey movie adaptations (and, in one case, a particularly relevant Odyssey-adjacent recommendation) to keep your Hot Homer Summer sizzling nicely.

And so, formalities dispensed with, here are three movies to check out after you've had your mind blown by The Odyssey — in cinemas now!.

The Return (2024)

Director: Uberto Pasolini | Runtime: 1hr 56m | Rent/Buy: Amazon, Sky, Apple TV

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Charlie Plummer

Uberto Pasolini’s The Return may have flown somewhat under the radar upon release, but if you’re after a character-driven, Gods-light take on Homer’s epic before heading into Nolan’s Odyssey then look no further. Moving beyond Cyclopes, Sirens, and Circe to tell a tale with feet firmly planted upon terra firma, Pasolini’s film focuses on Odysseus’ return to Ithaca after twenty years abroad — and on the trials that await him there as he sees what’s become of his beloved wife and kingdom. Ralph Fiennes is sensational as a grizzled, PTSD-stricken Odysseus, while Juliette Binoche is a figure of grief and stoic grace as Penelope. And when the two finally come together for the legendary bow-and-axes finally, the pay-off to the film’s previously patient, slow build is quite tremendous. If you want to get into the headspace of The Odyssey’s hero before locking in for Nolan’s film, then this is your go-to. JK

O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000)

Directors: Joel & Ethan Coen | Runtime: 1hr 47m | Rent/Buy: Apple TV

Starring: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter

If swords and sandals aren't your thing, then the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? might be the adaptation you're looking for (yes, we are being serious). Swapping Ithaca for rural Mississippi, the Coens' loose adaptation of Homer's text sees the Soggy Bottom Boys (including George Clooney on top form) break free from their chain gang in search of buried treasure, encountering all sorts of Southern oddballs along the way. Each fills in for a character from the original text, and fear not, the Cyclops even makes an appearance, reimagined as a one-eyed Bible salesman. The Coens' take on Homer is one of their quintessential comedies and perfect for anyone looking for a different flavour of the iconic journey. HS

Troy (2004)

Director: Wolfgang Peterson | Runtime: 2hrs 43m | Streaming on: HBO Max, Now TV

Starring: Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Eric Bana, Brian Cox, Sean Bean, Brendan Gleason, Diane Kruger

Fine, hands up: this technically isn’t an adaptation of The Odyssey. But Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 swords-and-sandals epic – firmly part of the post-Gladiator boom for the genre – is an adaptation(ish) of The Iliad; think Homer’s official Odyssey prequel. Its central figure is Brad Pitt’s Achilles, the Greek warrior who battles his way through the Trojan War – alongside Odysseus, here played by Sean Bean. They even do the whole Trojan Horse bit, which is where Nolan’s The Odyssey begins, preceding the narrative of Homer’s poem with some city-raiding action. It might not be a tonal match for Nolan’s film, but Troy will give you a sense of the story behind the story. BT

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Finished watching these mythic epics? Why not check out The 59 Best Movies Streaming On Netflix UK? Or our guide to what to watch on Disney+? Or why not go all in and start your own Odyssean journey through Empire’s 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time? Now that really would be an undertaking of godly proportions…

Warning: Contains spoilers for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

When Christopher Nolan assembles a movie cast, fans immediately scramble to figure out who’s playing who. That’s because his last two ensembles – on Oppenheimer, and The Odyssey – have been mind-blowing rosters of some of Hollywood’s biggest talent. In his epic retelling of Homer’s Ancient Greek poem, he has A-listers and legends – Charlize Theron, Zendaya, John Leguizamo, Lupita Nyong’o – in relative bit-parts. But while The Odyssey is stacked with astonishing performances across the board, one emerges as the unexpected, unforgettable soul of the movie: Elliot Page.

Rumour online had it that Page – in his second Nolan collaboration, 16 years after starring in Inception as Ariadne, notably a name of mythological Greek origin – would play Achilles. But instead he appears as Sinon, one of Odysseus’ men (notably not from Homer’s Odyssey, but from Vigil’s The Aeneid) who has a different fate in the Trojan War. It’s a small role, accounting for a mere handful of The Odyssey’s 173 minutes. In fact, Sinon is absent for the actual odyssey itself. But it’s an incredibly powerful performance that looms large over the whole movie, framing Odysseus’ journey – and personal failings – across the runtime.

Page’s face is one of the first we see in the film: he’s left alone on the beach to be the messenger to the Trojans that the warring Greeks have left them a gift – a large wooden horse. Who could refuse? And in the Trojans’ (as it turns out, highly-warranted) suspicion, Sinon is killed for his trouble, punctured with arrows before the sacking of Troy has even begun. It’s an unceremonious end, a tragedy in its own right.

Page's performance is rageful and righteous, but tragic and touching.

But over the film, Sinon re-emerges to become the embodiment of Odysseus’ guilt, as the Siege eventually becomes recontextualised, and we come to understand our supposed hero’s shame and remorse. On the dark sands of Hades, the Greek underworld, Odysseus comes face-to-face with Page’s Sinon once more in the middle of his journey; the soldier’s spirit (or, ‘shade’) appears and delivers a crushing hidden truth to the audience. In chiding Odysseus for his shortcomings – and outright deceptions – we learn that Sinon, too, was deceived. Unlike in The Aeneid, this version of Sinon didn’t know that his fellow men were nestled in the Trojan Horse; he truly believed it to be a gift in the name of the goddess Athena. He died for that belief. He is yet another victim of Odysseus’ lie.

It’s already compounded by the fact that Sinon never should have been there in the first place. He was drafted as a young boy in the place of Antinous, Robert Pattinson’s deliciously slippery suitor, who now vies for the affection of Odysseus’ wife Penelope back in Ithaca. The young Antinous’ short-straw was swapped for Sinon’s, sending Page’s character off to fight in the war instead – another ruse in which Odysseus is complicit, agreeing that Antinous should stay home to be a companion to his son, Telemachus (Tom Holland).

This pile-up of lies all comes crashing upon Odysseus in Sinon’s form. Page plays it perfectly. He is rageful and righteous, but tragic and touching, a vision of wasted life smeared in the black ash of Hades. It’s truly haunting; no wonder that Odysseus himself is literally haunted by Sinon’s spectre. Among the heft of the Cyclops setpiece, the lure of the Sirens, and the body-horror terror of the Circe sequence (another major standout), it’s the Hades sequence that truly chills the blood – largely thanks to Page’s performance.

Sinon begins the movie, and re-appears during Odysseus’ journey. But he’s also present thematically in its final chapter. When Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, disguised as a beggar, he takes on a name of great significance: ‘Sinon’. “The bravest man I’ve ever known,” in Odysseus’ words. And as we come to learn, he doesn’t come home in swaggering victory; he returns to reckon with his complicity in devaluing the sacred codes of the world. He has lied, and those lies have cost many, many lives – in Troy and beyond, Sinon’s included. He assumes the mantle of the thing that has haunted him; much as Bruce Wayne internalises the Bat when he returns to Wayne Manor in Batman Begins. And when Odysseus finally takes down Antinous, he returns Sinon’s swapped straw to him too – an item that has become as totemic as his Athena brooch. It is some small measure towards making things right.

It’s been a long time since Elliot Page appeared in a blockbuster movie – his last was perhaps X-Men: Days Of Future Past in 2014. But seeing him back on the big screen, and working back with Nolan again, was a reminder of his talent and gravitas. With a small role, he remains present of mind in The Odyssey from beginning to end – and long to linger after the credits roll too. Encore, please!

The Odyssey is out now in cinemas

Well, this isn’t news we expected — or wanted — to be sharing this morning. Ronald D. Moore’s upcoming live-action God Of War series has been forced to make a major change to its line-up before filming has even finished on the first season of Prime Video’s ambitious videogame adaptation. Per Deadline’s reporting, the show is in search of a new Kratos after star Ryan Hurst, who had originally been cast as the iconic PlayStation character, sustained a major injury while shooting the Norse epic.

According to Deadline, the decision to replace Hurst — who had reportedly put on 40lbs of muscle and visibly undergone a major physical transformation to embody his godly role — came following painstaking consideration by the series’ co-producers, Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios. It is believed (and has been reported by TMZ) that former Sons Of Anarchy star Hurst tore his bicep while filming a stunt scene for the series last month. And while the actor has since successfully undergone surgery and is expected to make a full recovery, that recovery timeline (for a torn bicep you’re looking at half a year, and likely significantly longer, on the sideline) sadly has proven irreconcilable with God Of War’s strict production shooting schedule.

Deadline’s sources understand that four episodes of Moore’s series — which entered production in Vancouver back in February — had been fully shot at the time of Hurst’s injury, with the plan now being to regroup in mid-August ahead of an expected mid-October start on reshooting. Despite the devastating news that Hurst, currently able to be seen lighting up the big screen in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, will no longer feature in Prime Video’s God Of War, the rest of the streamer’s 'god-and-his-boy' Norse saga’s cast remain fully committed to carrying the torch. Callum Vinson is still on to play Kratos’ kid Atreus, while we can also continue to look forward to seeing Max Parker as Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Teresa Palmer as Thor's wife Phoebe/Sif, Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Danny Woodburn and Jeff Gulka as brothers Brok and Sindri, and Ed Skrein as Baldur.

At this stage, we’ve no word or even whisper yet regarding who could step into Ryan Hurst’s sizeable shoes as Kratos on Ronald D. Moore’s show, currently set for a minimum two-season run as Prime Video looks to go toe-to-toe with HBO’s The Last Of Us in the prestige drama game-to-series stakes. But as soon as we hear more, you’ll be the first to know. And until then, our best wishes are with Ryan Hurst for a full and speedy recovery.

2026 has already proven quite the year to be a Taylor Sheridan fan. We're scarcely halfway through and already we've had two Yellowstone spin-offs (neo-Western police procedural Marshals and Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton-centred Dutton Ranch), Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer starrer The Madison, and a jail survival guide handily entitled How Not To Die In Prison. And now we've got a fresh look at Lioness Season 3, the latest instalment in Sheridan's underrated, Zoe Saldaña led Paramount+ series about an elite, women-fronted CIA spec ops unit. And if the new trailer's anything to go by, Saldaña's Joe and her team are in for a hell of a season. Check it out below;

What did we tell you, eh? It's all kicking off! Joe's feeling the strain at home as she reminds her family that she is, per her own words, "a soldier'. The Lionesses find themselves facing threats from all angles as covert enemies threaten to publicly out them, with Morgan Freeman's U.S. Secretary of State Edwin Mullins and Michael Kelly's CIA Deputy Director of Operations Byron Westfield warning Joe that America's national security has been compromised. And Joe's boss Kaitlyn (a returning Nicole Kidman) is also on hand — in case all the drone-bombings, threat-level talks, and grave faces hadn't given the game away already — to warn her that she needs to get ready. For what exactly, we don't yet know. But the cut from a screaming Saldaña to her coldly saying "I'm going to find who did this and kill them all" suggests she's probably not getting ready for a staff karaoke night...

The official synopsis for Lioness Season 3 — which also stars the likes of Laysla De Oliveira, Dave Annable, Jill Wagner, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan — reads: "In Season Three, hidden networks, foreign operatives, and personal betrayals collide. Joe (Saldaña) walks the line between duty and home as unseen forces circle her world. Patterns appear where they shouldn’t, names vanish, and paths rearrange. Guided by Kaitlyn (Kidman) and Westfield (Michael Kelly), Joe confronts enemies operating in the shadows, leaving her to reckon with a war that now reaches into every part of her life."

With Season 2 of Lioness having already brought the tension between the CIA's fight against terror and the personal cost of that fight for our Lionesses into sharper relief, it looks like Season 3 is doubling down and upping the ante to a whole new level. And to that we say bring on 2 August, bring on Lioness Season 3, and for the love of plaid please take a holiday Taylor Sheridan. Sheesh!

Ever since zombies first rose up on the big screen, they’ve spent decades dominating movies and more in their shuffling hordes. One of the archetypal horror characters, the walking dead have endured in popular culture for over half a century, emerging and evolving in new forms, eating away at the collective consciousness. While vampire movies might be home to the quintessential horror monster, there’s a haunting sense of the uncanny to a zombie — someone who’s neither dead nor alive, a former friend that has become a mindless enemy, all infused with the terror of cannibalism — and yet they’re also a blank slate, a metaphor ripe to reflect the fears and foes of whatever year they appear in.

With the obvious caveat that no TV shows can munch their way into our line-up (no, not even The Last Of Us — which, technically, isn't about zombies anyway in all fairness!), Team Empire presents a list of the greatest zombie movies. Some represent mindless, blood-splattered fun, others boast brains as well as bursting innards and rank among the best horror movies ever made — but from scuzzy, sickening gonzo gore-fests to genre-twisting hybrids (and even a family-friendly favourite or two), there's a man eater for all seasons amongst the cinematic escapades of the undead masses.

How We Chose The 25 Best Zombie Movies

In creating Empire's list of the 25 best zombie movies of all time, we turned to our experienced team of critics and contributors here at the biggest movie magazine in the world to pool their expertise. Now, having weighed up the team's shortlists and their entries' artistic merit, cultural impact, and overall undead credentials, we have after much heated discussion settled on our final line-up. Destined to delight some, enrage others, and befuddle a great many more gorehounds among you, we nevertheless believe we've landed on a damn fine rundown of a quarter-century of the greatest zombie flicks around.

So don your protective gear, tool up (anyone got a cricket bat?), dive right in — and don't forget to double tap!

The 25 Best Zombie Movies — And Where To Stream Them

25) Tombs Of The Blind Dead (1972)

Director: Amando de Ossorio | Runtime: 1hr 41m

Starring: Lone Fleming, César Burner, María Elena Arpón

For anyone eager to sink their teeth into the history of horror cinema, look no further than Amando de Ossorio’s infamous '70s chiller Tombs Of The Blind Dead. This slow-moving film — aptly describing both the movie and its titular ghouls — is a Spanish cult classic. Though it may show a bit of wear with its janky sword-swinging and slow (and we do mean slow) motion horse-riding shots, its eerie tone and the unsettling design of the undead Templar knights — yes, this film's brain guzzlers of choice are actual undead knights — will crawl under your skin. Invite some friends for laughs at its early moments of goofiness, but don’t be surprised when the haunting atmosphere of the Blind Dead lingers with you days after.

Streaming on: N/A

24) Planet Terror (2007)

Director: Robert Rodriguez | Runtime: 1hr 45m

Starring: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, Fergie, Tom Savini

Robert Rodriguez's trash-tastic exploitation homage is the splattier, squelchier half of the Grindhouse double-bill he cooked up with Quentin Tarantino — the story of a go-go dancer, a bioweapon gone awry, and Texan townsfolk turned into shuffling, pustulous monsters. Leaning heavily into its B-movie roots, with missing reels, scratchy edits and hammy overdubbed dialogue, Planet Terror has its exploding tongue firmly rooted in its rotting cheek. Its over-cranked gore and oozing effects are downright disgusting, and it builds to a stupidly fun finale in which Rose McGowan's hero Cherry Darling has her severed leg replaced with a machine gun. All together now: "I'm gonna eat your brains and gain your knowledge!"

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Sky Store

Read Empire's review of Planet Terror

23) Dead Snow (2009)

Director: Tommy Wirkola | Runtime: 1hr 32m

Starring: Jeppe Beck Laursen, Charlotte Frogner, Jenny Skavlan, Geir Vegar Hoel

Helping popularise the notion of Nazi Zombies around the same time that it became a Call Of Duty staple, Tommy Wirkola's Norwegian comedy-horror combined cinema's two most enduring forms of movie villain. When a group of students head off for an Easter holiday in a snowy Scandinavian cabin, they accidentally summon an undead horde of Nazis by meddling with a box of gold loot. It's a premise that plays on reported tales of the Nazis' obsession with the occult, while leaning gleefully into the potential of its unapologetically pulpy concept. The white stuff quickly turns red in a blast of campy shlock — especially once the survivors arm themselves with power tools.

Streaming on: N/A

22) Cargo (2017)

Director(s): Ben Howling, Yolanda Ramke | Runtime: 1hr 44m

Starring: Martin Freeman

Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke's feature-length expansion of their 2013 short film Cargo offers up a delicately balanced, distinctly more emotional kind of zombie movie, evoking the likes of The Road, The Last Of Us, and — with its devastatingly beautiful outback cinematography — Wolf Creek. Martin Freeman is heartbreakingly believable here as a father trying to do everything to secure his daughter’s safety in an apocalyptic wasteland after being bitten by a zombie, while Howling and Ramke's *ahem* biting social commentary and neatly woven in new strands of undead lore lend Cargo impressive heft and credible genre chops. Undertaking a feature-length adaptation of a short film is always a risk, but Cargo, aptly, delivers.

Streaming on: Netflix

21) The Sadness (2021)

Director: Rob Jabbaz | Runtime: 1hr 39m

Starring: Regina Lei, Berant Zhu, Tzu-Chiang Wang, Apple Chen, Wei-Hua Lan

The idea of regular human beings getting infected with a virus that strips their humanity and turns them into mindless undead monsters is horrifying enough as it is, but writer-director Rob Jabbaz's Taiwanese 2021 splatterfest The Sadness goes even further. In Shabbaz's movie, which ostensibly follows the simple plot of a young couple searching for each other amid a plague outbreak in their city, infection doesn't make mindless monsters of men — it rewires the brain and turns citizens of an already crumbling society into murderers and rapists, condemned to carry out the darkest acts their mutated minds can conjure. Unremittingly bleak, utterly stomach-churning, and loaded with more trigger warnings than you can imagine, The Sadness is a COVID era zombie joint that makes our pandemic look comparatively utopian. Yeah, it really is that dark. Brilliantly so, though.

Streaming on: Prime Video | Shudder

20) ParaNorman (2012)

Director(s): Chris Butler, Sam Fell | Runtime: 1hr 32m

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann, Bernard Hill

A zombie movie – but, y'know, for kids! Fresh from traumatising a generation with Coraline, Laika continued to push their practical-meets-digital stop-motion model (pardon the pun) further with their sophomore feature, the Romero-homaging zom-com ParaNorman. The titular Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is an ostracised boy who can talk to the dead — which comes in real handy when a witch's curse summons walking corpses from the town graveyard. Spooky fun, and a rare zombie movie that (due to its target audience) isn't lavished in gore despite its effectively decayed-looking silicone hordes, ParaNorman challenges genre tropes to tell an enduringly resonant story about outcasts and the perils of judging books — or indeed zombies and witches — by their covers.

Streaming on: Apple TV | ITVX | Prime Video | Sky Store

Read Empire's review of ParaNorman

19) Pontypool (2008)

Director(s): Bruce McDonald | Runtime: 1hr 33m

Starring: Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Georgina Reilly

Veteran character actor Stephen McHattie (Watchmen, The Fountain) relishes a rare leading role in Bruce McDonald's micro-budget entry into the zombie canon, Pontypool. Here he plays Grant Mazzy, a grizzled shock jock whose small-town Ontario breakfast show takes a turn for the worse when he finds himself and his small team holed up in their station, live on air, as a viral outbreak rages outside and over the airwaves. As much a visual radio play as a movie (it was inspired, at least in part, by Orson Welles' War Of The Worlds radio production), Pontypool is more War Of The Words — or Word War Z — than straight-up invasion horror, and it endures as a cleverly done addition to the genre that still offers a totally singular take on the man eating masses.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Plex

Read Empire's review of Pontypool

18) The Girl With All The Gifts (2016)

Director(s): Colm McCarthy | Runtime: 1hr 51m

Starring: Sennia Nanua, Fisayo Akinade, Dominique Tipper, Paddy Considine, Gemma Arterton, Glenn Close

It takes a lot to make a truly fresh-feeling zombie film — but Colm McCarthy's adaptation of Mike Carey's novel is a smart and thoughtful reinvention, with genre thrills to boot. In this case the zombie condition is the result of a The Last Of Us-esque fungal pathogen which has turned most of the population into 'hungries'. But that remains largely in the background of the story, which instead focuses on young girl Melanie, who's receiving an unusual education in a heavily-armed facility from Gemma Arterton's teacher Helen. As a 'second-generation' hungry, Melanie still wants to eat human flesh, but can think and feel too – and her mere existence could hold the key to the future.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Sky Store

Read Empire's review of The Girl With All The Gifts

17) [REC]² (2009)

Director(s): Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza | Runtime: 1hr 25m

Starring: Jonathan D. Mellor, Manuela Velasco, Óscar Zafra, Ariel Casas

This second dose of panic-attack-inducing found-footage horror is largely as effective as the first film — one that revisits the outbreak-afflicted tower block from a new perspective, as a team of bodycam-wearing soldiers head in to retrieve a sample. It makes for a more action-oriented follow-up, but one with compelling ideas thrown in the mix too — delivering a unique take on zombie lore, with the viral infection compounded by some religious occultism. It's especially impressive for managing to hop between perspectives without ruining the central first-person concept.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Sky Store

Read Empire's review of [REC]²

16) Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)

Director(s): Lucio Fulci | Runtime: 1hr 31m

Starring: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver, Auretta Gay

Imagined as a quasi-sequel to Dawn Of The Dead, Italian director Lucio Fulci's film, notorious for its truly sickening effects, took zombie mythology back to its black magic-inspired roots. Zombie Flesh Eaters — also known as Zombi 2, after Dawn Of The Dead was released as Zombi in Italy — depicts a zombie outbreak on the Caribbean island of Matul as the result of a voodoo curse, with its creaky undead shufflers pictured in various stages of decomposition, often covered in (real) maggots. A famous scene involving some up-close eyeball damage got it caught up in the 'Video Nasty' scandal – and though a cult favourite, it's more beloved by hardcore zombie fans than critics. Bonus points for the stupidly dangerous zombie vs. shark showdown, though.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video

Read Empire's review of Zombie Flesh Eaters

15) World War Z (2013)

Director(s): Marc Forster | Runtime: 1hr 56m

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Ludi Boeken, Matthew Fox

Sure, it may bear very little resemblance to its celebrated source novel, but World War Z stands as perhaps the only all-out zombie blockbuster. With Brad Pitt in the lead, a globe-trotting scope, and a considerable studio budget behind it, Marc Forster's film presents the zombie movie as a summer action spectacle with a worldwide outbreak threatening global collapse. Where most zombie films are claustrophobic, this is the opposite, offering up inventive widescreen imagery of zombie swarms – crowds of the undead running en masse, scrambling over each other in insect-like mounds, able to scale walls through sheer force of will.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Paramount+

Read Empire's review of World War Z

14) Zombieland (2009)

Director(s): Ruben Fleischer | Runtime: 1hr 28m

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, Amber Heard, Bill Murray

As the zombie sub-genre shambled towards a cultural renaissance at the end of the 2010s, Ruben Fleischer's irreverent zom-com arrived at just the right time. Jesse Eisenberg is cautious loner Columbus, doing his best to survive the undead apocalypse with a series of audience-winking rules ('check the back seat', 'double tap' your kills). He becomes part of a makeshift family when he teams up with Woody Harrelson's Twinkie-loving hard-ass Tallahassee, Emma Stone's sarcastic Wichita, and Abigail Breslin's doe-eyed youngster Little Rock. With a zippy sub-90 minute runtime, madcap zombie murders (death by falling piano, anyone?), and genius Bill Murray cameo, it's a funhouse ride of a zombie film that culminates in an actual fairground set piece.

Streaming on: Netflix | Now TV | Prime Video

Read Empire's review of Zombieland

13) Dawn Of The Dead (2004)

Director: Zack Snyder | Runtime: 1hr 42m

Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly

Remaking Romero's definitive masterpiece wasn't a task to be taken lightly. But, early in his career, Zack Snyder delivered a worthy reincarnation, working from a script by none other than James Gunn. Its biggest change is the controversial move to fast-zombies, offering frenetic survival sequences with a palpable sense of panic — and making for a gripping opening act as the outbreak spreads and society rapidly crumbles. It's appropriately nasty and gory, with early hints of Snyder's keen sense of cinematic style, and some impressively upsetting ideas — most notably, what happens when a pregnant woman is bitten?

Streaming on: N/A

Read Empire's review of Dawn of the Dead

12) One Cut Of The Dead (2019)

Director: Shin'ichiro Ueda | Runtime: 1hr 36m

Starring: Harumi Shuhama, Kazuaki Nagaya, Mao, Takayuki Hamatsu

To say too much about Shin'ichiro Ueda's film would be to ruin its delicious, joyous surprises — but, suffice to say, if the opening minutes come off like a particularly ramshackle horror movie, that's entirely the point. An out-of-his-depth director is attempting to make a zombie film of his own, when the production finds itself besieged by actual zombies. From there? Well, you'll have to see for yourself. But it's a film fizzing with invention, one that manages to turn the zombie movie on its head in all-new ways while displaying real heart. Destined to be a cult classic.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Shudder

Read Empire's review of One Cut Of The Dead

11) The Return Of The Living Dead (1985)

Director: Dan O'Bannon | Runtime: 1hr 31m

Starring: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, John Philbin

Away from Romero's seriousness, Dan O'Bannon's comedy-horror delivered a more raucous take on the zombie flick, right down to its tagline: 'They're back from the grave and ready to party!' Return Of The Living Dead takes place in a world where Romero's films exist but their rules don't apply — with the townsfolk soon learning that headshots won't work. It played with what zombies could do, too — long before 28 Days Later, O'Bannon came up with the running dead, depicted zombies harbouring a specific hunger for brains, and gave them the ability to speak. Gooey and gory, buoyed along on a punk soundtrack featuring the likes of The Cramps and The Damned, The Return Of The Living Dead remains about as much fun as a person can have with hordes of flesh eaters.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video

Read Empire's review of The Return Of The Living Dead

10) Re-Animator (1985)

Director: Stuart Gordon | Runtime: 1hr 24m

Starring: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton

Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator presents a different spin on the undead. Here Jeffrey Combs' unhinged professor Herbert West invents a lime-green liquid capable of reanimating dead animal tissue — and which, before long, he starts applying to dead bodies (some of which he's responsible for). Cue fellow scientists attempting to steal the 're-agent', a rising pile of zombified corpses, and, er, a severed head oral sex scene. It's a swirling, pulpy blend of horror and comedy, and a bloody affair even by gore-soaked '80s standards. With a tight script and bravura approach, it remains sickeningly entertaining.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Shudder

Read Empire's review of Re-Animator

9) 28 Years Later (2025)

Director: Danny Boyle | Runtime: 1hr 55m

Starring: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Ralph Fiennes

It’s fitting that, 23 years after Danny Boyle and Alex Garland adrenalised the zombie genre anew in 28 Days Later, their return saw the duo hit the ground running. This long-awaited threequel is a wild work from two of Britain’s best, creatively energised as they synthesise decades of national tumult into a pulse-pounding survival story. Or at least, the first half of 28 Years Later is that film, depicting youngster Spike’s (outstanding newcomer Alfie Williams) first trip to the infected UK mainland with his sharp-shooting dad Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). But it’s the unexpectedly soulful second half that proves to be Years’ secret weapon, delivering depths of emotion as Spike and his mum Isla (Jodie Comer) embark on their own odyssey. Nia DaCosta's excellent follow-up, The Bone Temple, came along (checks calendar) 28 *weeks* later, and a third part — and fifth instalment in the series overall — is due in the next few years. Memento mori, memento amoris.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Sky Store

Read Empire's review of 28 Years Later

8) [REC] (2007)

Director: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza | Runtime: 1hr 18m

Starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano

If found-footage horror is a mixed bag, Spanish horror Rec used the shooting style to maximum effect — getting up-close-and-personal at ground zero of a zombie outbreak in the claustrophobic confines of an apartment block. For a handheld film, Rec's camerawork remains mercifully steady thanks to the conceit that our cameraman is a professional — Ferran Terraza's Manu, who's shooting a news reel with reporter Ángela (Manuela Velasco) in the wrong place at the wrong time. Scary as hell, with a set of smarter-than-average characters, and an all-timer final reel as the camera's night vision mode is activated.

Streaming on: Prime Video

Read Empire's review of [REC]

7) Braindead (1992)

Director: Peter Jackson | Runtime: 1hr 44m

Starring: Elizabeth Moody, Timothy Balme, Diana Penalver, Ian Watkin

Long before he went off to Middle-earth, Peter Jackson was painting the town red with his ludicrously bloody Kiwi zombie flick — sometimes hailed as the 'goriest movie ever made'. Equally inspired by Romero and Raimi, there's a real Evil Dead streak to the cartoonish splatstick on display. Set in 1957, Timothy Balme plays Lionel Cosgrove, caught in a sticky place when his meddling mum is bitten by a 'Sumatran rat-monkey' when stalking her son on a date at the zoo. She dies. And then un-dies. And that's only the beginning.

Streaming on: Prime Video

Read Empire's review of Braindead

6) Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

Director: George A. Romero | Runtime: 1hr 36m

Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Russell W. Streiner, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne

'They're coming to get you, Barbra!' With his directorial debut, George A. Romero invented the modern zombie movie as we know it. An independent film shot in grainy black-and-white on a shoestring budget, Romero delivered a stark and subversive horror that established the most important facets of zombie lore (bodies returning from the grave, destroying the brain to kill them for good) and proved the director as a filmmaker adept at genre-infused social commentary. As Ben, Barbra and more hide away from the rising corpses in a rural farmhouse, Romero reflects ideas of racism in the USA, the ongoing trauma of the Vietnam War, and the American public facing up to the realisation that their greatest enemy might actually be themselves.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Pluto

Read Empire's review of Night Of The Living Dead

5) Train To Busan (2016)

Director: Yeon Sang-ho | Runtime: 1hr 58m

Starring: Yoo Gong, Yu-mi Jung, Dong-seok Ma, Su-an Kim

Four words: zombies on a train. Korean director Yeon Sang-ho takes that elevator pitch and elevates it into a gripping, action-packed horror movie, using cramped interior space (and moments in more wide-open environments) to stage breathlessly tense sequences. Train To Busan's zombies are mesmerising to watch — aggressive and animalistic, their limbs and spines contorting as they rise up to claim more victims. The result is stylishly-shot and pulse-pounding, with a host of memorable characters — particularly Ma Dong-seok's hulking hero Sang-hwa.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Sky Store

Read Empire's review of Train To Busan

4) Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

Director: Edgar Wright | Runtime: 1hr 39m

Starring: Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis

For his feature debut proper, Edgar Wright drew from Romero and Richard Curtis for the definitive rom-zom-com. Simon Pegg is the titular Shaun, a slacker entering his 30s who's forced to grow up, commit to his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield), sort things out with his step-dad, and relinquish his best friend Ed (Nick Frost) when a zombie apocalypse unfolds in London. It doesn't hold back as a zombie film — with lashings of gore, well-executed jump-scares and emotional farewells — but indulges its British humour too, as Shaun attacks the undead with a cricket bat and hatches a plot to hole up at the local pub. We've got red on ourselves, and it's glorious.

Streaming on: Apple TV | ITVX | Prime Video

Read Empire's review of Shaun of The Dead

3) 28 Days Later (2002)

Director: Danny Boyle | Runtime: 1hr 53m

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, Brendan Gleeson

Purists will tell you it's not a zombie movie. If they're technically right, they're also totally wrong — Danny Boyle's film about a deadly rage infection reinvented and redefined what a zombie film could be, taking the idea of running infected from Return Of The Living Dead and, er, running with it. It's a gritty, gripping work with an iconic opening, as Cillian Murphy's hospitalised Londoner Jim awakens to find the capital city eerily deserted — until it becomes all-too-clear what's happened to everyone. If the rage infection wasn't perilous enough, Alex Garland's screenplay highlights how the surviving humans are just as deadly.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Sky Store

Read Empire's review of 28 Days Later

2) Day Of The Dead (1985)

Director: George A. Romero | Runtime: 1hr 41m

Starring: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Sherman Howard

The final part of Romero's landmark original Dead trilogy is a more meditative affair than the previous instalments — but it's a powerful piece, with an angry resonance that continues to reverberate. Set even further into the zombie apocalypse, Day finds the non-infected population dwindling, with surviving scientists and soldiers properly cracking up, and the undead themselves beginning to evolve. Enter Bub, an actual zombie hero — reliving echoes of his past life, and with a cognitive function that suggests not all of the undead are mindless monsters. Taking place largely in the confines of an underground facility, Day is a claustrophobic and pessimistic affair, wrangling with meaty themes of hope, faith, and the futility of combat, as human in-fighting leads to more carnage with tragic consequences.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Shudder

Read Empire's review of Day Of The Dead

1) Dawn Of The Dead (1978)

Director: George A. Romero | Runtime: 2hr 7m

Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross

If Night Of The Living Dead was the birth of the contemporary zombie flick, Dawn Of The Dead was its coming-of-age — bigger, bolder, more confident, and, this time, in colour. The eerie tone of its predecessor is swapped for a rising tide of chaos and panic as the unfolding apocalypse spreads, and a group of survivors hunker down in the local mall. If it initially seems like an ideal place to wait out the downfall of society, rife with supplies, it proves anything but — the zombies instinctively drawn to the place they were programmed to devote their free time and money to back when they were alive. It's another piece of potent satire, packed with playful imagery — though that never gets in the way of Romero telling a compelling, nightmarish tale. The film is exploding with visceral effects from Tom Savini, who draws from the horrifying sights he witnessed as a Vietnam War photographer. The cumulative effect is chilling, thrilling, and remains peerless to this day.

Streaming on: Apple TV | Prime Video | Sky Store

Read Empire's review of Dawn Of The Dead

This list was voted on by the entire Empire editorial team, and written by Deputy Online Editor Ben Travis, Online Writer Jordan King, and Social Media Editor Harry Stainer.

It's crazy to think that it's somehow been seven months already since Stranger Things' emotional finale hit our screens. It's even crazier to think that it's somehow been ten years — yes, a whole decade! — since The Duffer Brothers' nostalgic sci-fi smash first hit our screens, bringing Dungeons & Dragons, demogorgons, the Upside Down, and the wondrous locks of Steve 'The Hair' Harrington into the global spotlight. To mark Stranger Things' 10th anniversary, Netflix has just released a special video featuring all of the series' major players looking back on their memories of creating the show. And the best bit? You can watch it right now. Check it out below;

Anyone else feeling super nostalgic — and perhaps just a little bit old — watching that? Seeing Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, and Priah Ferguson all grown up — and Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, Joe Keery, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, and Brett Gelman in full 'proud parent' era look-back mode — has us chomping at the bit to grab some Eggos and start another binge-watch. Handily then, as part of Stranger Things' 10th anniversary celebrations, Netflix has also just done something very cool: the streamer has released a VHS Special Edition of Season 1 on the platform, enabling us to get even further into the 80s groove with a 'glitchy, grainy and gloriously vintage' pan-and-scan style presentation of Will, Mike, El and co's first outing. (And, in case you were wondering, yes, The Duffers have teased that the rest of the show may get the same treatment down the line, too...)

“We’re feeling so many emotions today," said Matt and Ross Duffer in a joint statement as Stranger Things' milestone anniversary arrived. "Nostalgic, proud and, yeah, a little sad too, that the decade-long journey of making Stranger Things has come to an end. But above all, we feel grateful — for our amazing cast, who we watched grow into wonderful human beings; for the hundreds of brilliant artists who devoted so much of themselves bringing the story to life; and for you, the fans, whose dedication, patience and passion fueled all of us throughout the years. So: THANK YOU.”

So there you have it. Stranger Things has turned 10 years old. They grow up so fast, don't they? But, as we well know, the story doesn't end there. Stranger Things: Tales From '85 has already debuted this year to positive fan reaction and has a second season on the way. Prequel play Stranger Things: The First Shadow is getting a pro-shot Netflix release sometime in the near feature. And given Stranger Things' global phenomenon status, we'll surely be returning to the Upside Down again and again for many decades to come. Suits us!

Look out the window, it's another day of sun. Look to the multiplex, and soon it will be 'Another Day Of Sun'. "How?" we hear you cry. Well, because modern classic movie musical La La Land is — brace yourself for suddenly feeling very old — turning 10 (!) this summer, and to celebrate the anniversary of Damien Chazelle's love letter to Los Angeles, Lionsgate is bringing its all-singing, all-dancing spectacular about two star-crossed LA dreamers back to cinemas for a very limited time. Check out the re-release trailer below;

There you have it: La La Land, back in cinemas on 28 August. And don't you worry, we've double-checked and it definitely is La La Land — you're not going to arrive at the multiplex and suddenly find yourself met with Mahershala Ali holding Alex Hibbert on the sea's surface (not that we'd say no to a big screen return for Barry Jenkins' 2017 Oscars Best Picture winner Moonlight, to be fair.) So, Oscars snafu joke dispensed with, we can focus on the fact that whether you've been humming 'City Of Stars' and pining for a happy (well, happier?) ending for Emma Stone's Mia and Ryan Gosling's Sebastian for the last decade or you've yet to lose yourself Chazelle's melodious musical vision of LA, the perfect opportunity to catch one of Empire's 100 best movies ever made on a massive screen is mere weeks away.

And to further whet your appetite, here's the beautiful poster for La La Land's cinema re-release;

The sonorous score of Justin Hurwitz. The beautiful lyrics of Pasek and Paul. The luscious camerawork of Linus Sandgren. Stone and Gosling on career-best form. Ahh, sweet bliss! Suffice it to say, A Lovely Night awaits when La La Land comes back to cinemas on 28 August.

54 years. That's how long it took for Guillermo del Toro to get from falling in love with Mary Shelley's Gothic sci-fi masterwork Frankenstein through James Whale’s 1931 masterpiece as a seven-year-old boy to finally, finally bringing his own version to our screens courtesy of Netflix. But GdT's journey with Shelley's Promethean tale isn't over just yet. Today, boutique physical media label The Criterion Collection announced a lavish, director-approved four-disc 4K Blu-Ray release of Frankenstein is on its way this October. And that's not all: the new release brings with it a 158-minute extended 'Reborn' director’s cut of the film.

Now, it is probably worth noting that the theatrical cut of del Toro's Frankenstein — which stars Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi as all-timer 'bad dad' and maverick scientist Victor Frankenstein and his alternately pitiful and monstrous son — already ran to a hefty 149 minutes, making this new 'Reborn' cut just shy of ten minutes longer than the version we've seen already. Still, given the incredible artistry, craft, and heart woven into del Toro's passion project, the prospect of getting even more of his sweeping epic — complete with a freshly recorded director's commentary — is a tantalising one, indeed. And who knows, perhaps the 'Reborn' cut of Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein will reinstate the seven-minute sequence that the Mexican fabulist has previously talked about cutting at James Cameron's suggestion? We can but hope!

Elsewhere, additional highlights of this new Criterion release — which releases stateside on 27 October (and here, if past CC releases are anything to go by, soon after) — include a making-of doc entitled The Anatomy Lesson: Director’s Cut, a collection of craft-focused conversations featuring the movie's stars and crew called The Parlour, and recorded Q&As moderated by Martin Scorsese and Patti Smith. All of which is to say that we know what's just shot to top spot on our Christmas wish list, destined to nestle between our Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio and Nightmare Alley Criterion 4Ks. If you are not to award us Criterion Collection Frankenstein in 4K, we will indulge in rage... and ours is infinite!

It's been three years since we learned that David Robert Mitchell's seminal 21st century horror movie It Follows would officially be getting a sequel, They Follow, with the first movie's star Maika Monroe on board to return. Since then, updates on the project — set a decade after the events of that iconic first STC (that's Sexually Transmitted Curse, obvs) chiller — have been few and far between. But after learning last month that Naomi Ackie was in final talks to star in Mitchell's movie, today Deadline has revealed ten new names joining the call sheet — including Michael Gandolfini, star of Daredevil: Born Again and Alex Garland's Warfare.

Also among the 'They' that are either following or being followed in They Follow (try saying that after a few alcopops) will be *deep breath* Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children), Justine Lupe (Nobody Wants This), Anna Mirodin (Priscilla), Jayne Taini (Station 19), Tom Pecinka (Stereophonic), Melora Walters (Venom), Ben Krieger (Song Sung Blue), Natalie Shinnick (The Testament Of Ann Lee), and Jan Hoag (The Fabelmans). Deadline has now also confirmed that Naomi Ackie is officially set to star in the film too.

Elsewhere, while precious little else is known about what They Follow will entail, Empire did excitingly confirm a few more major returns for David Robert Mitchell's horror sequel earlier this month. Speaking to us for our The Odyssey issue, Mitchell confirmed that It Follows' cinematographer Mike Gioulakis, editor Julio C. Perez IV, and composer Disasterpeace will all be back to help pour some fresh nightmare fuel on the Follows fire, too.

“I’m very proud of the script,” teased a tight-lipped Mitchell when Empire spoke to the filmmaker about returning to the Follows-verse. “It is its own unique thing, while still being very much connected to the first film. It’s doing something cool that is going to be really fun.” As keen fans of cool and really fun things, and big fans of the talent both behind and in front of the camera here, suffice it to say we're ready to go wherever They Follow.

The Odyssey is the definition of epic. The word comes from the Ancient Greek epikos, an adjective used to describe a long narrative, prophecy, proverb or heroic verse. All such interpretations could describe Homer’s vast 8th-century BC poem, a masterwork of Greek mythology, about a bloke just trying to get home — the Planes, Trains And Automobiles of the Bronze Age, if you will. It is a 12,000-line, 24-book, 3,000-year-old piece of literature, a journey of gods and monsters, spanning many years, across seas and islands, over warring lands and into the underworld itself.

Fairly ambitious, then. Christopher Nolan, of course, is hardly a stranger to ambition: his first major film, Memento, was told both backwards and forwards, and he has tackled wars, superheroes, dreams, wormholes, the nuclear apocalypse and Victorian teleportation machines. But it’s not unreasonable to suggest that The Odyssey is his most ambitious film yet. Set in a “time of apparent magic”, as the opening title card has it, we dive headfirst into a world of both divine fantasy and grounded realism. From the start, the story here is dense with plot and detail, sometimes seemingly explained by a character called Expositionus.

Filmmaking at a magnitude few modern directors could ever realistically imagine, demand, or execute.

Still, it is as elegant and economical an adaptation as it’s possible to make of such a lengthy tome, and you don’t need a Classics degree to understand it. Some purists may bristle at the liberties taken with the text, with significant omissions (Odysseus accidentally opens a bag of wind! Odysseus competes in a sports day!). The dialogue, too, inevitably loses some of the poetry and lyricism of the original text; no dactylic hexameter here. But what it loses in faithfulness, it gains in visual and structural poetry. It is a beautifully edited film, Nolan taking Homer’s flashback structure and running with it, telling a story in nesting narratives. Sometimes you can only tell how far along on the journey you are from the grey in Matt Damon’s beard.

This is a film thickly packed with incident, the kind that may only truly be fully appreciated through repeat viewings. After efficiently introducing the world, we watch Odysseus (Damon) and his increasingly unfortunate band of merry men encounter a Cyclops (staggering and grotesque), Sirens (haunting and sad), and the giant Laestrygonians (featuring the most upsetting child acting this side of an Omen movie). Much has been made of Nolan’s love of practical effects, but what is most impressive during these extraordinary set-pieces — all soundtracked to Ludwig Göransson’s experimentally pulsing score — is the integration of techniques, blending puppetry, stunt performers, special effects and — yes! — CGI so seamlessly as to make this mythic world feel real.

The scale and scope here is, frankly, jaw-detaching. It is filmmaking at a magnitude few modern directors could ever realistically imagine, demand, or execute. Yet what is most striking about this film is its quieter moments. The gods here are human-sized: the fury of Zeus and Poseidon is felt only in the elements, while Calypso (Charlize Theron) simply wants a companion, and Athena (Zendaya, doing much with little, in a role strikingly similar to the one she played in the first Dune) is seen only in flashes of an enigmatic half-dream — or perhaps as a trauma-response. Samantha Morton’s Circe, meanwhile, provides the closest Nolan has come to full-on horror, an astonishing sequence full of shocking fury and sadness at the baseness of men.

Nolan is again raging at the folly of a humanity we might recognise.

As it was in the text, the heroes of this tale are mere humans, full of flaws and foibles. Damon, by now a Nolan regular, embodies Odysseus brilliantly and bravely, as a weary soldier burdened by the weight of leadership and his vast, Scylla-and-Charybdis-sized trolley problems. Nolan emphasises his fallibility; on more than one occasion, our champion is forced to leg it back to his boat in the manner of Monty Python’s King Arthur (“Run away!”).

It is in the final act, when Odysseus finally makes it back to Ithaca, reunites with son Telemachus (Tom Holland, solid) and wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway, fierce) and confronts the boorish suitors led by Antinous (Robert Pattinson, chewing scenery delightfully), that the film comes into focus. Greece is spoken of as the “greatest civilisation the world has ever seen”, a fading empire policing and colonising the world, and Nolan seems to embrace parallels with American exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny; the accents adopted by the cast cements this point. (Make Ithaca Great Again?)

By his journey’s end, Odysseus seems heartbroken at the state of the world, and his role in its downfall. There is something of Powell & Pressburger’s The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp in its coda, in a military man mourning the death of honour, as well as echoes as Nolan’s own work: like Dunkirk, it laments the absurdity and pointlessness of war, and like Oppenheimer, it trembles at the catastrophic failures of a great and terrible man. It may be set in a mythical universe, but Nolan is again raging at the folly of a humanity we might recognise — on an enormous, IMAX-sized canvas. Nobody does it better.

For nearly 100 years, the animated movie as we know it has existed – an artform that, like live-action cinema, sprung from shorts and grew into a major medium in its own right. If the biggest landmark was the arrival of 1937’s Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs — which marked the start of feature-length output from Walt Disney Animation Studios — from there the animated film flourished and evolved, spawning brand new pioneering technologies, new narrative possibilities, new studios, and new visual styles. Today, that gives us a field that possesses nearly a century of Disney favourites, game-changing Pixar movies, thumbs and funny bangers from British claymation titans Aardman, jaw-slackening works from Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli, and styles that range from traditional hand-drawn 2D features, to lavish computer-generation confections, painstakingly-produced stop-motion, and beyond.

How We Chose The 50 Best Animated Movies Ever Made

In truth, our process for establishing the 50 greatest animated movies ever made was fairly straightforward. Our team of critics here at Empire, the world's biggest movie magazine, got together and cast our votes for the 50 greatest animated movies ever made. The only rule? No animated shorts allowed — hence no The Wrong Trousers, no What's Opera, Doc?, no Duck Amuck or The Snowman, here. With that covered, and in full embrace of the fact animation is a medium rather than a genre, we set out to create a list that comprises a banquet of tastes and tones.

Below you will find traditional family adventures, black-and-white coming-of-age stories, self-referential meta-features, superhero stories, devastating war films, and imaginative flights of fantasy – all showing that animation encompasses far more than just kids movies (though we do, of course, love those deeply too). Read the full list below, and delve into the endless possibilities that the animated medium allows for.

Empire's 50 Greatest Animated Movies Of All Time

Jump to...

50 — 41

50) Little Amélie Or The Character Of Rain (2026)

Director(s): Liane-Cho Han Jin Kuang, Maïlys Vallade | Runtime: 1hr 18m

In Japan, there is a belief that, until the age of three, a child is more like a god than a human being. And in Liane-Cho Han Jin Kuang and Maïlys Vallade’s vividly animated, 2026 Oscar nominated adaptation of Amélie Nothomb’s memoir, that belief sparks a rapturous exploration of the world — in all its exquisite beauty and existential terror — as seen through the eyes of a child. The movie follows Amélie (Loïse Charpentier), a precocious toddler living in rural 60s Japan who finds herself newly awakened to life’s wonders (and her self-perceived godliness) by some grandma-gifted white chocolate. A beautifully hand-crafted paean to childhood and self-discovery that fondly evokes everything from Miyazaki to Monet to Mamoru Hosoda’s Mirai while marching to the beat of its own, sumptuously watercolour-painted drum, Little Amélie is 78 minutes of pure animated joy.

Read Empire’s review of Little Amélie Or The Character Of Rain.

49) The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

Director(s): Sylvain Chomet | Runtime: 1hr 20m | Streaming on: Curzon

There are at least cinquante reasons to see The Triplets Of Belleville, French animator Sylvain Chomet's astonishing debut. For starters there's the practically dialogue-free plot (a club-footed grandmother mounts a rescue mission to save her grandson from the Mafia during the Tour de France), the set-pieces (the opening musical number, a pedalo chase, a last reel getaway), a great supporting cast (sad-faced cyclists, larger-than-life mobsters) and the titular ageing music hall stars who steal the show. It spices up a silent movie look with surrealism but thrives on daring to go to a place most animation doesn't dare: it flits between sadness and satire (Belleville is a thinly-veiled America) and nostalgia to become a paean to times gone by. Somehow it also manages to be funny as hell.

Read Empire’s review of The Triplets Of Belleville.

48) It’s Such A Beautiful Day (2012)

Director(s): Don Hertzfeldt | Runtime: 1hr 2m | Rent/Buy on: Vimeo

Not a U2 song, It's Such A Beautiful Day is film as flicker book. A feature version of indie cartoonist Don Hertzfeldt's short film trilogy, it follows stick-and-circle figure Bill – round head, oval body, dots for eyes, cool hat – through his life in short vignettes, all filtered through a blurrily-framed iris. For such a thin character, Bill has a surprisingly rich inner life. As Hertzfeldt provides wall to wall narration, the story zeroes in seemingly random small details — Lion King slippers, leaf blowers — that coalesce into a huge exploration of our place in the universe. The animation is the scratchiest black and white imagery imaginable, so the effect is hand-crafted, charming and, somehow, strangely moving. A 62-minute doodle to savour, it just makes you wish you'd done more with those absent-minded scribblings you did during Double Maths.

47) Loving Vincent (2017)

Director(s): Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman | Runtime: 1hr 35m | Streaming on: Rakuten

The stats surrounding Loving Vincent are off the hook. Over a period of six years, a team of 125 painters from 20 countries painted over 65,000 frames of film in the style of Vincent Van Gogh (you know, the sunflowers guy). Employing a rotoscope technique favoured by Richard Linklater in Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, directors Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman create a living breathing tribute to Van Gogh's art wrapped in a detective story to discover the true nature of the painter's death. It has its oddities — you get to see what the likes of Saoirse Ronan and Chris O'Dowd would look like if they posed for VVG — but it's intricately designed as a tribute to Van Gogh's craft, both in overview (the gentle pastels, the inky blacks) and the details (the end credits point out the exact paintings that have been homaged). It begins with Van Gogh's quote – "We cannot speak other than by our paintings" – and by the end Loving Vincent becomes a vivid insight into the artist's life by letting the form become the content.

Read Empire’s review of Loving Vincent.

46) Robot Dreams (2023)

Director: Pablo Berger | Runtime: 1hr 43m | Buy/Rent on: Amazon Prime, Apple TV

Based on Sara Varon’s wordless 2007 graphic novel, Pablo Berger’s virtuosic 2D animation Robot Dreams is so much more than the robot-and-his-dog buddy comedy audiences may have been expecting. Set in an anthropomorphised early ‘80s New York, Berger’s simply (but never simplistically) drawn movie introduces us to a lonely dog whose search for friendship leads him to order and build himself an ‘Amica 2000’ robot companion. But while a delightful Earth, Wind & Fire soundtracked montage revels in showing our inseparable bot-and-barker duo venturing out into the world together, tragedy strikes on an ill-fated Coney Island trip. It’s from here that the film transcends itself, as Robot and Dog’s search for one another — episodically chronicled in a series of gorgeously imaginative flights of fancy — feeds a soulful exploration of the fragile beauty of our connections and the transformational, enduring power of love.

Read Empire’s review of Robot Dreams.

45) How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

Director(s): Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders | Runtime: 1hr 38m | Rent/Buy on: Apple TV, Prime Video

While DreamWorks Animation has been criticised for chasing the franchise dragon (pun entirely intended), this trilogy is a soaring example that the company can point to as to why it's not always the enemy of creativity and charm. Originated by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders (with the two subsequent films mostly on DeBlois' watch), How To Train Your Dragon boils down to a boy and his dog story – where the boy is a nerdy, gawkward Viking, and the dog is a powerful Night Fury dragon that has natural camouflage and can shoot plasma blasts from his mouth. Rather than letting the characters run (or fly) in place, the series (and its small-screen spin-offs) make the smart choice to evolve the story and deepen the emotion, and the look of the movies is a painterly, often spectacular use of CGI.

Read Empire’s review of How To Train Your Dragon.

44) Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Director(s): David Hand | Runtime: 1hr 29m | Streaming on: Disney+

Few would claim it as their favourite Disney film, but without Snow White no other movie on this list might even exist – it's that simple. The first American feature-length animated film set the template for, well, everything that followed – Walt's team of animators using pioneering multiplane camera techniques to take audiences inside an old German fairytale with all the usual elements (an innocent young princess, a jealous old queen, cute forest creatures, the looming spectre of death). If it's narratively episodic, stitching together several sequences that were devised like the Silly Symphonies shorts the studio was long known for, it still plays like a contemporary animated feature – not bad for a film that's nearly 100 years old. With its distinctive characters (each Dwarf has its own flair), brilliant design (the dripping poisoned apple is iconic), and ear-worms like 'Heigh Ho', there's no wonder it caught audiences' imaginations and changed the course of Hollywood forever.

Read Empire’s review of Snow White And The Seven Dwarves.

43) Shrek (2001)

Director(s): Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson | Runtime: 1hr 30m | Streaming on: Disney+, Prime Video, Now TV

Twenty years on, Dreamworks' side-swipe at Disney's dominance of the animated landscape might not feel as fresh as it once did – but if it ain't the sharpest tool in the shed anymore, it's still a raucous, colourful blast. Right from its opening moments, Shrek rips up the fairytale rulebook and quite literally wipes its arse with it – centering a giant green ogre as our hero, making the princess a monster at heart, and depicting the villain as an oppressive ruler of Disneyland-alike kingdom Duloc. If Mike Myers' Scottish (emphasis on the 'ish') accent is an inspired touch, it's Eddie Murphy's Donkey who enlivens the whole film – the legendary comedian in full freewheeling form. As a buddy-comedy that liberally swipes at an entire Magic Kingdom's worth of tropes and characters, and that (for better or worse) ushered in a new era of pop-culture references galore, it remains game-changing, and very, very funny.

Read Empire’s review of Shrek.

42) Flow (2025)

Director: Gints Zilbalodis | Runtime: 1hr 25m Rent/Buy on: Amazon Prime, Apple TV

Already, Flow has seemed to live nine lives. The second film from Latvian animator Gilts Zilbalodis was created by a remarkably small team, on free 3D software Blender; from there, it went on to win Best Animated Picture at the Oscars, reaching audiences all around the world along the way. And it’s clear why – the gently post-apocalyptic tale of a cat traversing a flooded landscape, encountering several other animals along the way (some dogs, a lemur, a capybara, and a secretary bird among them), is a meditative and mesmerisingly beautiful odyssey, its lucid, dialogue-free storytelling accessible to… well, everybody, of any age, of any language. Part adventure movie, part survival drama, part fable, Flow is undeniably original, a great film in its own right – and one that proves anything is possible in an age where filmmaking tools are available at the click of a button. Those nine lives are set to live on for a long, long time to come.

Read Empire’s review of Flow.

41) The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya (2013)

Director: Isao Takahata | Runtime: 2hrs 17m | Streaming on: Netflix

The final film from Studio Ghibli's co-founder Isao Takahata takes its inspiration from one of Japan's oldest folktales, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. When an old man finds a tiny baby in a bamboo stalk, he takes the divine child home to raise her with his wife. What follows is an exploration of the small wonders of a mortal life, and the abject tragedy of each one's loss, culminating in a heart-rending denouement that will hit you harder than you can ever possibly imagine. Brought to life with impressionistic brushstroke visuals and awash in gentle watercolours, it looks like nothing else the famed animation house has ever produced, making Princess Kaguya all the more impactful. An incredible legacy for Takahata and a movie that, in the shape of Kaguya’s astonishing flight-by-moonlight palace escape, gave us one of the most visually remarkable sequences in the history of the medium.

Read Empire's review of The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya.

40 — 31

40) Waltz With Bashir (2008)

Director(s): Ariel Folman | Runtime: 1hr 30m | Streaming on: Curzon

Israeli filmmaker Ariel Folman's feature is a mash-up of animation and documentary, of the personal and the political – and as such emerges as a film like no other. In essence, it's a confessional account of Folman's experiences as a rookie soldier during Israel's 1982 invasion of the Lebanon. Only it's a period of his life 'Ari' – the director's animated avatar – can't remember, so he interviews ex-Israeli soldiers to piece together the experience. The filmmaking is extraordinary – the opening featuring a pack of 26 snarling dogs bombing through a city under a mustard gas sky grips from the get-go – mixing telling moments of introspection, surreal imagery (the waltz of the title danced by a single soldier) and combat footage that still scars. Cinematically, intellectually, emotionally, Waltz With Bashir is that rare film that pushes the medium on to greater heights.

Read Empire’s review of Waltz With Bashir.

39) The LEGO Movie (2014)

Director(s): Phil Lord, Christopher Miller | Runtime: 1hr 40m | Streaming on: Now TV

In true Lord & Miller style, it shouldn't have worked – but a movie spun off from an inanimate toy somehow became way more than a cynical cash-in. The LEGO Movie smartly zones in on the creative ethos of the building-block toy to tell a story about imagination and the power of play, that's also about the dangers of conformity and the need for self-expression – all wrapped up in rapid-fire pop culture gags. While the film centres on basic-minifigure worker drone Emmet (Chris Pratt) and his 'chosen-one' journey to defeat Lord Business (Will Ferrell) and become a Master Builder, it's the madcap cameos that steal the show – especially Will Arnett's hilarious take on Batman, shortly thereafter given his own film. Best of all, the CGI animation imitates the look and feel of stop-motion, presenting the whole film as a real-life (imaginary) LEGO adventure, complete with marks and scratches on every brick.

Read Empire’s review of The LEGO Movie.

38) Grave Of The Fireflies (1988)

Director(s): Isao Takahata | Runtime: 1hr 29m | Streaming on: Netflix

For most people, Grave Of The Fireflies is the sort of masterpiece you'll probably only watch once. The first Ghibli film from Isao Takahata, the other pillar of Studio Ghibli alongside co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, is a harrowing, heartbreaking World War II story – both a tribute to the lives lost due to the ripple effects of the conflict, and an indictment of the societal failures that led to the tragic deaths of so many lives away from the frontlines. It follows teenage boy Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi) and his little sister Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi) who are displaced after bombs destroy their home city of Kobe. They go to live with their aunt, until they're forced to leave when rations run low – and from there, the two struggle to survive in the wilderness, cherishing the time they're able to spend together while starvation kicks in. Vividly animated, with stirring imagery – the titular fireflies offer a faint glow in the evenings as the pair huddle in an abandoned bomb shelter – it's a masterful, emotional work. But be warned: it's really, _really_sad (as its subject matter demands).

Read Empire’s review of Grave Of The Fireflies.

37) Anomalisa (2015)

Director(s): Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson | Runtime: 1hr 30m | Streaming on: Prime Video

When Charlie Kaufman entered the world of stop motion animation, it was never going to be a cookie-cutter effort. Starting life as a one-act play and funded by Kickstarter (there are 1070 special thanks in the end credits), Anomalisa, co-directed by animator Duke Johnson, is a tiny heartbreaker of a picture. It's basically a study in mid-life ennui, as demotivated motivational speaker Michael Stone (David Thewlis) checks in to a Cincinnati hotel for a conference. He meets Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh, playing multiple parts) and what follows is a beautifully-observed first encounter, laced with insecurities and regrets, building up to puppet sex and Lisa's heart-breaking rendition of Cyndi Lauper's 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun'. Of course, the last act enters its own zone of bat-shit craziness (hello, antique Japanese dildo) but, perhaps more than any other Kaufman work, what you are left with is a tender take on what it means to be human.

Read Empire’s review of Anomalisa.

36) Moana (2016)

Director(s): John Musker, Ron Clements | Runtime: 1hr 53m | Streaming on: Disney+

Riding high off the success of new-wave Princess movies like Tangled and Frozen, Disney delivered another contemporary classic, packed with earworm songs from a fresh-outta-Hamilton Lin-Manuel Miranda. If Moana herself belongs in a lineage that stretches right back to Snow White, she's firmly in the 'Disney Princess 2.0' mould – the daughter of a chief, a brave seafaring warrior seeking a better future for her people, without a love-interest in sight. The film shines from beginning to end with its loveable characters and vibrant Pacific island imagery – all gleaming blue seas and lush vegetation – and boasts a Ghibli-esque approach to good and evil, savouring balance and harmony in favour of traditional battle-won victory. Factor in a stack of outright Disney-bangers, Jemaine Clement channelling Bowie as a giant glam monster-crab, and a Mad Max-style action sequence with warrior coconuts, and you've got a modern great.

Read Empire’s review of Moana.

35) My Life As A Courgette (2016)

Director(s): Claude Barras | Runtime: 1hr 6m | Rent/Buy on: Apple TV, Prime Video

In between essential coming of age drama Girlhood and the all-conquering masterpiece Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, Céline Sciamma – one of the most exciting filmmakers in the world today – wrote a stop-motion comedy about a kid named Icare with blue hair and a nose like a (you guessed it) courgette. Yet, as strange as it may seem, the Claude Barras-directed film has Sciamma's fingerprints all over it, from Icare's alcoholic abusive mother — it is she who nicknames him Courgette — to suicide, to the lives of damaged kids in an orphanage. If it sounds grim, it is, but the darkness is balanced out with warmth, humour and wisdom. It's also full of vibrant animation – a punk-disco thrown for the kids by the teachers is a delight – that remains relatable, allowing the story's empathy, sensitivity and hope to make the biggest impression.

Read Empire’s review of My Life As A Courgette.

34) Millennium Actress (2002)

Director: Satoshi Kon | Runtime: 1hr 27m | Buy on: HMV

How do you follow up one of the darkest, most paranoiac thrillers ever made? If you’re Satoshi Kon, director of Perfect Blue, then the answer is simple: you make one of the loveliest, most heartfelt love-letters to cinema imaginable. And that’s precisely what Millennium Actress, Kon’s last cel-animated movie, is. Following a TV interviewer and his cameraman as they — and we — are taken on an immersive odyssey through the memories and career of an acclaimed Japanese actor, Chiyoko (Miyoko Shôji). From the aesthetic and cinematic stylings of Ozu and Kurosawa to Kaiju b-movies and the French New Wave, we cross oceans of time with Chiyoko, witnessing in the process a reclamation of youth, wonder, romance too in the twilight of the ageing star’s years. It’s cinema as an act of undying love — and it’s somehow barely an hour-and-a-half long. A must-see.

33) Hercules (1997)

Director(s): Ron Clements, John Musker | Runtime: 1hr 40m | Streaming on: Disney+

A charming combination of mythically-inspired animation and screwball-inspired comedy makes Hercules a comfortable entry in the '90s Disney Renaissance, even if it went a little under-appreciated at the time of release. Studio stalwarts Ron Clements and John Musker made their follow-up to Aladdin another underdog story, this time about the son of Greek gods Zeus and Hera, who becomes a human outcast with godly powers after Hades' henchmen fail to turn him completely mortal. Voice cast standouts include Danny DeVito as, well, Danny DeVito in satyr-form, and Susan Egan as the Barbara Stanwyck-inspired anti-damsel-in-distress Meg. Throw in a soundtrack of gospel bangers – not to mention Michael Bolton's rousing rendition of 'Go The Distance' – and you've got an energetic, slyly funny romp.

Read Empire’s review of Hercules.

32) Toy Story 2 (1999)

Director(s): John Lasseter | Runtime: 1hr 35m | Streaming on: Disney+

How do you follow-up the most game-changing animated movie in decades? You expand the character roster with more toys that audiences will fall in love with (hello, Woody's Round-Up gang), deepen the emotional pull (who doesn't cry at 'When She Loved Me'?) and pile on the Empire Strikes Back references. If it could never hope to recapture the surprise of the original, Toy Story 2 proved Pixar was no flash in the pan – a sequel originally destined for straight-to-video was simply too good not to hit the big screen. In true Empire style, it expands the world and splits up our gang – sending Woody into the big bad world of retro toy collectors, and dispatching Buzz and co to save him in a jaunt that takes in a hilarious Barbie-centric trip through Al's Toy Barn. It's a sequel that showed there was plenty of life yet in these toys – and this time, everyone was looking.

Read Empire’s review of Toy Story 2.

31) 101 Dalmatians (1961)

Director(s): Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton S. Luske, Clyde Geronimi | Runtime: 1hr 23m | Streaming on: Disney+

Slap-bang in the middle of Disney's silver age came an adventure that looked unlike any other film from the studio before it. The lavish, expansive vistas of Sleeping Beauty were replaced with textured sketchbooky scrawls thanks to the new cost-cutting Xerox animation process – resulting in a film that feels properly hand-crafted and full of life, simpatico with its jazzy score. Adapting Dodie Smith's novel, it was (at the time) a rare contemporary Disney film, bringing 1960s London to life in the tale of a loved-up couple, their doe-eyed dogs, and a maniacal fashionista intent on dog-napping their litter of newborn puppies to make a fur coat. If the dalmatians themselves are adorable, it's Cruella De Vil who steals the movie – a properly iconic villain, a scrawny creature in a hulking fur coat, with green-smoke-spewing cigarettes, and that damning screech of "imbeciles!" All in all, it's a dog-gone delight.

Read Empire’s review of 101 Dalmatians.

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30) Bambi (1942)

Director(s): David Hand | Runtime: 1hr 15m | Streaming on: Disney+

Both visually and emotionally, Bambi is a strong contender for Disney's most beautiful animated film. Right from its extended opening multi-plane shot through layers and layers of dense forest, it's a lush pastoral coming-of-age story that revels in recreating the sense of life, love and loss inherent in the natural world. The plot is minimal – particularly in its opening half, more intent on immersing viewers in the forest's flora and fauna – but ultimately hugely moving, as newborn fawn Bambi makes friends, loses his mother (in a sequence that's now traumatised multiple generations of children) to hunters, falls in love, and grows into a stoic Great Prince Of The Forest like his father before him. The narrative's maturity sometimes clashes with more kid-friendly characters like hyperactive bunny Thumper and skunk Flower, but its closing cyclical imagery is properly stirring.

Read Empire’s review of Bambi.

29) Wallace And Gromit In The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005)

Director(s): Nick Park, Steve Box | Runtime: 1hr 25m | Streaming on: Now TV

It's not every film that can take two beloved stop-motion characters from a series of shorts and TV specials and put them up on the big screen for a rollicking, Hammer horror-inspired comedy. But Were-Rabbit is just one reason why no one should underestimate the Aardman team, who were able to bring their British sensibility to a (relatively) big-budget American animated movie. The larger canvas doesn't short-circuit the charm of inventor Wallace (the late, great Peter Sallis) and his silent, smart canine chum, and this is stuffed with the sort of sly winks and fun characters we've come to expect from the duo's outings. The film itself may not have set box office records (we have noticeably not seen a second film featuring the pair), but it won the Animated Feature Oscar in 2006 – and good thing, too, if only for all the gardening puns.

Read Empire’s review of Wallace & Gromit In The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit.

28) Song Of The Sea (2014)

Director(s): Tomm Moore | Runtime: 1hr 34m | Streaming on: StudioCanal

The second film from Irish animation house Cartoon Saloon is breathtakingly gorgeous – painterly and ethereal, blending stylised character models with finely-detailed backgrounds that glow with a bioluminescence befitting its subaquatic selkie-centric story. If Song Of The Sea plays to kids as a straight-up adventure, for older audiences it's a delicately drawn fable about grief and family, as stoic dad Conor (Brendan Gleeson) is left to raise his son Ben (David Rawle) and newborn daughter Saoirse (Lucy O'Connell) after his wife dies in childbirth – and there may be more to Saoirse than meets the eye. Pulling from Irish folklore and steeped in a sense of cultural specificity, Song Of The Sea confirmed Cartoon Saloon as a major new voice in the medium – one whose artistry, storytelling and charm matches up to the greats of Ghibli, Disney, and Pixar.

Read Empire’s review of Song Of The Sea.

27) Your Name. (2016)

Director(s): Makoto Shinkai | Runtime: 1hr 46m | Rent/Buy on: Apple TV, Prime Video

Makoto Shinkai's record-breaking body-swap anime glitters and gleams – light bounces off surfaces in glorious shimmers, refracts through the sky, reflects from buildings and iPhone screens with breathtaking beauty. It's a film of two halves – the first is sweet, charming and witty as small-town girl Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) and Tokyo boy Taki (Ryunosuke Kamiki) find themselves waking up in each other's bodies, perhaps thanks to the cosmic interference of a passing comet. And once their growing metaphysical relationship hooks you in, the second half of the film shifts gears into high-stakes melodrama with major emotional punch. If there's plenty of subtext about Japan itself – the push and pull between rural traditions and buzzing cities, its history of natural disasters – it's the dazzling visuals, soaring soundtrack by band Radwimps, and that central pairing that make Your Name. an instant classic. Fittingly, it's a body-swap film that gets under the skin.

Read Empire’s review of Your Name.

26) The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Director(s): Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells | Runtime: 1hr 39m | Streaming on: ITVX

A continuation of DreamWorks Animation's early mission to become a competitor to Disney while bringing animation to older audiences, The Prince Of Egypt masterfully blends CGI with traditional 2D animation; a first for the studio. An army of animators were summoned to make this biblical epic, pitched by studio co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg as an animated adaptation of The Ten Commandments. Alongside its stunning Egyptian vistas and finely-drawn, expressionistic characters – not to mention a giddily tense chariot race sequence – it boasts gargantuan '90s star power, with Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock and Jeff Goldblum amongst the voice cast, with Val Kilmer in a dual role – lending his rich timbre to both Moses and God himself. As if that weren't enough, Hans Zimmer's staggeringly cinematic soundscape and an Oscar-winning accompanying duet from vocal powerhouses Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey makes this ambitious venture a rewarding entry at a time when DreamWorks became a viable Disney rival.

Read Empire’s review of The Prince Of Egypt.

25) Wolfwalkers (2020)

Director(s): Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart | Runtime: 1hr 42m | Streaming on: Apple TV

Cartoon Saloon’s Irish Folklore Trilogy concluded with this fantastical tale set against the very real issue of English colonial destruction in Ireland. Robyn (Honor Kneafsey), the daughter of a hunter dispatched to wipe out the local wolf population discovers a kindred spirit in a pack and fellow youngster Mebh (Eva Whittaker), who embodies a wolf when she sleeps. Together, the pair sets out to save the wolves and the forest from the schemes of the Lord Protector (Simon McBurney). Moore and the Saloon gang have always trodden their own animated path, and Wolfwalkers is no different, mixing boxy woodcut style for the townsfolk with loose, flowing line work for the creatures of the woods. Both sweet and powerful, it's a crime that the pandemic meant it was predominantly seen on TV screens.

Read Empire’s review of Wolfwalkers.

24) Aladdin (1992)

Director(s): John Musker, Ron Clements | Runtime: 1hr 35m | Streaming on: Disney+

If you want a perfect example of how ultra-expressive animation can complement and benefit a freewheeling comic masterclass of a voice performance, look no further than Aladdin – because the title character has the entire show stolen from him by Robin Williams' Genie. The big blue guy is a creation of pure, cartoonish elasticity – shape-shifting from second to second as the comedy icon's firecracker heavily-improvised performance explodes in multiple directions at once. That the visual comedy lives up to William's wit is a marvel – no wonder Will Smith and Guy Ritchie couldn't match it in the live-action version. Beyond the Genie, Aladdin is still a belter thanks to its Alan Menken and Howard Ashman songs, Gilbert Gottfried's acerbic Iago, and its underdog story of a 'street-rat' who bags himself a magic lamp – and might just win the heart of Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin). The Middle-Eastern stereotypes certainly don't fly today, but everything else does – the carpet included.

Read Empire’s review of Aladdin.

23) Pinocchio (1940)

Director(s): Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton Luske | Runtime: 1hr 32m | Streaming on: Disney+

Disney's second animated feature is a major leap forward from Snow White – more narratively expansive, more technologically complex, and way, way darker. Adapting Carlo Collodi's novel, it follows the titular wooden puppet on an existential quest to earn his humanity – one that finds him exploited by a shady show-businessman, swallowed by a rampaging whale called Monstro, preyed on by an upsetting cat-man, and, in a truly disturbing sequence, taken by a demonic coachman to the sinful 'Pleasure Island' where rebellious boys are mutated into donkeys and shipped off for nefarious purposes. It is, in short, not really one for kids – but adults will find much technical mastery in its vivid tracking shots and creepy character animation. Plus, it has a stellar song in 'When You Wish Upon A Star' – nowadays the unofficial Disney theme tune.

Read Empire’s review of Pinocchio.

22) Coco (2017)

Director(s): Lee Unkrich | Runtime: 1hr 46m | Streaming on: Disney+

Rarely a team to rest on its laurels (and it has some well-earned laurels), Pixar, spearheaded by Lee Unkrich, decided to really challenge itself and develop a film showcasing the cultural touchpoint that is the Day of the Dead. Or at least, that's the background — the real story here is of young Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), who dreams of being a famous musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). That's no straightforward ambition, especially when his family has banned music after his great-great-grandmother's husband left her to pursue a career as a performer. (Literal) buried secrets come into play as Miguel crosses to the land of the dead on a mission to learn the truth. Coco is a vibrant film that honors Mexican cultural traditions, and – because the Emeryville studio is so good at it – plucks at the heartstrings as effectively as some of the guitar players here. The movie itself and original song 'Remember Me' both won Oscars, each well-deserved.

Read Empire’s review of Coco.

21) Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Director: Wes Anderson | Runtime: 1hr 27m | Streaming on: Disney+, Apple TV+

George Clooney is on sparkling form as the insouciant titular thief-turned-hero in Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox, a stunning stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s novel. With its eye-catching autumnal palette, intricately detailed armatures, and picturebook scenery, Anderson’s film conjures a cosy, lived-in world that’s impossible to resist, no matter how old or young you may be. And from within it, he faithfully tells Dahl’s slight story of a wily fox taking on three horrible crooks whilst artfully expanding it to further explore the themes of fatherhood, familial dysfunction, and community that permeate his own filmography. Partly a hair-raising heist film that gives Clooney’s Ocean’s flicks a run for their money, partly a study in silliness filled with child-friendly cussin’, but above all else a decidedly Wes Anderson picture, Fantastic Mr. Fox is an animated feature par excellence. Also, Willem Dafoe plays a villainous alcoholic sewer-rat in this, and Jarvis Cocker sings and plays the banjo. What more could you want?

Read Empire’s review of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

20 — 11

20) Beauty And The Beast (1991)

Director(s): Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise | Runtime: 1hr 33m | Streaming on: Disney+

A soaring, Broadway-calibre musical meets sophisticated, pioneering animation in Disney's landmark fairytale. Beauty And The Beast is truly a marvel in terms of animated architecture – from the beast's cavernous, gothic castle, to the overstuffed shelves of Belle's (Paige O'Hara) beloved bookstore. Yet Disney didn't sacrifice its childlike sense of wonder in the name of showing off its new approach to animation. The film's choreography remains some of the studio's finest, be it Belle's opening number with her nose in a book, skimming blissfully through the inner workings of her small town, or the central ballroom setpiece that coaxes out the tentative romance between beauty and beast. Yet its twinkle lies in the character design of the castle's cursed inhabitants – each a little sad and wonky, but not without lashings of charm – as well as in the much-loved lyrics of Howard Ashman that inform some of the film's most delightful moments. "Try the grey stuff, it's delicious. Don't believe me? Ask the dishes!"

Read Empire’s review of Beauty And The Beast.

19) Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Director(s): Clyde Geronimi | Runtime: 1hr 19m | Streaming on: Disney+

From its medieval setting, to its iconic villain, to the sheer width of its frame, everything about Disney's third princess movie feels epic – a rich fantasy saga that has more than just romance on its mind. Painstakingly produced over the course of eight years and backed by a Tchaikovsy-inspired score, Sleeping Beauty is gorgeous in every respect – full of stylistic touches inspired by renaissance art, with stunningly detailed backdrops and dynamic character designs delivered on an expansive Cinemascope canvas. If the story itself is pretty slight (evil fairy curses baby, baby grows up and eventually falls into an enchanted sleep, the kiss of a prince breaks the spell), it's all livened up by the magnificent Maleficent (Eleanor Audley), a cracking, cackling villain with a flair for the dramatic, even transforming into a green-fire-breathing dragon for a climax that today echoes Game Of Thrones. Ironically, it was slept on at first – flopping on release, and only seen for what it was in the decades that followed: an absolute beauty.

18) Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Director(s): Pete Docter | Runtime: 1hr 33m | Streaming on: Disney+

If you were to tot up a list of Pixar's most loveable characters, and another list of the most brilliantly imaginative worlds they've created, Monsters, Inc. would come out near the top end of both. After two Toy Story films and A Bug's Life, the studio proved it really had the goods to become one of the greats with a sweet, silly and sentimental buddy comedy about monsters who are secretly terrified of the kids they spook every night. Hanging out with James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) – a furry blue top-scarer and his sardonic green ball of a co-worker – is a total joy, as is spending time in the streets of Monstropolis, packed with eye-catching beasts, sight gags galore, and Harryhausen in-jokes. If the fish-out-of-water set-up (Mike and Sully accidentally unleash human girl Boo in the monster city) is mined for major laughs, it provides huge emotional punch as they come to realise she's not a danger at all – just try not to weep at that final 'Kitty!'

Read Empire’s review of Monsters, Inc..

17) The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Director(s): Henry Selick | Runtime: 1hr 20m | Streaming on: Disney+

An animated beacon of hope for Jack Skellingtons everywhere, Tim Burton's Henry Selick directed gothic musical remains a beloved, wretched festive treasure. Everything about this gorgeous gothic stop-motion fantasy endures because of its off-kilter charms, beginning with the angular and disproportionate character design, which Burton dreamed up with visionary effects artist Rich Heinrichs. The jewel in the crown is, of course, Skellington (Chris Sarandon) – the disgruntled Pumpkin King who finds a new lease of life under the glowing lights of Christmas Town – but each ghastly and/or ghoulish addition to the ensemble is a gnarled, slightly terrifying work of art. Composer Danny Elfman, a self-professed Skellington type who even supplied the character's singing voice, imbued the film with its haunting cadences and morbid soundscape, which at times manifests into intoxicating musical numbers. The film took a meandering journey to the screen, in part due to Disney's failure to accept Burton's vision – but when it arrived, it was unlike anything that had ever come before it, and continues to touch the hearts of outsiders everywhere.

Read Empire’s review of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

16) Toy Story 3 (2010)

Director(s): Lee Unkrich | Runtime: 1hr 46m | Streaming on: Disney+

The original Toy Story was a groundbreaker. Toy Story 2 rescued a sequel from the jaws of straight-to-video oblivion. No pressure, then, for the third outing, which had to follow those two hits. Under the careful, thoughtful direction of Lee Unkrich (who had been with Pixar since the first film), Toy Story 3 deepens the narrative of Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang by having them confront the prospect of moving to a new home when their owner Andy outgrows them. The Toy Story films had always been about heart, loss, family and terrifying, cymbal-crashing monkeys (okay, maybe that one just applies to the threequel), but the third finds Team Pixar on fantastic form. One scene in particular (one word: incinerator) sent fans — including noted Toy Story 3 superfan Quentin Tarantino – into paroxysms of worry and sniffles with its palpable sense of finality.

Read Empire’s review of Toy Story 3.

15) Persepolis (2007)

Director(s): Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi | Runtime: 1hr 35m | Streaming on: StudioCanal

Few international animations have garnered the same global success as Persepolis. That the film takes place amidst the Islamic revolution – captured through a broad, unfussy style of animation in a mostly monochrome palette – is only further testament to the power of its storytelling. The film is co-adapted by Marjane Satrapi from her autobiographical graphic novel series of the same name. Through documenting her young life in Tehran and later Austria, Satrapi relays the torment inflicted on her leftist family and friends by the Shah through the eyes of her punkish, Bruce Lee-loving tearaway. The way in which Satrapi weaves her humanist beliefs into this simple yet elegant narrative is effortlessly moving, and made her the first woman director to be nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2008 Academy Awards.

Read Empire’s review of Persepolis.

14) Ratatouille (2007)

Director(s): Brad Bird | Runtime: 1hr 52m | Streaming on: Disney+

The magic of Ratatouille isn't just that Pixar made a film about a rat chef that somehow doesn't make the audience want to run for the nearest sick bucket – it's the sensory elegance of it that's most dazzling. Director Brad Bird's most impressive feat is turning smells into sights – ingredients become wafts of abstract colour that complement each other as sub-par dishes become works of culinary art, a symphony of swirling scents completed by Michael Giacchino's gorgeous score. Patton Oswalt lends his voice to Remy – a rat with a gift for cookery who teams up with hopeless human Linguini (Lou Romano) in an effort to get his dishes out into the world. But given Remy's rodent status, the discovery of the real little chef would spell disaster for his future. Even by Pixar standards, this sometimes overlooked effort overflows with charm and beauty – just see the scene in which snooty critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) takes a bite of the film's titular dish and is transported back to the warmth and love of his own mother's cooking. Not bad for a film with a pretty basic pun title.

Read Empire’s review of Ratatouille.

13) The Incredibles (2004)

Director(s): Brad Bird | Runtime: 1hr 57m | Streaming on: Disney+

A few years before the Marvel Cinematic Universe's creators found their winning blend of superheroic action and quippy humour, Brad Bird beat them to it. The Incredibles, his first Pixar film, rocketed him straight to the company's 'Brain Trust' of directors who help to shepherd other filmmakers' work and revealed itself to be a spry, warm take on the sort of family dynamics at play in teams such as The Fantastic Four. Focusing on "supers" Bob (Craig T. Nelson) and Helen (Holly Hunter) Parr, who have given up the hero game to raise their family, it sees Bob itching to get back in action despite government pressure to stay out of the way. A mysterious opportunity offers more than he bargained for, and the Parr clan will have to combine their abilities to combat a new threat. Bird wasn't just ahead of the game on the heroic front – he also pinpointed the dangers of toxic fandom and the dangers of capes on costumes. The latter point, of course, outlined by the Bird-performed Edna Mode, fashion consultant to heroes. A character for the ages, dahling.

Read Empire’s review of The Incredibles.

12) Up (2009)

**Director(s):**Pete Docter | **Runtime:**1hr 37m | Streaming on: Disney+

Everyone talks about the opening 10 minutes of Up. And rightly so – it's its own mini-masterpiece, beautiful and heartbreaking as adorable couple Carl and Ellie experience the ups (marriage, picnics, dancing) and downs (miscarriage, bereavement) of life in a single montage that guarantees floods of tears. But what comes next is equally miraculous – a wild, weird adventure movie in which the elderly Carl (Ed Asner) and energetic boy scout Russell (Jordan Nagai) unwittingly float away to South America on a flurry of vibrant balloons, encountering a giant bird called Kevin, a pack of talking dogs ("Squirrel!"), and an evil explorer. It's a heady mix, but director Pete Docter coheres it all spectacularly – the grounded grief and the exotic escapism somehow exist in perfect harmony. Now that's a Pixar miracle.

Read Empire’s review of Up.

11) The Lion King (1994)

Director(s): Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff | Runtime: 1hr 34m | Streaming on: Disney+

In the heart of Disney's '90s renaissance, The Lion King found the studio back at the peak of its powers – and its anthropomorphised animal take on Hamlet is an astonishing thing. Essentially a sun-kissed African companion piece to Bambi, it's a coming-of-age tale infused with murder and subterfuge – as lion cub Simba (Matthew Broderick) grows up in the expanse of Pride Rock, experiences a life-shattering parental death, and eventually takes his father's place as the ruler of the animal kingdom. Timon and Pumbaa (Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella) emerge as gold-standard sidekicks once Simba runs away from home, the Elton John-penned songs are off the chain ('The Circle Of Life'! 'Hakuna Matata'! 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King'!), and none other than James Earl Jones lends his booming voice to patriarch Mufasa. All these years later, it's even clearer – The Lion King ain't no passin' craze.

Read Empire’s review of The Lion King.

10 — 1

10) Kubo And The Two Strings (2016)

Director(s): Travis Knight | Runtime: 1hr 42m | Streaming on: ITVX

By this point, it was already clear that Portland-based animation studio Laika could produce great movies – but Kubo is widely regarded to be the pinnacle of their filmmaking so far. Drawing from samurai stories, it follows young Kubo (Art Parkinson and his, er, challenging family. His mother is dying, his grandfather stole one of his eyes when he was an infant, and his father is missing, presumed dead. Under attack from his aunts (who are sent by his grandfather to steal his other eye), Kubo must head out on a quest to find his father's armor, the one thing he hopes can stop his grandfather. It's an enchanting affair, bolstered by great voice work from Ralph Fiennes, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey and George Takei, plus an eminently re-listenable score from Dario Marianelli, and has earned its place as one of the most creative and stylish examples of stop-motion out there.

Read Empire's review of Kubo & The Two Strings.

9) The Iron Giant (1999)

Director(s): Brad Bird | Runtime: 1hr 26m | Buy/Rent on: Apple TV, Prime Video

Before he joined CG giants Pixar, director Brad Bird worked with co-writer Tim McCanlies to (very loosely) adapt Ted Hughes' The Iron Man. A beautiful, emotional throwback to 1950s paranoia thrillers, at its core it tells the heartening E.T-esque story of a lonely young boy and the giant robot who becomes his best friend. Bird weavs in themes of identity and fighting against the box people might wish to shove you in, while showing just how impressive traditional animation can be (even if the Giant himself is a computer-generated creation). Add in a gravel-gargling Vin Diesel as the voice of the towering metal man, and you've got a winner that sadly didn't connect at the box office but has long since earned cult classic status. Oh, and have a giant box of tissues ready for the tears you'll shed by the end.

Read Empire’s review of The Iron Giant.

8) Akira (1988)

Director(s): Katsuhiro Otomo | Runtime: | Buy on: Amazon

To say Akira is insanely influential would be a major understatement. Not just in the world of anime, but beyond that – everything from The Matrix to Stranger Things can be traced back to Katsuhiro Otomo's monolithic masterpiece. Set in (what used to be) the future of 2019, it follows a gang of biker kids in the sprawling city of Neo-Tokyo. When Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki) is injured in a crash and taken to a top-secret government facility, experiments give him telekinetic powers that soon spiral out of control and threaten to destroy the city – just as the mysterious Akira did 30 years previously. It's up to his friend Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata) to try and stop Tetsuo becoming a monster. Visually astonishing, thematically layered, and with dazzlingly kinetic action, Akira is captivating – even as its final reel becomes an increasingly abstract blend of metaphysical musings and flesh-mutating body horror.

Read Empire’s review of Akira.

7) Spirited Away (2001)

Director(s): Hayao Miyazaki | Runtime: 2hrs 5m | Streaming on: Netflix

The film that brought Studio Ghibli to the Western mainstream is, curiously, not its most accessible work – but Hayao Miyazaki's coming-of-age fairytale is so steeped in gorgeous, culturally-specific Japanese imagery it's no wonder it captured the world's imagination. Darker than your typical Disney fare, it centres on Chihiro (Remi Hiiragi) who becomes trapped in a grand, mythical bathhouse frequented by spirits after her parents are transformed into pigs. There, she's forced to work by the witch Yubaba (Mari Natsuki), and forms a friendship with dragon-boy Haku (Miyu Irino). If the narrative is often loose, especially as the film continues into its second hour, Spirited Away is beguiling and enchanting, conjuring up an entire world of curious creatures while contemplating notions of identity, spirituality, personal growth, environmentalism, and moral ambiguities that extend beyond simple good and evil.

Read Empire’s review of Spirited Away.

6) Toy Story (1995)

Director(s): John Lasseter | Runtime: 1hr 25m | Streaming on: Disney+

On a technical level, the impact of Pixar's first full-length feature can't be understated. It's as significant a leap forward for the medium as the debut of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs was nearly 60 years previously – cracking open a whole new world of fully-3D computer-generated animation. Using technology pioneered by the studio (in collaboration with Apple), Toy Story wasn't just a phenomenon in its own right: it changed the visual style and filmmaking approach of nearly every major studio animation for decades to come. But beyond its seismic influence, it still stands up as a shining example of everything Pixar does best – it has dynamite buddy-duo dynamics in the bickering Buzz (Tim Allen) and Woody (Tom Hanks; it explores the emotions of anthropomorphised objects or animals; it creates an entire imaginative world from the seemingly everyday; and its screenplay is richly layered with characterisation and gags that work just as well for adults as they do for kids. The sequels might go bigger, but the original Toy Story remains a totally pure blast of creative joy – and nothing has been the same since.

Read Empire’s review of Toy Story.

5) My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

Director(s): Hayao Miyazaki | Runtime: 1hr 27m | Streaming on: Netflix

It's impossible not to be charmed by the sheer goodness that exudes from Hayao Miyazaki's ode to childhood. My Neighbour Totoro is bursting with imagination, while being far more laid-back than most kids' films – a gentle jaunt into the Japanese countryside, filled with forest spirits, friendship, and furry creatures. Sisters Satsuki (Noriko Hidaka) and Mei (Chika Sakamoto) find themselves spending a summer holiday in a rural house while their mother recovers from an illness in hospital, and soon find a giant, grey furball in the nearby woods. If that sounds simple, well, it is – but it's that simplicity that makes the film such a delight, coupled with the fact that there's no villain or antagonist across the entire runtime. From Totoro himself, to the Soot Sprites (which return in Spirited Away) and the Catbus, it's full of iconic imaginative designs, serene imagery, and with a theme-tune that'll never leave your head: "To-to-ro to-tooo-ro!" It’s no surprise that Miyazaki’s first masterwork topped our rundown of the best kids’ movies ever made — this is the kind of animated movie you love your whole life through, that speaks to the child and to the child inside quite unlike anything else.

Read Empire’s review of My Neighbour Totoro.

4) Wall-E (2008)

Director(s): Andrew Stanton | Runtime: 1hr 40m | Streaming on: Disney+

The opening act of Wall-E is nothing short of astonishing: a largely dialogue-free trundle around the scorched remains of human civilisation, as the titular robot cleaner crushes Earthly detritus into neat cubes while pining for any kind of companionship. It's at once chilling and charming – the adorable swivel-eyed Wall-E contrasted against the horrifying mess we've left behind. The scope of it is stunning – and then in swoops fellow robo Eve, turning the whole film on its head, as Wall-E becomes smitten and a warped sci-fi rom-com eventually gives way to an intergalactic chase movie. From the fire extinguisher-assisted space dance, to Wall-E dancing along to Hello Dolly, to a mission to protect the one final piece of viable plant life, Wall-E is frequently breathtaking. With its dire ecological warnings, it's a film sure to resonate deeply for decades to come – all the while being a masterful piece of science fiction, with heart-popping emotion to boot.

Read Empire’s review of Wall-E.

3) Princess Mononoke (1997)

Director(s): Hayao Miyazaki | Runtime: 2hrs 14m | Streaming on: Netflix

With lopped limbs aplenty, giant marauding boars, and a flesh-mutating curse, Princess Mononoke is darker than your usual Ghibli fare. It's a stunning, sweeping epic though – a uniquely Japanese fantasy saga that feels equivalent to Lord Of The Rings in its mythical scope and narrative sprawl. It's perhaps the best example of Hayao Miyazaki's environmentalist themes – in which civilisation isn't necessarily evil but must find a way to co-exist with nature, as explosive conflict threatens the future of both. Set nearly 1000 years ago, the story centres on Ashitaka (Yoji Matsuda), a warrior whose arm becomes cursed in a battle against an infected boar god. Venturing west in search of a cure, he finds himself caught up in a war between the industrious people of Iron Town and the raw power of the natural world. With slick, kinetic action, ethereal imagery, and a nuanced narrative, Mononoke is a mammoth achievement.

Read Empire’s review of Princess Mononoke.

2) Inside Out (2015)

Director(s): Pete Docter | Runtime: 1hr 36m | Streaming on: Disney+

Few films can claim to have the sheer emotional intelligence of Inside Out – a film about intelligent emotions that's both a rollocking adventure, and a nuanced exploration of feelings, dreams, memory, and imagination. If the protagonist is technically Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), really it's the voices in her head – Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Anger (Lewis Black) – that take centre stage. With all the upheaval of moving to San Francisco with her family, Riley's inner world is thrown into turmoil – teeing up an existential odyssey as Joy and Sadness careen through the corridors of her mind, via abstract thought, the dream factory, and halls filled with precious memories. It's beautifully conceptualised and gorgeously realised, resulting in a remarkable work of art whose perceptive notions about the need for sadness, the way happy memories become tinged with melancholy over time, and how we each find our own paths towards our coming of age will surely resonate for generations to come. And don't even get us started on Bing Bong…

Read Empire’s review of Inside Out.

1) Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)

Director(s): Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman | Runtime: 1hr 57m | Streaming on: Now TV

If Toy Story was the biggest leap forward for mainstream feature animation since Snow White, it took another 23 years for the needle to shift so significantly once again. But then in thwipped Spider-Verse, boasting a jaw-droppingly ambitious visual identity that feels completely distinct from anything else – blending 2D and 3D textures with comic book paper flourishes, amending the frame-rates of different characters within the same scene, chucking in blasts of acid-flash colour, and leaning into the cartoonish, exaggerated qualities that animation makes possible. And that's before you see our hero Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) sharing the screen with the black-and-white Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), the anime Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), and the Looney Tunes-esque Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) all in one frame. It's an all-out pop-art freak-out of a movie, with gorgeous details and genius sight gags packed into every frame ('Bagel!').

And all the visual razzmatazz serves a real emotional purpose, too, encapsulating the characters' head-spaces. When Miles' Spidey-senses kick in, they do so with pulsing psychedelic colours. And when he's at the peak of his powers in the stand-out 'What's Up, Danger' sequence, the screen flips so that his head-first leap of faith down to the city below instead appears sees him ascending to the heavens, the entire world pivoting around him. Away from the visuals, the characters are layered and loveable, Miles proves himself a more-than-worthy Spider-Man, the multiverse storyline is brilliantly handled, and the emotional gut-punches land with total accuracy too. Plus, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller on producing duties (Lord co-wrote the screenplay too), it's packed with their signature laugh-out-loud gags. Spider-Verse excels on so many levels, it's already an instant classic – both as a superhero movie, and as an animated masterwork. It's a film so ahead of the game, it feels like it blasted in from another universe entirely.

Read Empire’s review of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

This list was created by our team of critics and contributors here at Empire, and has been written, edited, and published here by Deputy Online Editor (and Disniversity podcast host) Ben Travis alongside Online Writer (and Disniversity podcast listener) Jordan King. Between them, Ben and Jordan have over 25 years of experience writing about film, television, and popular culture.

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Since this is pertaining to The Batman, and Robert Pattinson’s take on the Dark Knight is of the emo persuasion, we’ll go bad news up front: The Batman Part II has been delayed again. Since The Batman – director Matt Reeves’ first foray into the DC universe – was released all the way back in 2022, fans are waiting an almightily long time for his follow up. (At least we had The Penguin series in the meantime, in 2024.) With shooting on the sequel underway, Part II was finally slated for an October 2027 release. But now it’s been pushed back again, after several previous hold-ups, now due to arrive in February 2028.

Still, as we said, there’s good news too. News of the updated release window comes alongside a short camera test teaser video, showing Pattinson back in the Bat cowl. It’s a moody 30-ish seconds, depicting Batman standing in the darkness of a snowy Gotham – as police cars with wailing sirens drive towards him. And while it’s just a glimpse, it’s a tantalising one – especially when combined with Michael Giaccino’s two-note musical refrain.

Here’s hoping The Batman Part II will be worth the six year wait. We’ll find out exactly what R-Battz is up against this time when The Batman Part II arrives on February 18 2028.

Of the many casualties sustained in the fall of the DCEU, Angel Manuel Soto's Blue Beetle — which introduced Xolo Maridueña as DC Comics' Mexican-American, alien scarab powered superhero — was surely one of the roughest. Maridueña was a breath of fresh air as Jaime Reyes, the movie's Hispanic-American cultural specificity lent the whole movie an air of genuine originality, and Blue Beetle easily had the coolest supersuit of the DCEU era. Happily then, we mourn Blue Beetle's loss no more, as Variety is reporting that Xolo Maridueña is coming back back back in James Gunn's upcoming Superman sequel Man Of Tomorrow. Yes, really!

Now, technically speaking, Gunn did confirm that Blue Beetle would factor into the DCU when Soto's movie first came out. Speaking on Inside Of You With Michael Rosenbaum at the time, Gunn clarified, "The first DCU character, for sure, is Blue Beetle, and the first full DCU movie is Superman." And star Xolo Maridueña, who has always been very vocal about his pride in having portrayed DC's first Latino superhero lead, has done his part in keeping the Blue Beetle flag flying during the hero's between-two-cinematic-universe-stools era. But with the DCU slate having been jigged and rejigged multiple times over the last three years, the reappearance of Jaime Reyes has never truly felt like an iron-clad done deal... until now, that is.

With production already underway on Man Of Tomorrow, which is set to see David Corenswet's Man of Steel team up with arch nemesis Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) to take on Lars Eidinger's big-bad Brainiac, the wheels are already very much in motion on the movie that will bring back Blue Beetle. All that remains to be seen now is just how exactly writer-director Gunn pulls off his DCEU-to-DCU transition, what the DC Studios head honcho has in mind for Jaime Reyes, and whether the next Blue Beetle suit can live up to the sheer awesomeness of the last. We'll find out all this and more though when Man Of Tomorrow flies into cinemas on 9 July, 2027. Until then, Blue Beetle is back, baby! ¡Qué padre!

It is said that there are seven wonders of the world — or eight, if you count King Kong (which we absolutely do!) But we would wager that there is another: the sight of Andy Serkis hunching over, in a mo-cap suit, transforming into Gollum before our very eyes. And today the actor-director has gifted us that wonder once again as Warner Bros. has released a special announcement video to reveal that The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum — Serkis' upcoming Middle-earthian midquel — has officially entered production out in New Zealand. Watch the reveal for yourself below;

There you go, then! Serkis is in — and indeed on — the directorial hotseat, revved up and ready for the hunt to begin. And while this little behind-the-scenes announcement clip doesn't exactly give us a lot beyond the joy of seeing Serkis doing what he does best, a sweeping aerial shot of real-life Middle-earth, and some strains of Howard Shore's transportive Rings score, there's already plenty to get giddy about when it comes to The Hunt For Gollum — not least its epic ensemble. In case you needed a reminder, Serkis' blockbuster epic is set to star *deep breath* Elijah Wood as Frodo and Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf; Lee Pace as the Elvenking, Thranduil; Jamie Dornan as Aragorn/Strider; Kate Winslet as Marigol, reportedly Gollum/Sméagol's Stoor Hobbit grandmother; Anya Taylor-Joy as Sindarin elf Seren; and Leo Woodall as Dúnedain man Halvard, believed to be one of the Rangers of the North accompanying Aragorn/Strider on his hunt for Serkis' Gollum.

Set between the events of The Hobbit and Fellowship Of The Ring, and described by co-writer Philippa Boyens to Empire as "an adventure story with a really strong psychological, interior story that’s going on as well," The Hunt For Gollum follows Aragorn's quest to capture — you guessed it! — Gollum before he can reveal the location of The One Ring to Sauron. And while yes, we may already know how things pan out on that front, we remain very excited to return to Middle-earth when the preciousss— er, The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum hits cinemas on 17 December, 2027. We wants it... we needs it...

It would appear that rumours (well, shrewd marketing) of The Conjuring franchise's death with 2025's terminally titled Last Rites were greatly exaggerated. Not only has a HBO Max spin-off series already been commissioned to continue the highest-grossing horror movie series of all time's legacy, but also a prequel movie — The Conjuring: First Communion — set to dig into paranormal investigator spouses Ed and Lorraine Warren's early demonological days. And now, thanks to Dread Central, we know who's stepping into Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga's holy water blessed shoes for the saga's next instalment.

Per Dread Central's reporting, The Long Walk's Garrett Wareing is on board to play Ed Warren in First Communion, while Amanda Fix — soon to be seen in Jane Schoenbrun's hotly anticipated Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma — will be getting her second sight on as Ed's clairvoyant wife Lorraine Warren. Plot specifics for the movie, directed by first-time feature filmmaker Rodrigue Huart and penned by The Autopsy Of Jane Doe duo Richard Naing and Ian Goldberg, are being kept under wraps for now — though we strongly suspect there will probably be some demonic goings-on here, and we sincerely hope there will be some guitar serenading from Wareing's Ed Warren.

While further details on Huart's movie — or indeed that above-mentioned HBO Max show — are sparse, now that shooting is officially underway on The Conjuring: First Communion, we can probably expect some more morsels and teases to start trickling through in the coming weeks and months. And with the film currently slated to hit cinemas on 10 September, 2027 (notably a few months after Conjuring Universe adjacent joint The Curse Of La__Llorona's 9 April, 2027 dated sequel The Revenge of La Llorona), we've only just over a year to go until we'll be clutching our rosaries, praying for mercy, and making heart hands at the Warrens once again. Lovely stuff.

Love him or loathe him, there's no denying that Ryan Murphy is one of the most provocative — and prolific — creators of television working today. From American Horror Story to All's Fair, Nip/Tuck to The Beauty, and from Scream Queens to Monster, the man has been a dominant force in 21st century TV with his wild, often boundary-pushing approach to the form. And his latest show, FX's The Shards, a sex, drugs, and murder-fuelled coming of age series based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Bret Easton Ellis (author of American Psycho and fellow pen-wielding provocateur), could be his wildest yet — at least if the buzzy new trailer is anything to go by. Check it out below;

We did warn you, didn't we? This. Looks. Like. A. LOT! Set in Los Angeles in 1981, The Shards' trailer opens with a young Bret (here played by Igby Rigney) revealing his latest story pitch to editor Terry (Wes Bentley). "Does it have sex in it? Pink cocaine? Male hookers?" asks Terry. "Yes," replies Bret. “Everyone loves a good coming-of-age story,” observes Terry. And for the next minute-and-a-half, we get snatches of Murphy on characteristically stylish, sensational, and darkly lurid form as we see Bret and his fellow sexed-up preppy high schoolers' worlds rocked by the arrival of a mysterious newcomer, Robert Mallory (Homer Gere, son of Richard, in his first leading role), who just happens to have come to Buckley prep school amid a spate of killings by a murderer known as The Trawler. It all looks like Murphy at his most giddily chaotic — and honestly, on first impressions, we're here for it.

The official synopsis for The Shards — which also stars Hayes Warner, Graham Campbell, Kaia Gerber, Wes Bentley, Evan Rachel Wood, and Jordan Roth — reads: "Set against the vivid backdrop of 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows a group of privileged high school seniors at an elite prep school as they navigate identity, sex, jealousy, obsession and the dangers lurking beneath the surface of American adolescence."

We have absolutely no idea how all of The Shards' pieces will come together at this point, and whether this will be peak The Beauty and Nip/Tuck level Murphy or All's Fair Murphy. What we do know is that we are incredibly curious to find out when Ryan Murphy's latest series drops on Disney+ on 5 August.

Slender Man. Wolf Man. The Empty Man. The Invisible Man. Candyman. The annals of cinema history are strewn with malevolent males whose movies are named in their menacing honour. And to that ever-growing list will soon be added The Whisper Man, the child killer at the centre of Alex North's bestselling book — and a starry new Netflix thriller from filmmaker James Ashcroft. The movie stars Adam Scott as Tom Kennedy, a crime writer forced to ask for his estranged ex-detective father's (Robert De Niro) help when his eight-year-old son is abducted, seemingly at the long-since locked-up Whisper Man's hands. If it all sounds enticingly creepy, then check out the trailer below — it looks it too;

Adam Scott back playing a distressed writer for the second time this year (see also; Hokum)? Check. Robert De Niro locking into a quieter, more sombre register as a detective with ghosts in his past, rifts in his present, and one last case in front of him that could be his key to peace? Check. Seriously creepy, Black Phone-meets-Prisoners child abduction thriller vibes with a chilling predator who whispers at children's windows before taking them? Triple check. Suffice it to say that The Whisper Man looks like a meaty, weighty psychological thriller with a lot of potential and a, well, killer central question: how can this historic Whisper Man — aka Frank Carter — be preying on kids again when he was put away decades ago? We don't know, but by heck we want to find out...

The official synopsis for The Whisper Man — which also stars Michelle Monaghan, Hamish Linklater, Owen Teague, Acston Luca Porto, and Will Brill — reads: "When his eight-year-old son is abducted, a widowed crime writer looks to his estranged father, a retired former police detective, for help, only to discover a connection with the decades-old case of a convicted serial killer known as "The Whisper Man."

With a killer cast, a killer premise, and even a killer nerve-jangling nursery rhyme to buoy its lore ("If you leave a door half open, soon you'll hear the whispers spoken. If your window’s left unlatched, you’ll hear him tapping at the glass. If you’re lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you.), The Whisper Man will surely be one to shout about when it hits Netflix on 28 August. We'll be sleeping with the lights on until then...

Key elements of any great ‘80s action movie include a buddy-duo dynamic, and a general sense of Soviet panic. So, it tracks that Mayday – the new film from director duo Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, an action-comedy set in 1987 – is a buddy-movie with a Russian twist. Its mismatched central pairing comes in the form of Ryan Reynolds, as a down American Navy Pilot, and Kenneth Branagh, as ex-KGB man Nikolai, forced to team up in the Russian wilderness. Check out the trailer here:

Goldstein and Daley have long proven adept at blending comedy with action and tension – just see Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves. Their latest looks like another blast, with Branagh picking up his villainous Tenet accent once again, and slamming bad guys through panes of glass. And Ryan Reynolds continues to do his Ryan Reynolds thing (which, generally, means being very fast and funny in this kind of movie). Goldstein and Daley direct from a script they wrote together, and their cast also includes Borat sequel standout Maria Bakalova.

Will Mayday prove another Goldstein and Daley banger? Will the combined screen sensibilities of Reynolds and Branagh end up being a delicious peanut butter-and-jam level combo? And can this possibly be profitable for Frito-Lay? We’ll find out when Mayday comes to Apple TV from September 4.

Mommy's here! Unfortunately for the kids at Camp Crystal Lake however, that mommy is Pamela Voorhees, the grief-stricken, serial-killing mother of one Jason Voorhees. And Brad Caleb Kane is about to dig into the making of one of horror's great — and rare — female slashers (remember, there was no hockey-masked up Jason in the OG Friday The 13th) with upcoming eight-episode Peacock/A24 streaming series Crystal Lake, a 70s-set origin story starring Linda Cardellini as everyone's favourite murderous mother. Check out the newly dropped teaser trailer below;

"It's like someone put a curse on this town," says a teen to a group of kids gathered round a Crystal Lake campfire in this short-but-sharp first teaser for Crystal Lake. "It all started when that kid drowned last summer." Cut to Cardellini's Pam screaming her son's name as she wades through murky waters looking for her boy. Cut then to someone (we wonder who?) stalking the woods of the summer camp, then to Pam with knife in hand, then to Pam with a very, very bloody face as we hear her breathlessly, ominously say "Mommy's here..." Sure, it ain't much, but it's enough to have our curiosity piqued and our attention grabbed, and Cardellini makes an instant impression as an actor who has very clearly understood this particular assignment.

The official synopsis for Crystal Lake — which also stars William Catlett, Devin Kessler, Cameron Scoggins, Gwendolyn Sundstrom and, as young Jason Voorhees, Callum Vinson — reads: "[Crystal Lake] follows single mother Pam Voorhees who has been unable to shake her grief after her young, sickly son Jason tragically drowned in the town lake almost a year before. When two strangers arrive at Pam’s door digging into her past, a disturbing chain of events are set into motion, leaving the townspeople of Crystal Lake wondering: just who is Pam Voorhees?"

And here are some ominous, newly shared shots from the series;

Well, Crystal Lake certainly looks suitably creepy so far. And, seventeen years since the last Friday The 13th project hit our screens, it's going to be fascinating to see whether this new angle on the franchise is an absolute killer or lands dead on arrival. We'll find out for ourselves when Crystal Lake slashes its way onto screens stateside on 15 October, and over here — exclusively on Sky and Now TV — sometime in October, too. Ki, ki, ki! Ma, ma, ma! Ki, ki, ki! Ma, ma, ma!

Whatever Tony Gilroy did next was going to be hotly-anticipated. After all, the acclaimed writer/director/creative was the driving force behind Andor, the astonishingly good Star Wars series – and in his return to movie-making, he’s teamed up with another big name in the Star Wars galaxy: Pedro Pascal. The Mando actor takes centre stage in Gilroy’s new movie as writer-director (his first since 2012’s The Bourne Legacy), titled BEHEMOTH! And we have a cryptic but evocative first teaser trailer – take a look:

Gilroy’s new project seems somewhat secretive – but it is, obviously, set in the world of classical music, with Pascal playing a talented cellist. And there’s some nifty editing in the teaser, showing Pascal’s character Alex on stage, but intercutting the title treatment with flashes of other parts of the movie, all while strings stir. Here’s the relatively bare-bones official synopsis: “A gifted cellist, Alex Serian (Pedro Pascal), returns home to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road. Music, which has been the constant, all-consuming river of his life, begins to carry Alex on an adventure that will change him forever.” The astonishing line-up of composers who have contributed to BEHEMOTH! includes: Michael Abels, Emily Bear, Lukas Frank, Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Henry Jackman, Nami Melumad, Brandon Roberts, and Alan Silvestri.

Beyond Pascal, the film also stars Olivia Wilde, Will Arnett, Eva Victor, Hank Azaria, Matthew Lillard and more. It’s currently unknown when the film will hit cinemas, but signs point to it landing smack dab in the middle of awards season. Here’s hoping Gilroy’s Andor streak continues.

Well, well, well, what a day this is turning out to be for fans of major 80s horror movies, eh? We've had first-look shots from Mike Flanagan's Prime Video Carrie series, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it teaser for Friday The 13th prequel series Crystal Lake, and now an exciting update on an iconic horror franchise — and villain — that's laid dormant for the past 16 years, patiently waiting to make its knife-fingered return. Yes, A Nightmare On Elm Street is coming back. Freddy Krueger is dusting off the red-and-green striped jumper. And the franchise has a whole new home, too, from which to weave its terrors.

Per THR's reporting, Paramount has sealed a deal with the estate of Wes Craven to bring the iconic horror franchise — or, more precisely, the U.S. rights to the screenplay of the original 1984 movie — under the ownership of its new Paramount Primal imprint. A genre-targeted new division of paramount headed up by Barbarian and Friendship producers J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules, Paramount Primal will oversee the first new Nightmare On Elm Street since 2010's poorly received take on the dream-stalking child killer and his reign of suburban terror.

“We look forward to bringing the world of Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street to a new and completely engaged generation of fans,” said Craven's widow Iya Labunka in a statement accompanying news of Paramount's deal. “We know that Wes would have been thrilled to see how horror is taking its long overdue place in the cultural canon. We can’t wait for all of us to sit together in a dark theatre – around the campfire of today – as the next chapter of the Nightmare story unfolds.” Added Lifshitz and Margules: "We can’t remember a time before we were fans of Wes Craven. The fact that Iya and Jonathan have entrusted us with this opportunity to help usher a new story into this world is an honor beyond words. We look forward to working alongside them to bring a terrifying new nightmare to audiences everywhere, and to welcome Freddy home.”

We've no word yet on who'll be helming A Nightmare On Elm Street's long overdue cinematic return, who'll star in the movie, or indeed exactly what approach Paramount Primal is planning on taking to the franchise, which is set to resurface amid something of a new golden age for big-screen horror. All we really know is that it's happening. It's exciting. And— wait! What's that? One, two, Freddy's coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door. Five, six, grab your crucifix. Seven, eight, gonna stay up late. Nine, ten, never sleep again... Blimey!

For the last few years now, certain corners of the internet have been telling us comic book movies are on their way out. "They're about to supernova," they say. But perhaps we heard them wrong. Perhaps what they really meant to say is they're about to get super Nova — as in the deep-cut Marvel Comics superhero, Nova. That's the message we're getting from Deadline at least, which is reporting that Loki creator/head writer Michael Waldron is developing a Nova movie at Marvel Studios, with hopes to write — and potentially also direct — the MCU debut of the supe formerly known as Richard Rider.

If the headline 'Writer Developing Nova Project For Marvel' is ringing some bells for you, then that'd be because it isn't the first time a Marvel Cinematic Universe entrance for Rider's super-strong, injury-resistant, flying hero has been floated. Back in 2022, Moon Knight writers room regular Sabir Pirzada was in the frame to take the lesser-known comics character and give him his own TV series — though those plans officially fizzled out last year. Last week however, a leak of Michael Waldron's WGA card revealed a Nova project in his pipeline, leading to Deadline's sources doing some further digging to now confirm that the Multiverse Of Madness writer — whose most recent venture, Disney+ comedy Chad Powers, has proven a hit with fans and critics — is actively pitching a new, feature-length take on Nova to Marvel's top brass.

Nothing has been officially greenlit just yet, it is worth noting, however Kevin Feige's continued interest in Nova is self-evident at this point and the onboarding of a writer of Waldron's Marvel standing is promising to say the least. And with Richard Rider — a character whose comic book origins essentially boil down to "teenage kid gets plucked from Earth at random and becomes a super-powered member of the space police" — intentionally having a nerdy, quippy personality modelled on one Peter Parker, who's long since left high school behind by the time we get to the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day, now may be the perfect time for the MCU to go full super Nova. Watch this space!

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

A wandering adventurer aided by a mysterious fairy finds himself swept up in a desperate quest to protect a princess, aid a struggling kingdom, and defeat an ancient evil, all while travelling through time. No, it’s not a new The Legend of Zelda game – well, not quite.

This is The Adventures of Elliot, Square Enix’s latest action RPG, and while it’s undeniably built in the image of Nintendo’s classic 16-bit era Zelda outings, it also draws heavily on developer Square Enix’s own heritage — chiefly the Mana series and Chrono Trigger — and throws in a dash of the Ys games for good measure. It’s all presented in Squeenix’s gorgeous HD-2D aesthetic – the same style used on the likes of Octopath Traveler and Star Ocean: The Second Story R, evoking SNES-era pixel art visuals with modern depth, scale, and lighting. The result is a sprawling epic that looks and feels both nostalgic and modern.

At the outset, it all really does feel like a Zelda clone. Elliot chiefly brandishes a sword, simplistically slashing away like a Link cosplayer, and can have up to two weapons active at once. The rest of his arsenal is made up of familiar tools like bows, bombs, and boomerangs, all of which are better suited to taking out certain enemies than others or blasting open suspiciously cracked walls. There’s plenty of dungeon crawling – the kind of dungeons where you need to solve a bunch of puzzles and find a key to a challenging boss chamber – and a sizeable world map to uncover, clearing a fog as you go. So far, so familiar.

Then, after a few hours, everything shifts. Elliot falls in battle. Dies, even – only to be brought back to life by Faie, an amnesiac fairy, and gifted the key to time travel. From here, amidst a rapidly thickening plot that sees its hero diving further and further into the Kingdom of Huther’s past to uncover the dark powers impacting his relative present, Adventures of Elliot begins to forge its own identity.

Where Link may hop between a couple of eras in Ocarina of Time, Elliot navigates four distinct ages, each exploring how society rises and falls over the centuries. It subverts expectations – one of the past eras is more advanced and peaceful than the time Elliot starts in, rather than showing a linear march of progress – and packs in plenty of secrets you’ll need to think temporally to uncover. A cave might hide a treasure chest in one era but not another, or a sturdy house in one age might have collapsed to form a bridge decades later. Simple but smart stuff.

It’s like fantasy-themed Quantum Leap, with Elliot and Faie travelling through time, putting right what once went wrong.

Each period is also populated by an expansive cast of delightful characters. Side quests Elliot completes build a real sense of familiarity with them across the ages, building a sense of how the world’s history intersects. Even seemingly inconsequential bit-players may add some deeper meaning and continuity. It’s like fantasy-themed Quantum Leap, with Elliot and Faie travelling through time, putting right what once went wrong.

Faie also proves integral as you progress, helping Elliot stand apart from Zelda. Far from merely offering an annoying “hey, listen!” like a certain other fairy companion, Faie can be controlled independently, and gains genuinely useful powers over the course of the game. Some are directly useful in combat, like her signature ability to set herself on fire like a tiny Human Torch, or to create an inescapable vortex to suck in enemies and objects. Others start out as purely environmental aids, such as helping Elliot run at super speed to complete puzzles, but all can be upgraded into more useful or powerful versions by seeking out challenge temples. Eventually, you’ll be wading into battle with a burning fairy of vengeance doing a heap of damage to far-off foes while Elliot takes out up-close enemies, or sending her ahead to dispatch trickier ones before they spot you. It’s a dual-pronged approach that feels fantastic and really elevates combat.

Unfortunately, Adventures of Elliot does suffer from some repetition. The same enemies appear in the same places in every era, and what few new monsters that do get scattered in as you progress are just variants of the ones you’ll have slashed away at a thousand times before, undermining an otherwise wonderful sense of mystery and exploration to the world. Elliot’s power-up system, gems known as Magicite that offer upgrades and bonus attributes to his various weapons, also slightly underwhelms due to a lack of variety and plenty of grind in acquiring the in-game resources to craft them. And, towards the end of the game, there’s a sense that you’re running around checking off chores and errands before moving on to a final act that can block out certain events if you’ve not completed them first.

Still, it all combines into an effortlessly charming game, one that draws players in with cosy familiarity but keeps them around thanks to it surprisingly satisfying combat and unexpectedly poignant writing. Even seasoned players who can pick out every other title that’s influenced The Adventures of Elliot will find this far more than a nostalgic throwback.

There’s been something of a veil of secrecy surrounding Digger, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s eagerly-awaited collaboration with Tom Cruise. A veil that has somewhat lifted, thanks to the debut of the brand new trailer for the film, which opens in October. It’s now online for your viewing pleasure, but Empire was lucky enough to attend a trailer event screening on the WB lot in Burbank last week (where, for one day only, a giant shovel, much like the one Digger wields in the movie, was plonked), where not only did we get to see the trailer a few days early, but Cruise himself attended for a post-trailer Q&A. He’s still not giving away too much, but this is what we’ve learned.

1) It might be the new Dr. Strangelove

From the off, Iñárritu’s movie has been billed as ‘a comedy of catastrophic proportions’. Which is an unusual move for the Mexican filmmaker, who tends towards heavy dramas. If there are laughs in his work, they’re of the pitch-black kind found in the likes of Birdman or The Revenant.

Digger, though, is much more overtly comedic, with actual gags, a grotesque cat, and an amped-up, borderline absurd visual style. Its basic storyline, in which Cruise’s oil man ‘Digger’ Rockwell is tasked with averting a global environmental catastrophe that he seems to have inadvertently started with a frack too far, also invites comparisons with Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. This could be the rare movie that not only can withstand those comparisons, but might just surpass them.

2) Tom Cruise is not Tom Cruise

Cruise has been in Maverick and Mission: Impossible mode for the past few years, and been very recognisably Tom Cruise. On a surface level Cruise here is also trying to save the world, much like Ethan Hunt, but Ethan Hunt isn’t given to talking about the size of his dick. Digger is a very different kettle of fish. “Digger is charming,” said Inarritu in a pre-recorded introduction (he’s currently finishing the film in London). “He's funny. He's impossible not to watch. Like all the most dangerous people, he makes you want to agree with him.” As Digger himself says in the trailer, ‘the story is yet to be told’.

Here, Cruise is also buried under makeup (and, it seems, a fat suit) to play the larger-than-life Digger, an old-school Texan who shoots from the hip, and looks not unlike NCIS’ Mark Harmon. In the Q&A, Cruise talked about locking into the character’s look and voice, with the teeth particularly important. “Let’s fuckin’ go!” he laughed, slipping into his Digger voice. “Alejandro shows me, he’s like, ‘I want you to look like this,’” recalled Cruise. “I’m thinking, ‘This guy’s got fucking balls.’”

We’ve seen Cruise step outside his innate Cruiseness before, of course — he’s dabbled with prosthetics in the likes of Interview With The Vampire and as studio boss Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. But this is a step beyond those, with Cruise promising a character unlike anything he’s played before. More gross man, if you will. “There's nothing better than to physically and metaphorically stand on the edge of a cliff and go, ‘Let’s do this!’” he said.

3) This has been long in the works

Cruise first discovered the work of Iñárritu when he saw Amores Perros back in 2001, and became evangelical about it. “You could feel the powerful human voice of someone who was incredibly skilled at what they were doing,” he said. They met about a decade later, and then Inarritu came to Cruise about seven years ago with the idea for Digger. “We both knew that throughout our journeys,” said Iñárritu, “we had never done anything even close to this.”

4) The rest of the cast is pretty decent

As well as Cruise, who presumably will dominate the film as its title character, Iñárritu has assembled a cast including Riz Ahmed, in permanently harassed mode as someone who appears to be assigned to Digger’s side; Sandra Huller, who can be seen dancing with Cruise in the trailer; Michael Stuhlbarg; Jesse Plemons and, as the perhaps perma-befuddled President of the United States of America, John Goodman, giving serious Coen brothers vibes. In one scene, the President — who appears to be about to nuke a gigantic glacier which might have become unmoored thanks to Digger’s digging — falls into a catatonic state and has to be slapped back into life. “They’re exceptional,” says Cruise. “Alejandro understands music, and that’s the universal language we’re all finding.”

5) It was shot on VistaVision

The movie marks the latest collaboration between Iñárritu and his multiple-Oscar-winning DP, Emmanuel ‘Chivo’ Lubezki, who might hoover up another one of the little gold guys for his work here, shooting under controlled conditions and, what’s more, on VistaVision too. “We shot on VistaVision, because cinema deserves scale,” teased Inarritu. “We used a 1954-designed camera, and for the first time ever Chivo and I were allowed to mount on some new crazy wide vintage Leica lenses designed specifically for our film.” In the Q&A, Cruise, ever the cinephile, talked about the excitement of shooting on VistaVision. “Just loading a camera in VistaVision, the sound of that film going through, I was like, ‘Just everyone quiet for a second. Let's just hear it going through.’ It's a beautiful thing. I love it.”

Digger comes to cinemas on October 2

Just when you thought it was safe to, er, go back to prom, Stephen King adaptation specialist Mike Flanagan is bringing us a fresh new take on the Master of Horror's 1974 debut novel Carrie. Previously a Brian De Palma masterpiece (and, later, a Kimberly Peirce film), Carrie is being reimagined anew as an eight-part Prime Video streaming series starring newcomer Summer Howell as everyone's favourite troubled telekinetic teen. And now we have our first look at the series and its stars, as well as some tantalising new details about what Flanagan has in store for us. Scroll on for more:

Okay, so far so high school coming-of-age series (a picture may supposedly say a thousand words, but these mostly just say one: 'decent'.) But this is a Mike Flanagan series, and given his previous form when it comes to King adaptations — Gerald's Game, Doctor Sleep, and The Life Of Chuck are all bangers — and just horror/genre-inflected shows generally (hello Midnight Mass and The Haunting Of Hill House/Bly Manor), suffice it to say we've been in the tank for this one from the moment it was announced. And as well as having an exciting cast of established stars and talented young prospects, including Prey breakout Amber Midthunder (pictured above) and the ever-dependable Matthew Lillard (not pictured above), Flanagan's latest — pitched as a "bold, timely, and surprising" reinvention of the book — also sounds like it's going for a more modern, nuanced, and sprawling take on its source material.

The official synopsis for Flanagan's show reads: "Misfit high‑schooler Carrie White (Summer Howell) has spent her life hidden away inside the walls of her home with her fiercely protective mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan). After her father’s sudden, untimely death thrusts her into the unforgiving ecosystem of public high school, Carrie is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community, the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence."

Described by Amazon as "a gripping, deeply human story about kindness versus cruelty, and whether we’re witnessing the making of a hero, a monster, or something far more complicated," all the pieces are already in place for another certified Flanagan x King banger. Prepare the pig's blood — Carrie is set to hit Prime Video later this year.

Think of a movie hero, and your brain might conjure Indiana Jones, whip in hand, punching Nazis. Or James Bond, with his Walther PPK, toppling super-villains. But my favourite cinema hero growing up didn’t have a weapon, nor was he saving the world. He had a flare, a brain, and a general disdain for kids – though that wouldn’t stop him trying to save two frightened children stranded in a dinosaur theme park. Yes, my cinematic hero was Jurassic Park’s Dr. Alan Grant. A palaeontologist, a huge nerd, a kind and gentle soul. Throughout his career, the legendary Sam Neill took on so many great roles (see Hunt For The Wilderpeople, and Possession, and Event Horizon to name but a few). But to me, he’ll always be Alan Grant first.

Like many ‘90s kids, I was terrified by Jurassic Park when I first saw it. And second and third and fourth saw it too. But beyond the sheer fear factor, there was a radiating warmth from its human cast members – none more so than from Dr. Grant. From the first moment we meet him, on a dino dig in the Badlands of Montana, we see a man who’s deeply inquisitive and knowledgeable. And playfully mean, tearing down any punk kid who lacks the correct respect and reverence for the prehistoric world. It’s a quietly commanding presence that Neill always wore lightly. Across the film, it becomes clear: if you’re with Alan Grant, you’re going to be ok.

He’s the anchor of Jurassic Park’s quieter first half; the true calm of the calm before the storm. Before the running and the screaming, the audience needs to feel the true awe of the park – which Neill portrays beautifully. The iconic brachiosaurus scene boasts more than one special effect. The most memorable is, of course the brachiosaurus itself, rendered staggeringly by ILM. But the other is Neill’s performance: delighted, overwhelmed, physically staggering as he witnesses the unbelievable. He sells that moment completely. “They do move in herds,” he gasps – a line he delivers so quietly, it makes you lean even further in.

For someone who doesn’t want to be a dad, he stands as one of cinema’s greatest father figures.

His genuine sense of wonder – albeit tinged with skepticism – continues as he tours the park. One of the most indelible images from the film sees Grant flopped over the chest of a downed Triceratops, rising and falling with its gigantic breaths. It’s a childlike reaction steeped in the joy of encountering the impossible, being enchanted and moved by it. “She’s the most beautiful thing I ever saw,” he says of the sick Trike.

That caring instinct kicks up a gear when the carnage arrives. Despite his initial aversion to kids, he runs to the aid of Lex and Tim during the T. Rex attack, stepping up when it counts. For someone who doesn’t want to be a dad, he stands as one of cinema’s greatest father figures, guiding the youngsters through their life-or-death predicament with knowledge, humour and a steady hand. Think of the care he shows Lex when introducing her to the brachiosaur in the tree; the reassurance he offers Tim when he’s trapped in a Jeep perched on a creaking branch. When Grant takes them under his wing, they’re still traumatised at being abandoned by “blood-sucking lawyer” Gennaro. Neill’s response might be Grant’s most heroic moment: “That’s not what I’m gonna do.” He sells the film’s big character arc so deftly: by the end credits, Grant sees the kids are, perhaps, alright.

Alan Grant is, to me, the heart of the Jurassic saga.

He’s funny too. His final zinger to John Hammond as they flee Isla Nublar is a stellar kiss-off: “After careful consideration, I have decided not to endorse your park.” And when he and the kids encounter an electric fence, he can’t help himself, pretending to be violently electrocuted. It’s a pure dad-joke move; I nicked it once, when my partner put her headphone through the wash and was worried it might be dangerous to use. I put it in my ear and pretended my head was being zapped. A pure Alan Grant moment.

Alan Grant is, to me, the heart of the Jurassic saga – even though he appears in only three of the seven films. He’s one of the reasons why I’m a huge Jurassic Park III fan – it’s just a joy to see Alan Grant back in the field, still bearing some sarcastic disdain (this time for the duplicitous couple who lured him to Isla Sorna under false pretences), and yet remaining reverent to the island’s dangerous creatures. He even sells one of the film’s sillier plot-points – can humans communicate with raptors via 3D-printed vocal cords? – with his gentle gravitas.

In the wake of Neill’s sudden and shocking passing, I’m so glad we got one last hang-out with Alan Grant in recent years. Jurassic World Dominion is divisive, but I’ll always have a soft spot for the way it reunites the Park OGs. (I teared up in the Empire office even just seeing them in the trailer.) Watching Grant back on a dino dig in Utah felt like coming home – an old flannel shirt that still fit just right. I loved how little he’d changed, still analogue, still happiest digging up bones. And his reunion with Laura Dern’s Ellie Sattler is so beautifully played, tender and tentative. After the brutal reveal in III that the pair had broken up, watching them re-spark decades later was a pure feelgood hit.

I never got to meet or interview Neill, but by all accounts, the warmth and confidence and mischievous wit of Alan Grant was present in him always. I’m grateful to have it immortalised in film form; I know I’ll be seeing him again soon when I fire up my annual Jurassic rewatches. My cinema hero. The dinosaur man.

Platform: Nintendo Switch 2

1997’s Star Fox 64 – or Lylat Wars in Europe – was one of the foundational texts of the Nintendo 64, a majestic space shooter that blended exquisite flying and shooting mechanics with smart level design and plenty of branching paths for endless replay value.

It remained engaging when it was remade in shrunken form as Star Fox 64 3D for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, and still pretty enjoyable – despite some quirky control choices – when it was “reimagined” as Star Fox Zero for the Wii U in 2016. A decade on though, do we need another remake of the same game? Well, when main character Fox McCloud has just had a starring role in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, probably.

Structurally, the game is very much the same as its source material, just given a 21st century lick of paint.

That cinematic turn seems to be the biggest inspiration for 2026’s Star Fox, since the biggest overhaul Nintendo has made for this fourth attack run is to significantly bolster the narrative with gorgeous cutscenes. What was originally a threadbare plot – evil scientist Andross threatens the Lylat system, only the brave fighter pilots of the Star Fox squadron can push back! – is now expanded into a deeper story with surprising pathos, with dramatic moments before and between missions establishing dire stakes and building up the characters’ relationships (in particular the frosty rivalry between Fox and best frenemy Falco.)

Structurally, the game is very much the same as its source material though, just given a 21st century lick of paint. It looks fantastic, but such fidelity means anyone who remembers the original will already know their way through the majority of the game. Each level remains a short but perfectly executed slice of on-rails shooting action, piloting the series’ iconic Arwings in dips, loops, and barrel-rolls through enemy fire and power-up rings – a formula unchanged but perfected here (unless you try the fiddly new mouse-style controls with the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons, which fail to launch).

Any new content is restricted to multiplayer. A competitive mode pits two teams of players – heroic Star Fox and nefarious Star Wolf – against each other in dogfights across a handful of new maps. It’s fun, but insubstantial – hopefully Nintendo can expand it post-launch. Elsewhere, co-op lets one player fly the Arwing while another acts as gunner – a nice touch for anyone playing with budding flight cadets.

Some welcome quality of life improvements – the ability to save progress, and a new Challenge Mode to replay individual stages without battling through an entire solar system – round out this upgrade, but for all but absolute newcomers, an upgrade is all this is.

Finally. For months now, Tom Cruise and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu have been teasing glimpses of Digger – their wild new movie, centred on a wild new larger-than-life character for Cruise, by the name of Digger Rockwell. And now – at last – we have a full trailer that shows off our best look at Digger, the movie, and Digger the character too. It’s a role that sees Cruise play in a non-action zone for the first time in yonks, donning all kinds of prosthetics, and a thick accent too. And as for the film itself, it looks like a Dr. Strangelove-esque satire on dark themes, bringing barbed laughs to an ecological doomsday scenario. Check out the trailer here:

There we have it: Digger Rockwell. Cruise’s character seems to be an enormously rich magnate whose meddling with glaciers sparks a possible global catastrophe. Did you ever think you’d see Tom Cruise washing a dead (or, at best, dying) cat? Or saying, “just take a little taste for daddy?” to said cat (alive)? Or talking about his dick on a Zoom call? It’s fair to say this is pushing the star back into the sort of wilder characters from earlier in his career, more akin to Magnolia’s Frank TJ Mackey, crossed with Tropic Thunder’s Les Grossman. Here’s the official synopsis: “The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.”

And here's a poster that puts Digger front and centre:

Beyond Cruise, there’s an outstanding cast for this one: Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons, to name a few. Iñárritu is directing from a script he wrote with Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman – and he’s once again teaming up with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, this time for tall VistaVision frames.

Can Digger avert disaster? Will the film send Tom Cruise’s career in a new direction going forwards? And is that cat ok? We’ll find out when Digger breaks ground in cinemas on October 2.

It is with great sadness we bring you the news that Sam Neill, star of Jurassic Park and Event Horizon among many, many others, has sadly died at the age of 78. The legendary New Zealand actor, whose career spanned over half a century and took in roles across the whole spectrum of what cinema has to offer, passed away on Monday 13 July surrounded by his loved ones in Sydney, Australia, his family have confirmed.

"It is with immense sadness that the whānau [family] of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia," reads a statement from Neill's family shared on his Instagram account. "Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free. They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss."

Born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Omagh, Northern Ireland on 14 September, 1947 to a Kiwi father and an English mother, Sam Neill — who returned to his father's homeland at the tender age of seven — first discovered his love for acting in his student days. Disinterested in following in his father's footsteps as a military man and disillusioned with a brief (and unsuccessful) dalliance in the world of law, Neill's dramatic spark was lit at the Canterbury University Drama Society, where he caught the acting bug while playing A Midsummer Night's Dream's Theseus, Marat/Sade's Jacques Roux, and, in a university production of The Scottish Play, the titular role of Macbeth. Before long, Neill was well on his way as a professional, paid actor earning the princely sum of $25 (New Zealand dollars, that is) a week for his craft.

Throughout the early 1970s, Sam Neill made his crust starring in a series of New Zealand films — 1971's The City Of No, 1973's Hunt's Duffer, and his own self-written and directed Phone in 1974. But it was following a stint in Australia in the latter half of the decade (a period that gave us critically acclaimed period drama My Brilliant Career, in which Neill makes a fine romantic lead) that Neill would really gain international attention and recognition. In 1981, Sam Neill had a hell of a year, almost literally, first playing devil-spawn Damien Thorne in Omen III: The Final Conflict, and then co-leading Andrzej Żuławski's cult classic Possession, in which he indelibly plays a spy going through a, well, quite monstrous divorce.

Having suddenly been thrust into the spotlight with those two incredibly intense, eye-catching performances, Neill worked steadily through the next decade on a slew of projects, from historical epic Ivanhoe to the criminally underseen Evil Angels to John McTiernan's Tom Clancy spy thriller The Hunt For Red October. If 1981 had been a seminal year for Sam Neill as a young actor however, then we may look to 1993 (and a smidge of '94) as arguably a career-defining twelve months for the star.

In 1993, Neill — who, lest we forget, only narrowly missed out on the James Bond gig to Timothy Dalton in the mid-eighties — flexed his blockbuster leading man chops as the iconic everyman hero Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, and he delivered a remarkably dark and disconcerting turn as finger-lopping frontiersman Alisdair Stewart in Jane Campion's extraordinary The Piano. Toss in a truly unhinged, unforgettable performance as insane insurance investigator John Trent in John Carpenter's deliciously labyrinthine and twisted In The Mouth Of Madness, and you have a fair snapshot of the incredible dynamism and versatility of Neill — as well as his art-first approach to the projects he chose to take on.

Of course, Jurassic Park, The Piano, and In The Mouth Of Madness are just the tip of the iceberg that is Sam Neill's extraordinary career. We still quote his bedevilled Dr. Weir in Paul W.S. Anderson's 1997 cosmic horror Event Horizon all the time ("Do you see? Do you see?"). We still wince at his slimeball Norn Iron Peaky Blinders lawman Inspector Chester Campbell. We still adore his curmudgeonly foster father Uncle Hec in Hunt For The Wilderpeople; still grin from ear-to-ear at his 'Odin' in Thor: Ragnarok and Love & Thunder; and we're still grateful to have seen his return as Dr. Grant in Jurassic World Dominion (even if that did mean having to see Jurassic World Dominion.) And even having given another half-dozen Sam Neill projects their flowers, it still feels somehow not enough — the man was a pleasure to see on screens big and small whenever he graced it, and by all account he was a pleasure to be with on each and every one of those sets, too. (If you are looking for a bit of a hidden Neill gem to watch in memory of the man, then may we humbly suggest true-story tale The Dish, in which his brilliantly named, pipe-smoking Cliff Buxton heads up a maverick band of scientists trying to transmit the moon landing to the world from a rural Australian sheep farm. It's a real treat!)

In the years before his death, Neill fought — and overcame — non-hodgkins lymphoma, announcing in April of this year that he was happily cancer-free. In the time where his cancer rendered him temporarily unable to perform, Neill published a beautiful memoir, Did I Ever Tell you This? And just last April, Neill had signed himself up for a return to monster territory with MonsterVerse blockbuster Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. Even into his late seventies, having been through blood cancer and worked fastidiously for half a century, Neill was still working, looking for exciting new projects, and — of course — tending to his other great love, his Two Paddocks vineyard in Central Otago where he could escape from the rigours and noise of Hollywood and film industry life.

As you'd expect, tributes have been pouring in since the shocking news of Sam Neill's passing broke. New Zealand's Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, paid tribute to Neill's contributions to his fatherland's cinema industry, writing on X: "Sir Sam Neill was one of the greats. He started out when there was barely a film industry in this country to speak of. For more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today – one of our greatest cultural exports. His work will be watched and loved long after all of us. Our thoughts are with his family and friends tonight. Rest in Peace." The Boys star and fellow Kiwi Karl Urban meanwhile remembered "a beautiful man" and "a national treasure who gave so much to New Zealand and to the world" in a post on Instagram.

In his memoir, Sam Neill wrote, "If I've made a film that turns out to be good, that's a good result. If I've made a film that's good and made a couple of friends, that's a great result. If I've made a film that's no good, but I made a friend, that's still another great result." Suffice it to say that the man made many good films, many great friends, and scored many great results over the course of an unforgettable career. He will be missed sorely, remembered fondly, and our thoughts are with his friends, family, and loved ones at this very difficult time.

Streaming on: Netflix

Episodes viewed: 8 of 8

The wholesome reputation of Little House On The Prairie precedes itself. A mainstay in American culture, the novels published by Laura Ingalls Wilder have sold more than 73 million copies worldwide. The ’70s TV adaptation that followed continues to draw in surprisingly large viewing numbers, over five decades since it first debuted.

It’s easy to see why another adaptation appealed. But rather than remake the old series outright, Netflix has instead chosen to reimagine the source material, in a bid to modernise this classic tale without losing the essence of what made it so popular. The result is a charming yet somewhat flat adaptation that often plays it safe, trying its darnedest to appeal to everyone at once.

Between the sweeping prairie shots and some old-school episodic charm, this is a decent enough start to the Ingalls’ saga...

At least admirable attempts are made to expand the story, exploring the impact that white settlers like the Ingalls had on local Osage families. Other characters of colour, including the book’s Black doctor, George Tann (Jocko Sims), are also included after being omitted in NBC’s version, but there's a reluctance to really reckon with what minorities would be facing at this point in history. Just because it’s a family show doesn’t mean that Little House On The Prairie should hold back as much as it does on that front, especially when characters like White Sun (Peter Pan And Wendy star Alyssa Wapanatâhk) are often more interesting than the Ingalls themselves.

The exception is 11-year-old Alice Halsey (Lessons In Chemistry), whose take on Laura, a beloved staple of fiction, brings much-needed spark to the family and show alike. Skywalker Hughes, meanwhile, most recently seen in Andrew Stanton's In The Blink Of An Eye, shares relatable chemistry with her as Laura’s sister Mary. Only Crosby Fitzgerald disappoints as mother Caroline, her stilted performance contrasting with the energy everyone else brings. Still, there's plenty to enjoy overall. Between the sweeping prairie shots and some old-school episodic charm, this is a decent enough start to the Ingalls’ saga, given how much pressure there is on this show to succeed.

The critics may have (mostly) said 'Beat It'. The movie may have come mired in controversies surrounding both its subject and its creation. But Antoine Fuqua's jukebox King Of Pop biopic Michael has risen above the noise and proved itself quite the 'Smooth Criminal' at the global box office, backed by legions of loyal Michael Jackson fans. And now, three months after it first hit the big screen, Michael has just moonwalked past $1 billion in ticket sales, making history as the first biopic to ever hit that ten-figure milestone.

Previously, the highest grossing musical biopic was Bryan Singer's Freddie Mercury flick Bohemian Rhapsody, which made a not-to-be-sniffed-at $911 million worldwide. More impressive perhaps than Michael eclipsing BoRhap however are some of the bigger records Fuqua's Jaafar Jackson starrer has broken. At the time of writing, Michael has now surpassed Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer ($975m) as the biggest movie based on a real person ever made, and — quite remarkably — has left all of The Hunger Games and Twilight Saga movies for dust in the race to become Lionsgate's first ever billion-dollar picture. All of which is to say that the heavily teased, long-mooted Michael Part 2 (in whatever form that could possibly take) is all but nailed-on to get made following this first film's formidable box office showing.

While Antoine Fuqua and his Michael collaborators may be 'hee-hee'ing all the way to the bank, this past weekend hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows at the box office. Disney's latest live-action remake, this time of the barely-decade-old Moana, hit choppy waters in its opening weekend, taking a modest $95 million worldwide against a reported budget of $250 million after failing to make a splash with fans or critics. And while by no means a failure, Illumination's critically well received but franchise lowest-opening Minions & Monsters currently sits at a global haul of $280 million. If it caps out at the $400-450 million mark as expected, Pierre Coffin's animated creature feature — which cost $85 million to make — would sit right at the foot of the franchise's box office table.

Still, despite a turbulent few weeks for ticket sales as this summer's blockbusters prove a mixed bag with paying cinemagoers, the overall picture is actually pretty healthy — especially with The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day still to come. Per Variety's reporting, this summer is on track to be Hollywood's biggest at the box office since 2019, and only the second to bring in over $4 billion since the pandemic. And for that, well, what can we say except you're welcome... (sorry, too soon.)

For an art still in its relative infancy, cinema has had a great many New Waves — French, German, Australian, Indian, British, Japanese... you get the idea. Now it seems we're entering the era of the Welsh New Wave, with exciting projects like Madfabulous, Effi O Blaenau, Mr. Burton, and upcoming Aimee Ffion Edwards led western Lluest thrusting Cymru into the cinematic spotlight. And it's a trend that's set to continue with the newly announced Mountain, a coming-of-age yarn directed by Madfabulous' Celyn Jones and starring Peter Mullan, Iwan Rheon, newcomer Seth Isaac Thomas, and — making her cinematic lead debut — Rebecca Lucy Taylor, aka pop songstress Self Esteem.

Currently shooting in Anglesey, North Wales, Jones' latest — penned alongside Madfabulous writer Lisa Baker — is set in the 1980s and centres around GG (Thomas), a neglected child whose search for friendship leads him into the path of mountain-dwelling recluse Bill (Mullan). Per the movie's logline, as shared by Variety, “Their lives collide by chance forming a brief but enduring connection, proving that, even though the world can appear cruel, life is inherently good and will find a way to survive.” Taylor — who has earned rave reviews for her turns in the West End's Cabaret and The Duke Of York Theatre's Teeth 'n' Smiles revival in recent years — will star as GG's mother in the movie. Game Of Thrones star Rheon meanwhile will appear as GG's estranged father.

Speaking to Variety on Mountain's announcement, Jones said: "“I’m honoured to bring a world class team, on both sides of the camera, to my home town of Holyhead on Anglesey. Despite being a fiction, this feels a deeply personal film for me, with emotional themes and humour that many can relate to. I’m really looking forward to bringing it to life and sharing the cinematic beauty of home with the world.” Added star Mullan, who previously appeared in Jones co-penned psychological thriller The Vanishing: "When I read the script, I emailed Celyn and said ‘You made me cry, I’m in!’ It will be great for us to work together again and in such a beautiful part of the world too.”

Since the film's announcement earlier today, Empire has also exclusively learned that Mountain's cast will be rounded out with a strong ensemble of predominantly Welsh talent. Additional names on the movie's call sheet include Julian Lewis Jones, Lisa Jen, Kate Drew, Joe Bone, Gwen Ellis, Macsen McKay , Tristan Jones, Megan-Hollie Robertson, James Wilbraham, and the director himself, Celyn Jones

With production already underway, a starry ensemble gathered, and Jones coming off the back of a surprise crowd-pleasing fave in the form of Madfabulous, there's plenty to suggest that Mountain will ride that Welsh New Wave and deliver us some more peak filmmaking from Cymru. Da iawn!

WARNING: Contains spoilers for Evil Dead Burn – and many other Evil Dead movies

The clue is in the name: Evil Dead. It’s evil! It’s dead! The promise here isn’t exactly rainbows and puppies. But the horror saga – which began with 1981’s The Evil Dead, from a 20-year-old Sam Raimi (quick, someone tell Kane Parsons!) – has long been a source of cinematic glee for gore-hounds thanks to their gross-out gags, excessive goop, and chainsaws galore. Groovy.

In recent years though, Evil Dead has got more… well, evil, pitching into much darker territory; this week’s Evil Dead Burn stands among the goriest, gnarliest mainstream horror movies in recent memory. That claim can be worn as a badge of honour, but the reaction to Burn seems divided – a chief complaint among its detractors being: the film is simply “too mean”. Is there such a thing?

It’s a complicated question, particularly where Evil Dead is concerned. To most fans, Evil Dead means ghoulish fun; horror films with Looney Tunes logic, flinging blood and guts with gay abandon. This is primarily true of Evil Dead II, the comedy-horror core of Raimi’s original trilogy, as well as 1992 threequel Army Of Darkness, more a fantasy-comedy than anything else. But his original The Evil Dead is far less comedic, raw and lo-fi; its infamous (and regrettable) ‘tree-rape’ scene saw it banned in the UK’s video nasties scandal.

That viciousness evolved in 2013’s brutal remake, Evil Dead – the film closest tonally to Burn. Director Fede Alvarez took the base elements of Raimi’s original – a cabin in the woods, a bunch of friends, a book of the dead that summons soul-swallowing demons – and reimagined it with wince-worthy gore, blunt-force violence, and a sense of genuine malevolence. A similarly hardcore approach was taken by Lee Cronin in 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, albeit more studded with Raimi humour. Burn – a direct Rise sequel – takes that darkness even further.

The sheer act of cranking all the dials to 11 is itself a Raimi-ism.

For some, it’s proving a step too far. French filmmaker Sebastian Vaniček (behind ace spider-horror Infested) leans into the ruthlessness, submitting a grieving family – and our hero Alice (Souheila Yacoub) – to Deadite demon terror as they tear each other to pieces. Often literally. Per the BBFC report, it contains “bloody injury detail and gore, such as a character's caved-in face”, with “blood spurting from wounds, torn flesh, severed heads and fingers, burns, and heavily bloodied bodies”. It’s a far cry from the slapstick perfection of Bruce Campbell’s Ash battling his own possessed hand in Evil Dead II. But as Burn fans are already pointing out, the original The Evil Dead was more focused on terror than titters; that DNA endures in Vaniček’s film.

Even in the series’ darker moments, there is a particular vibe that makes something feel Evil Dead. I’d argue it’s less about comedy than about energy. Sam Raimi has always been a ferociously kinetic filmmaker – his camera careens around spaces, crash-zooms in to faces, flies through forests. And his characters are often on the receiving end of physical forces, whether an outrageous cascade of blood, or a revving chainsaw, or an army of miniature cackling doppelgängers (yes, that’s Army Of Darkness). Comedy and horror are often posited as two sides of the same coin; a hair’s width between laughter and screaming. In Raimi’s hands, it’s the sheer oomph impact that’s key to both. No wonder his production company is called Ghost Train – his best works feel like a runaway fairground ride: scary, funny, powered by grip-the-seat energy.

It’s this sensibility that can be found in every Evil Dead film post-2013, Burn included. They’re nastier, gorier, less overtly humorous. But the sheer act of cranking all the dials to 11 is itself a Raimi-ism. In the climax of Alvarez’s Evil Dead, the entire frame red as blood rains from the sky; hero Mia (Jane Levy) rips off her own arm to chainsaw through the head of ‘The Abomination’, pelted with gore as she cleaves it in two. It’s not exactly funny, but its audacious excess knocks the wind from your chest. The sensation is similar. Evil Dead Rise’s is mischievously extreme too, right up to its woodchipper finale.

Perhaps this is where Evil Dead Burn is dividing people. It is certainly very Raimi to go for broke like this. Vaniček is relentless, smashing skulls, chopping fingers, slamming bodies into open dishwashers. But Burn’s violence has a real-world, hard-edged veracity to it, distinct from the shock-and-gore outlandishness of previous films.

That’s not a bug; it’s a feature. Just as Alvarez’s Evil Dead wrestled the Deadites into an addiction metaphor, Vaniček’s film explores the impact of male violence. Alice’s recently-deceased husband William (George Pullar) was abusive; a secret she’s keeping from his grieving family. But the Deadites draw out the simmering aggression found in William’s father and little brother Joseph (Hunter Doohan); Alice has to rip herself from the family’s clutches to escape their capacity for violence. In this context, scenes of possessed dad Edgar (Erroll Shand) stabbing the innocent family dog – an instant audience-splitter – and ferociously attacking Joseph’s girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan) feel more complex and uncomfortable. Beyond Raimi, Burn exists in a lineage of the New French Extremity movement that gave us Martyrs and Titane.

There are moments of over humour in Burn. William’s cremation service is interrupted by loud building work; his coffin is awkwardly fumbled out of the crematorium. And the film does – inevitably – reach for the power-tools in its final scenes. But the gags are largely separate to the Deadite action, and when the horrors kick in, the impish instincts that drive Raimi’s films – and even Rise – are less present. It’s hard to distil Burn’s ultra-violence, mega-gore, dark themes, and real-world grit into a single word. Maybe ‘mean’ is the closest thing.

It depends what you want from an Evil Dead movie, to which there’s no right answer. Burn is brilliantly-crafted with incredible camera movies, and commendably pedal-to-the-metal. It goes hard. There is real Raimi in that. But if you’re looking for Ash being flipped off by his own dismembered hand? Well, there’s always Evil Dead 2, Army Of Darkness, and Ash Vs. Evil Dead. Bring the boomstick.

Evil Dead Burn is out now in cinemas

Efthimis Filippou has been responsible for some of Yorgos Lanthimos’ darkest material, co-writing most of the Oscar-winner’s bleak satirical oeuvre (Dogtooth, The Lobster, and Kinds Of Kindness to name but a few.) With this Catalonia-set family affair he continues his provocative streak, penning the screenplay for a gaudy, hollow study of a wealthy father and children’s taboo inner workings inspired by Marco Bellocchio’s Italian ’65 classic Fists In The Pocket.

Director Karim Aïnouz shepherds a heavyweight cast through the film’s thorny heart, which finds the relocated family patched back together after the violent death of their mother (Pamela Anderson), killed by wolves. Now, they face further upheaval as Jack (Jamie Bell), the family pillar, attempts to unstick himself from his socially aloof father (Tracy Letts) and rabid grown-up siblings, while introducing his girlfriend Martha (Elle Fanning).

Of the horny brood, Callum Turner is a standout...

Of the horny brood, Callum Turner is a standout as the periphery-hovering, Ripley-type middle brother Ed, as is Riley Keough as their entertainingly petulant sister Anna. Upon learning that Martha is a gifted guitarist, Anna brings out her own guitar to strum in an act of churlish defiance. The film is spotted with these wry moments, which feel earned amid the wretched dynamic of the ensemble, mostly shown from the perspectives of Jack and Ed — the former determined to start life anew at a violent price, the latter sinking further into domestic dysfunction to a shocking degree.

Yet the stilted material is too committed to shock and opulence at a time when eat-the-rich fables are already at cat-swinging capacity. The ensemble’s collective vapidness is taken too literally, with the script never bothering to dip below the surface and interrogate the messy, sad malaise just out of sight. Instead, we’re encouraged to float, satisfied, in the film’s sea of catwalk-ready costumes, alluring architecture, overworked metaphors and strangely sterile brutality. Even with the body-count rising, however, fluids and flora are not enough to make this rosebush rise above the rest.

Praise be to Muad'Dib! Thank the heavens for Dune: Part Three! Because, frankly, without the launch this week of the trailer for Denis Villeneuve's latest, and last, venture into Frank Herbert's sandy world, Helen O'Hara and James Dyer (for they are in charge this week, in Chris Hewitt's absence) would have had very little to talk about in terms of movie news on this latest episode of the Empire Podcast. Thankfully it came along in the nick of time, and they bang on about it accordingly — yippee!

Elsewhere, Helen and James have plenty to talk about as they discuss contentious Empire reviews and movie worlds they'd like to visit in the listener questions section, and review Evil Dead Burn (with the help of Harry Stainer), the live-action remake of Moana, and Rosebush Pruning. Speaking of Evil Dead Burn, our guest this week is that film's formidable heroine, Souheila Yacoub, who talks to Chris about the film's gruelling one-shot sequence, avoiding the Evil Dead movies, and more. [43:00 — 56:16 approx.] 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 #724) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Interviews, in which we bring you even more chat with the stars and filmmakers behind each week's biggest movies. The most recent edition finds Chris Hewitt sits down on Zoom for a fun chat with Phil Lord and Chris Miller about Project Hail Mary now that it's on Prime Video. Then, Harry Stainer sits down with another notable filmmaking duo, Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol about their five-star comedy Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie. And finally, Chris Zooms it up a storm with Himesh Patel, who stars in Enola Holmes 3 as Dr. Watson. And for even more podcasting goodness, our newly launched Empire+ subscription awaits... go check it out!

Things are heating up again on Heat 2. The long-awaited follow-up to Micheal Mann’s seminal crime story – which he’s already written up as a best-selling novel, co-authored with Meg Gardiner – continues to gather pace with another heavyweight set to join the cast. For a while now, an exciting crew has been circling the film, including A-listers Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale – and it looks like Stephen Graham is set to join their ranks.

While no cast deals have been officially confirmed yet, The Wrap reports that Graham is in talks to take on the role of Neil McCauley, De Niro’s iconic gangster from the original film. The first Heat saw career criminal McCauley trying to outpace Al Pacino’s veteran LAPD cop Vincent Hanna, a cat-and-mouse game between two men on opposite sides of the law with more in common than they realised. That dynamic will be further explored in Heat 2, with a dual prequel/sequel story that sees Hanna and McCauley as their younger selves in the 1980s; Christian Bale is thought to be playing Hanna. The sequel strand follows Hanna’s pursuit of McCauley’s crime partner, Shiherlis – played originally by the late great Val Kilmer, and thought to be portrayed this time by DiCaprio.

There’s still some way to go on Heat 2 – casting news should firm up as the film nears production, expected to begin before the end of 2026. Here’s hoping Michael Mann – with Stephen Graham’s assistance – can cook up something special.

There have been plenty of conversation-starting films already this year. Look at the moral tangles presented in The Drama, or the relationship shakedowns in The Invite. And in a few months, there’ll be another film sure to cause all kinds of chatter as audiences exit the cinema: Bad Apples. This one stars Saoirse Ronan as a teacher, Maria, who’s fed up with a particularly unruly student – and when a sequence of events spiral out of control, he ends up kidnapped by her. It’s an extremely dark set-up for a film that seems to have much mischief going on under the surface. Check out the trailer here:

Much to unpack, then! The premise of Bad Apples seems thrillingly knotty; there’s no way that kidnapping Danny is the right thing to do. And yet, is the class calmer without him? Has he simply messed around and found out? Will he learn more from 1-on-1 teachings with Maria (in, err, a dank basement)? And can Maria somehow let him go without sending her whole world crashing down? Does she deserve that? The film comes from director Jonatan Etzler, with a script from Jess O’Kane, adapting Rasmus Lindgren’s Swedish novel De Oönskade(translation: ‘The Unwanted’).

Bad Apples received positive reactions on the festival circuit last year,  and finally comes to UK and US cinemas from September 18. Let the conversation commence!

Dattebayo! 11 years since we first learned that Lionsgate was developing a live-action Naruto movie, and two years since Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton came aboard to pen and helm a big-screen adaptation of Masashi Kishimoto’s iconic manga, we have a very exciting update on the project. Taking to Instagram last night, Cretton — whose latest blockbuster, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, hits cinemas this month — revealed that a global casting search has begun to find his movie's leads: ninja kid Naruto and fellow Team 7 squad members Sasuke and Sakura.

"Kishimoto-sensei’s stories have inspired generations of fans around the globe, and it’s an honor to bring his world and characters to the big screen in live action for the very first time," said Cretton in his post, which came accompanied by a picture of himself with Kishimoto. "I’m thrilled to kick off this worldwide casting search for our Team 7 and to bring the incredible universe of Naruto to life." Added Naruto creator Kishimoto: "Right now, miracles are happening to me, one after another. My work, Naruto is truly, truly becoming a Hollywood movie! And an even greater miracle is that the film will be directed by the one and only Destin Daniel Cretton. I still cannot believe it! If so many miracles have already come together, then let us hope for even more. I am eagerly looking forward to the miraculous encounters that will bring us extraordinary and passionate actors! I cannot wait to meet my characters in the film!"

For anyone who may have somehow let Naruto pass them by, Masashi Kishimoto’s manga — which has sold over 250 million copies to date and spawned wildly successful anime series and movies already — follows the travails of young Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja from Hidden Leaf Village, as he seeks to become his community's leader, their Hokage. Oh, and just to complicate matters, there also happens to be a nine-tailed fox of immense power tucked away inside our boy Naruto, too, which as you can imagine ensures the lad's path to greatness isn't exactly a smooth one.

Given Cretton's action moviemaking chops, abiding love for Naruto, and the vast search he's undertaking to find the right leads for his adaptation — a patience-led process that's most recently yielded great rewards for Netflix's One Piece live-action series — the omens are with this one as pre-production ramps up. Here's hoping the result will be something Naruto-tally awesome and that Cretton's film doesn't leave us shouting Narut-NOOOO! (Sorry.)

We wish we could freeze this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever. No no no, we're not talking about the latest heatwave to hit our shores — though we do wish we could literally freeze this moment (anything for a touch of cold, honestly.) We are of course talking about news coming from Lionsgate that ahead of the release of The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping this November, all five previous adaptations of Suzanne Collins' televised teen deathmatch YA books are heading back to cinemas. And what's more, they're coming with a bonus little sneak peek at what awaits in a young Haymitch Abernathy's brutal 'Quarter Quell' Games. Check out the announcement below;

There you have it. The Hunger Games on 3 September. Catching Fire on the fourth. Mockingjay Part 1 on the fifth. Mockingjay Part 2 on the sixth. And last but certainly not least, The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes on the seventh. From Jennifer Lawrence's debut as Katniss Everdeen some fourteen years ago all the way through to Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler's star turns in Francis Lawrence's 2023 President Snow origin story, the complete Hunger Games saga to date will not only be televised, but thrown up on big screens everywhere. Well, with a small caveat, as usual.

Thus far, the Gamesathon is only officially confirmed for North American cinemas, with tickets on sale now stateside through Fathom Entertainment. However, with movie lovers in recent years demonstrating a real appetite for cinema re-releases — for everything from Princess Mononoke to The Lord Of The Rings to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home — it seems like an inevitability that one of the most successful YA franchises of all time will get its day in the sun (again) in UK cinemas and internationaly, too. And if/when those tickets do go on sale and everyone's dashing to the digital box office like it's the Cornucopia itself, all we can say is may the odds be ever in your favour. *Whistles* *Raises three-finger salute*

Long before the MCU came along and set the template for the modern cinematic universe, there was another interconnected, multimedia franchise driving the kids wild: The FWCU. Yes, folks, the Free Willy Cinematic Universe. Spanning three movies (who can forget — or indeed remember — Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home or Free Willy 3: The Rescue) , an animated TV series, two CD-ROM games, and a DTV reboot, the continuing adventures of orphaned boy Jesse and his orca pal won the hearts — and wet the eyes — of families the world over. Now, per THR's reporting, Free Willy is about to be unleashed upon a whole new generation.

Warner Bros. and The Russo Brothers' AGBO production company are teaming up to reimagine Free Willy for a modern audience, with Miller's Girl producer-writer duo Mary-Margaret Kunze and Jade Halley Bartlett aboard to write the screenplay. Whether the new Free Willy will exist in the same world as Simon Wincer's cult classic — or follow the same foundational orphaned-kid-befriends-captive-orca narrative — very much remains to be seen at this point, as does the approach Kunze and Bartlett will take here to their whale-y big star. In the original movies, actual orca Keiko stole our hearts as the eponymous Willy, helping undo generations of misinformation and myth-making surrounding the killer whale as a species. One would suspect a modern-day Willy will be some sort of at least partially CG-constructed beast — but who knows?

With Brian Duffield's sperm whale epic Whalefall mere months away, and now the return of Free Willy to *checks notes* look forward to, perhaps we've misdirected our energy into the Welsh New Wave. Clearly, the Whale New Wave is upon us. All hail the new blubber!

Throughout his career, Paul Feig has both figuratively and literally proven himself to be a man of many different filmmaking hats. From Bridesmaids to Spy, Ghostbusters to A Simple Favour (and Another Simple Favour), and from Last Christmas to The Housemaid, Feig has dabbled in many genres over the last couple of decades. But now the Freaks & Geeks creator has decided it's high time to try something new — and something dark. Per Deadline's reporting, Paul Feig is set to make his horror directorial debut with Detention, a new chiller from Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Platinum Dunes.

According to Deadline, Feig has been chomping at the bit to draw further from the dark well opened up by The Housemaid and stray into proper horror territory with his next project. And while plot details regarding Detention are being kept firmly under wraps for now, this movie — rocking a Daniel Gold spec script and a whole raft of producers, including Michael Bay, Jason Blum, Brad Fuller, Cameron Fuller, and Laura Fischer — sounds as if it's about to give Feig exactly the horror-thriller he has been looking for.

There's no studio attached to this one just yet — though Universal is a likely candidate given its extant ties with both Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Platinum Dunes. We also don't know who'll be starring in the film or when we may expect it to hit our screens. What we do know however is that Paul Feig is a stylish filmmaker who isn't afraid to upset expectations and do his own thing, and that — crucially — he ain't afraid of no ghosts. Here's hoping Detention is another Feig class act. But next up, The Housemaid's Secret awaits...

Despite sharing a creator (Brad Ingelsby), a setting (Delaware County, Pennsylvania), and a vibe (blue-collar suburban crime-thriller), HBO's Mare Of Easttown and Task have, up until now, existed in their own separate prestige TV universes. But all of that is about to change as the upcoming Task Season 2's latest casting announcement has teed up an unexpected but very welcome crossover. As reported by Variety, Mare star Julianne Nicholson is set to reprise the Emmy-winning role of Lori Ross in Task's sophomore outing.

In Ingelsby's critically acclaimed Mare Of Easttown, Nicholson's Lori was introduced as a mother of three who is best friend to Kate Winslet's police detective Mare, and whose own son was embroiled in that series' central murder investigation. But while whispers of a second trip to Easttown have persisted in the years since the series' 2021 release, we've yet to see Lori — or Mare, for that matter — return to our screens. How exactly Nicholson's character will factor into Task Season 2, and to what extent her journey and that of Mark Ruffalo's embattled FBI Agent Tom Brandis will overlap, very much remains to be seen. But with the new season's logline teasing that Brandis is set to head up a new task force this time out, it isn't outside of the realms of possibility that Easttown could be where he's headed next, or at the very least be a place he stops by for a while as he passes through. Confirmation of the crossover alone is enough to fuel wild speculation...

It's worth noting that Julianne Nicholson isn't the only new face heading for Task's second season, either. Mahershala Ali, Harry Melling, Adam Nagaitis, Aminah Nieves, and Edgar Ramirez are all contributing to the veritable constellation of stars Ingelsby has assembled for his show's return. And heck, who knows? Maybe now that Nicholson has crossed over we might see Winslet's Mare herself taken to Task before long. The world's unlikeliest Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind reunion is on — watch this space!

Get ready to throw down your bottlecaps once again, Fallout fans. Although it hasn’t been long since we got our most recent Wasteland fix – with Season 2 of Prime’s excellent TV adaptation gracing our screens last year – we haven’t seen a new single-player Fallout adventure since Fallout 4 in 2015 (not counting Fallout 76’s MMO hijinks). And while it may still be a little way off, there’s news coming in that would even make a Ghoul smile.

According to Bloomberg, developers Obsidian – behind fan-favourite Fallout: New Vegas – has scrapped plans for an Avowed sequel, as well as other unannounced projects, to focus on a new Fallout game, which will be led by Josh Sawyer, the lead designer and project director of New Vegas. The news comes as Xbox continues to reset many of its studios (someone please find Ninja Theory a home!), perhaps signalling that focusing on much-loved IP is a step in the right direction.

The news of a new Fallout game from Obsidian is exciting stuff. The studio famously had a laser focus on player choice and the competing factions of the Wasteland in New Vegas, leaning into the RPG elements more than any prior game in Bethesda’s series. It was also incredibly sharply written and gave players a level of freedom that, quite frankly, has been sorely missed. Plus, who could forget the memorable casinos and bonkers politics of New Vegas itself, which made their live-action debut in the TV show’s second season? So, strap on your Pip-Boy and grab a Nuka-Cola, because your next trip to the Wasteland may not be as far off as you think.

If it feels a bit like all we've been talking about lately is MobLand then, well, that's probably because it's been making all kinds of headlines in recent weeks. But now that the dust has settled on Tom Hardy's recent reported clashes with the Paramount+ mob drama's producers and his future on the show has been confirmed (yes, he'll be back if/when MobLand Season 3 happens), we can get back to looking forward to MobLand Season 2 — which has finally got a teaser and a release date. Check out the trailer below;

Well, well, well... after last season's quite literal knife-edge poised finale, Hardy's mob fixer Harry Da Souza is back in this first teaser for MobLand Season 2 — and honestly, not a moment too soon. "This hasn't exactly been a wonderful 24 hours for me, yeah?" Hardy's Harry tells a quivering bike courier, addressing both *SPOILER WARNING* the near-fatal stabbing he sustained when we saw him last *SPOILER OVER* and, perhaps in a moment of meta awareness on Paramount's part, everything that's been going on off-screen since Season 1. And by the looks of it, some less-than-wonderful hours lay ahead here for Harry as he tries to navigate the beginnings of a civil war among the Harrigans crime family and the arrivals of new contenders for dominance of North London. Luckily for us, that does involve Pierce Brosnan's patriarch Conrad Harrigan unloading a full clip of akimbo SMGs with aplomb, a reprisal of Helen Mirren's cod-Irish accent, and Hardy generally bossing the show as only he can.

The official synopsis for MobLand Season 2 — which also stars Paddy Considine, Joanne Froggatt, Lara Pulver, Anson Boon, Mandeep Dhillon, Jasmine Jobson, Geoff Bell, Daniel Betts, Lisa Dwan, and Emily Barber — reads: “The Harrigans struggle to show a unified front as rising rivals threaten their fractured criminal empire – and Harry Da Souza, their street-smart and formidable ‘fixer’, must walk a dangerous tightrope when tensions within the family intensify. As violence spills into every corner of their lives, loyalties snap, safety proves temporary, and the battle for power leaves no room for mercy.”

If you thought it was all kicking off behind the scenes of MobLand Season 2, that's nothing compared to what seems to be heading our way when the mob drama returns to Paramount+ on 18 September. Bring. It. On!

It’s a good year for Godzilla fans. Earlier this year, MonsterVerse fans got some delicious morsels of cinema’s greatest kaiju when he popped up in Monarch Season 2. But that was just an amuse-bouche for the real main course: the much-anticipated arrival of Godzilla Minus Zero, the latest ‘zilla film from Japan’s Toho studio, and the sequel to 2023’s outstanding Godzilla Minus One. As the film (from Minus One's returning writer-director-VFX-supervisor Takashi Yamazaki) stomp-stomp-stomps closer to release, there’s good news for UK fans – with release details officially confirmed, and some shiny new stuff to look at too.

First up: the release info. The film is confirmed to head to UK cinemas on November 6, just three days after it lands in Japan (on ‘Godzilla Day’, naturally). And since it was filmed for IMAX, it seems that the film will be getting its share of IMAX screens across the UK and Ireland, as well as regular cinema presentations. Minus Zero also launches in the US on November 6.

As the film’s promotion ramps up, here’s a new poster to feast on, showing the main man himself roaring back into action:

Plus, there’s a new teaser trailer too – but it is very teasery, at only 30 seconds long (shorter than the previous teaser, released a few months back) and still keeping many details under wraps. But we do get a glimpse at several returning characters from Minus One, including Ryunosuke Kamiki’s protagonist Shikishima, Minami Hamabe’s Noriko (who bore a mysterious marking on her neck after her encounter with Godzilla at the end of the last film), and Hidetaka Yoshioka’s fan-favourite scientist / weapons expert. Watch it here:

Exactly what humanity – and Godzilla – will face this time remains to be seen. Will there be another kaiju in the mix? If so, a new creation, or a firm favourite like King Ghidorah or Rodan? Could it be Titanosaurus’ time to shine? And can Minus Zero live up to Minus One, which stands among the greatest Godzilla films ever made, and crashed the Oscars with its VFX win? We’ll find out on November 6.

You remember how last November we brought you news that Skyler Gisondo, fan-favourite star of James Gunn's Superman, looked set to get his own Jimmy Olsen centred DCU spin-off series called DC Crime? And do you remember how we also said Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda — co-creators of mockumentary show American Vandal — had been tapped to write and showrun? Well, after months of radio silence, it looks like that show is still very much in the offing, as Deadline is reporting that Theater Camp star Jimmy Tatro is in talks to star in the series. And what's more, he's apparently looking to play none other than DC Comics' astute, evil, astutely evil ape Gorilla Grodd!

Now, DC Crime hasn't officially even been given the greenlight by James Gunn and Peter Safran just yet, it's worth noting. However, back when word of the proposed show — a fictional true-crime series revolving around Gisondo's Olsen and his Daily Planet colleagues — first got out, it's also worth bearing in mind that reports did specifically mention how the first series would potentially revolve around Gorilla Grodd. Having made a cameo, albeit a non-speaking one, in Gunn's animated Creature Commandos, Grodd — most often featured in DC Comics as a regular of The Flash's rogues gallery — makes a lot of sense as a potential villainous lead. Being a deep-cut comics villain who both poses enough of a threat to carry a season and comes with enough relative anonymity to feel fresh for mainstream audiences, Grodd perfectly fits the vibe of Gunn's Silver Age modelled DCU and its leaning into the weirder side of Detective Comics.

Billed as 'a true-crime docuseries' hosted by Jimmy Olsen, DC Crime sounds like it would represent another stylistically and tonally different branch of Gunn's ever-expanding DC Universe. And with the criminally underrated Skyler Gisondo and equally criminally underrated Jimmy Tatro leading (seriously, just watch him in Theater Camp and try to keep a straight face — it's impossible!), should the show land a straight-to-series order, then there's already plenty of reason to get hyped about this one. Until then, stay tuned for more updates just as soon as we get 'em.

On a day where one President Donald J. Trump has lost a bid to have his name added to Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center, along comes a stonking new trailer for Dune: Part Three — and with it a warning from star Timothée Chalamet that this film serves as a warning to be wary of charismatic leaders. Funny how these things work, isn't it? But if reality is a little too much to handle right now, then Denis Villeneuve's upcoming trilogy capper to his grand cinematic dream, a colossal three-part adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune, is just what the doctor ordered. And in our latest look at Dune: Part Three (aka Dun3), it is all kicking off as Chalamet's Paul Atreides — aka the Lisan al Gaib (aka Space Hitler) — finds himself waging wars, facing his betrayed love Chani (Zendaya), and tangling with a shapeshifting Robert Pattinson! Check it out below;

Just when we thought The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day may be about to leave us all blockbustered out for the rest of 2026, along comes Villeneuve to say "Hold my sandworm popcorn bucket!" What. A. Trailer! There's a lot going on in this latest look at Dune: Part Three, which takes place almost two decades on from Dune: Part Two and picks things up at a point in time where Paul Atreides has long since become not-so-benevolent ruler of the known universe. Based on Frank Herbert's Dune: Messiah, this safely looks like the darkest chapter yet in Villeneuve's desert-bound blockbuster movies.

Here we see an enraged Chani, now firmly back in her Fremen fighter era, giving her power-hungry beau a piece of her mind; get a fresh glimpse of Florence Pugh's Princess Irulan, the third spiky point in a thoroughly miserable-seeming Atreides love triangle; Robert Pattinson's shapeshifting Scytale, who has designs on overthrowing Paul Atreides; the return of Jason Momoa's Duncan Idaho, resurrected here in clone-like ghola form as Hayt; and, well, war. Lots and lots and lots of war, all fought in Atreides' name. "I think you're way beyond redemption," observes Hayt of his Paul’s galactic conquest. It seems Dune: Part Three will be majorly concerned with uncovering whether or not he is right. Uh-oh…

The official synopsis for Dune: Part Three — which also stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, and saga newcomer Isaach de Bankolé — reads as follows: "Dune: Part Three is set nearly two decades after Paul Atreides seized control of the Imperium. Now a ruthless Emperor, Paul must face the consequences of his reign as old allies return, terrifying new threats emerge, and betrayal lurks in every shadow. Haunted by visions of Imperial collapse and the reappearance of his long-lost love, Paul is drawn into a sweeping conspiracy, with Chani at the heart of its unfolding mystery. As rebellion brews and enemies close in, Paul must confront the true cost of power and the fate of those he loves the most."

Is there any world where things end happily for Paul and Chani? Will R-Pattz be declaring Atreides' kingdom "My Dune" by the time credits roll? And will the popcorn bucket for the trilogy capper be as inappropriate as the last one? We'll find out when Dune: Part Three sandwalks into cinemas and IMAX screens on 18 December.

What would comedy be without David Brent? Without the employees of Wernham Hogg? Without The Office, and everything that came after? Frankly, it doesn’t bear thinking about. And 25 years later, it’s still a TV masterpiece, perfectly calibrated with knockout comedy, heartfelt romance, and everything in between.

To mark the 25th anniversary, Pilot TV’s Boyd Hilton sat down with Ricky Gervais himself to look back on the legacy of The Office, and how it all came to be.

PILOT: When you were making The Office all those years ago, what were your ambitions for it?

RICKY GERVAIS: Honestly, I just thought, “Maybe some of the people that like some of the things that I like on BBC Two will like this”. I thought I'd get a percentage of Partridge and Monty Python and Fawlty Towers fans; so while I was the new kid on the block, I thought people would recognise what we were trying to do, and I thought, “If you like this sort of stuff or if you like Spinal Tap, some of you might like this”. I thought we might get a million people watching it on BBC Two, and they might let us do another series. It was never, “This is going to be a massive hit”. Let's not rewrite history. The first episode went out on a Monday night, at 9.30pm, on the 9th July on BBC Two, 2001. I remember the first scheduler put it at 10 o'clock, against the second series of Big Brother. I went, “You are mental. You are fucking crazy. We will get killed – that is our audience, people who work in an office, so will they watch a new series about an office, or Big Brother?” So they moved it to 9.30pm.

When you were writing the first series, did you have any inkling it was going to be something special?

I wanted it to be something special, and the fake documentary thing was a tantalising part of that. We made it seem so real. We put restrictions on ourselves to not break the documentary rules. Later I realised we probably stuck to those rules more than real documentaries. You know how even real documentary crews say, “Can you do that again? We have a camera waiting”, well we didn’t even do that. We invented the mic getting left on and people getting caught out in front of the cameras by accident. So I think the extent to which we took the faux documentary form so seriously made it feel real and special. And you don't need to change things that much; you don't need to be ultra-innovative for people to go, “Oh, that's different”; it can be a tiny amount different and seem really different. Of course, I wasn't the first to do fake documentary – I got that from Christopher Guest and those guys.

Were you confident your performance as David Brent would underline that realism?

I wasn't a trained actor, and I hadn't gone to drama college or anything, so I didn't know any of the rules, but I knew what real life felt like, so I just did that. And that helped make it real. I wasn't the first to act naturally – most indie films and arthouse films had very naturalistic acting. They weren't like Hollywood. It wasn't the first thing with no stars in it, but that was quite important. In fact, I remember when I was doing [Channel 4 series] Meet Ricky Gervais, I didn't do the second series because I didn't want to become too famous. I wanted people to watch The Office and think, “Is this a real documentary?”, just for the first two minutes, at least.

But I was very confident with the character. I knew David Brent in my bones. I’d known him for years, from when I worked in a normal job and I’d do impressions of the boss getting things wrong and when we shot our own little Brent pilot in half a day, I went back to where I worked. I worked in an office for nine years, which is where the observations come from, and where the realism comes from. I felt confident because even if didn't know about set design and locations, I could make sure everything looked authentic and as it did in real life. I was trying to emulate real life. So, all those things came together, and I knew what I wanted to see on telly.

Can you talk about the casting. How easy was it to find those people like Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook and Lucy Davis?

I was slightly naive there because they were based loosely based on people I've known or met. I thought I could just find the actor that looked like the person he was based on, but then you're just restricting yourself. So, the guy who Finchy was based on was pretty close. I mean, we just looked and looked, and we found Ralph Ineson and he was great.

Gareth was based on a guy I went to school with, when I was 14. I talked about him before in my stand-up. I won’t say his real name, but it wasn’t Gareth. But he was in the TA [Territorial Army], and he'd say things like, “When you're captured by cannibals and they're boiling you they show you pornographic pictures, so you get an erection and there's more meat”, and he believed these things. But he was sort of like a sporty, rugger sort of guy who fantasised about getting into the army. So I was looking for someone who looked like they could get in the SAS. And then Mackenzie Crook walked in, and it was even funnier because now it was a guy who weighed about seven stone who looked like a baby bird, talking about killing a man, so it was funnier.

I’d met Mackenzie on The 11 O'Clock Show and I met Martin Freeman on a sketch show called Bruiser and also [Ricky’s partner] Jane had worked with him so I was aware of him. But again, the guy he was based on was actually sort of quite a chubby, Norm-from-Cheers sort of guy who would just sit there and make wry comments. He was a bit of a slob. But then Martin came in and did it with much more verve and affection. You look and look and look, and you find the best person for the job, and that might not be who was in your head, but you realise that might be even funnier. And that was true of all of them: we looked and looked and we got down to final recalls, until you go, “That's the one”.

They also had to do it like they haven't learned lines, because it was so important to be naturalistic. Some people thought The Office was ad-libbed. And that's a testament to the actors, making it look like they came up with it off the top of their heads. Everyone gets it now, but to say to actors back then, don't be funny, don’t widen your eyes, don't overreact, don't mumble and so on and they’re like, “You're telling me to stop acting?” Well, sort of, yes.

The pop culture references – like Brent saying ‘Wassup!’, and talking about his comedy heroes and so on – felt unusual at the time. How important were those elements?

I think the best observational comedy is always about getting things off your chest. But what I never talked about at the time, and I think rarely since, was that I also wanted The Office to be a comedy about comedy, because I grew up loving comedy and sitcoms and I always thought it was a pipe dream to actually make one. When you're a kid, when you’re a working-class kid, you don't think, “I’ll do a sitcom one day”, you think, “I’ll watch a thousand sitcoms and love them”. You don't think, “I could do that”, and I never really thought like that. I think the first time I thought like that was when I thought I could get a good job, maybe I could become a vet or something, but I never thought, “I know what I’ll do. I think I'll become an international comedian!” And I've still never tried to do that. I've never had a five-year plan. When I was a comedian, I was already a comedian before I realised I was a comedian. [laughs]

Did you ever have that imposter syndrome as a working-class guy co-creating your own sitcom?

Yeah, well, well a couple of things there. First, I was 36 or 37 at the time, so, I didn't think that I was an apprentice or anything. I thought, “How hard can it be?” I knew what I wanted to see on telly, and I wanted to make a fake docusoap, so I knew what I wanted. It was an easy thing to start with – it was emulating a documentary style, it was one camera, and I knew how I wanted the actors to act. I also knew that I wasn't taking someone else's script and panicking about that; instead, I'd been living with it for two years, and I was in it, so I could control the pace. Also, I didn't have huge ambitions. I didn't think, “I’ve got to make this so good that it wins all the BAFTAs and stuff”.

Did you feel pressure to get it right because you might not get the opportunity again?

Maybe deep down, but it wasn't a big risk. It didn't cost anything. I think the first series was 140 grand an episode, which was a good, standard budget for the time, and it went out in the summer, and no one cared about TV in the summer. As I say, it went out on a Monday night, and no one cared what was on a Monday night! So it was low risk, low pressure. And I couldn't believe my luck. We didn't know what's going to happen. But it didn't matter. I think the first episode got about 1.5 million viewers. And I was happy with that. And it got recommissioned during the run, or soon after. And then they repeated series one, and it got two and a half million. So that said something. I was conscious of the wave, the turn. A lot of people who had slagged it off started changing their minds. I remember [TV critic] Garry Bushell saying, “I’ve got to say I was wrong about The Office”. And that's when I thought, “This is happening now”. And what I said earlier about that slight innovation... you suffer from slight innovation, because people go, “What's this? I haven’t seen this before. I don't like it”. That's why every romantic comedy from Hollywood is the same as the one before. It’s why before you watch a rom-com they show you the trailer for another rom-com which is the same, assuming you’ll go and watch it. So, you suffer a bit if you make your rom-com – or your sitcom – just slightly different, but eventually you overtake that problem.

It was quite a slow burn, right?

Yeah. It’s interesting that everything I've ever loved, I didn't like much the first time, and everything I loved straight away, I don't like anymore. It's like with banal boyband pop music – you love that tune the first time you hear it, but you hate it in a week, but with a new Radiohead album, on first hearing you’ll be thinking, “What the fuck is this? What the fuck is going on?”, but then it gets into your head, you start to love it. All the things I've ever loved, I didn't like at first, from Radiohead to David Bowie to The Simpsons, and The Wire. With The Sopranos, I stopped half-way through the first episode then someone said I should watch it again. So, I watched it again and loved it. I did feel that that was happening with The Office on a much smaller scale.

Do you ever think, “What if it never got commissioned?”

Well, I actually thought, “If this doesn't work out – fine. I'll do something else”. It didn't bother me, because it's only in retrospect when you realise, “Oh my god. Imagine if you hadn't done The Office”, or you’d done something else or you took the other job, but everyone can think that about life. There was no master plan. There was no pressure. It was more like, “I just can't believe my luck, so I’d better do it right”. There was a certain amount of that as well, I suppose because I was a failed pop star 15 years before, so I thought now it’s about hard work and dedication and getting it right. I realised that my mistake when I was trying to be a pop star was, I should have been trying to be a musician. So, I knew this was about directing it, taking charge, doing it right. Whatever happens, it’s about doing it right, so that was my philosophy. I couldn’t believe my luck, so I wanted to get all those things off my chest. I'd been watching telly for 30 years. I knew the character inside out. It's starts with Brent and then you have to build the backdrop of what it’s like working in an office.

Brent could have been anything. He could have been a motivational speaker, he could have a marketing manager, he could have been an officer in the army, he could have worked in a bank. He could have been anything where he wanted to be famous for being himself. And that was the biggest influence, apart from real life, those docusoaps in the ‘90s when ordinary people got their 15 minutes of fame. And that's what Brent was like: he wanted a piece of that.

How important was the romantic element?

Crucial. I think I sort of stole that from the Marx Brothers. When I was a kid, they used to be on late Saturday night and my older brothers and sisters used to get together and have a curry, and they used to watch the Marx Brothers. So I was exposed to these characters and I loved them. I thought they were amazing and I thought Groucho was the wittiest man in the world. And I probably didn't even get the nuance of him being a loser. Then I read about how they started in Vaudeville and they ran around being insane and funny and all that. Then this producer told them he could make them massive stars and keep all that madcap comedy stuff, but he wanted to put in a love story as well. Because if you are crazy for an hour and a half, people get sick of you. But if you're trying to get two lovers together, people let you off. So that was the idea, really, that amongst all this madness of David Brent trying to be famous, Gareth being an idiot etc, there were two ordinary people: Tim and Dawn.

The other influence on that was Laurel and Hardy, where you’re either a Stan or an Ollie and I've used this forever, because there’s a Stan and Ollie in everything. Sometimes there's multiples of Stan and Ollie and sometimes they even swap, and Ollie is a staple of comedy: an ordinary guy trying to do something he’s not equipped to do. He thinks he can; Ollie is a bit pretentious; he thinks he's amazing. Stan is an idiot, and he doesn't mind being an idiot. It's the satisfied fool. And so, in our show, among all these fools, there were Tim and Dawn, two ordinary people who knew their lot.

It felt like a stealth rom-com. Now it’s impossible to imagine it without that element.

Well, the other thing that I liked about it was that it was arbitrary. When you go to work in an office, you don't choose the other seven people you work with – they're just there. So, it wasn’t ever going to be a zany sitcom but Tim and Dawn make it grounded. They make it matter. The other thing is that comedy is an intellectual pursuit. And unless you see something emotional, it doesn't really matter. That's why in sitcoms, anything can happen and it can go back to square one every week. The tricky bit is to change it. And most sitcoms don't. I remember when the scripts were written, and [producer] Jon Plowman said, “Don't worry too much about the order they go out in”, and I went, “No, we have to worry about the order otherwise it won't work”. And he said, “Oh okay then” because he was so used to sitcoms where the order of episodes didn’t matter. Our show doesn’t just go back to square one. And I got that from The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin. That's the first sitcom I saw that was a developing story, and it really, really changed week on week.  So all those things, all those tiny little things: you beg, steal and borrow from all the things you loved and hated, and you just put it in the pot.

Was it important to have real jeopardy for Brent represented by Neil (Patrick Baladi) wielding power over him?

Yes. So, here's my theory of sitcom: you need to be trapped in some way, right? You need to need that job, or you need to be tempted — so Tim's there because he likes Dawn. I think there's always a family element, either literal or in Bilko where the army is his family. And you need an external threat. That can be a nasty neighbour or in Only Fools And Horses it's the criminals or the police who are on to him, with The Office it was the Swindon lot but mainly, yes, it was Neil, Brent’s nemesis, a man who was slightly better at everything than him – slightly younger, slightly more handsome, slightly funnier, slightly more popular.

You don't need much. You don't need a big, convoluted plot, you don't need to know about paper, or about business, you just need to know that these people might lose their jobs: done. No one goes, “Well it was a shit job anyway”. No, Brent loves the job. It just needs to have some sort of threat. And then you just don't need to go into too much. You just need to remind people where they are, and I tried to make everything middle: middle management, middle-age, middle England, middle everything. Nothing fancy. And you calibrate everything down. So, you don't need to have a kidnapping or a siege, or the terrorist attack or anything surreal, or ghosts. So, if anything slightly good happens, it's really good. It's a big victory. Same with the romance. Tim and Dawn knew they were being filmed and she had a boyfriend, so they couldn't declare their love, they couldn't kiss. Now, just brushing past him or him looking over at her, and, and then the way she looked up: that became massive, because it's all relative.

As well as the comedic stuff, it’s also an emotional show from the start, right? In episode one, you make Dawn cry…

Yes, well the scene where we make Dawn cry is a vehicle to show that Brent thinks he's the life and soul of the party and everyone loves him. And then when the cameras are rolling and he tries to show the camera, it doesn't work. With Brent, it’s all about the blind spot. We're laughing at him because of the chasm between how he thinks of himself, and what other people think of him. That was really important and that's where the talking head bits came into it, so he could say, “They love me out there… it’s like Dead Poets Society”, and he goes out there and no one’s really bothered. It was the beginning of seeing his narcissism where he’s thinking, “Love me. Give me money and airtime, please make me famous!”

I remember watching The X Factor and people crying, saying, “I want this so much!” I'm going, “What's that got to do with me? How am I involved? Go and get a job then!” So, it was the beginning of that sort of, “If people would just know me, they would love me” scenario. Brent wanted to be able to walk into a room and have people say to him, “You are the funniest, wittiest man I've ever met. You're also a philosopher”. He wanted to be loved. And I still say his worst mistake – because it was about the workplace and how you act at work as well – was mistaking popularity for respect. And that's what's wrong with selling people this lie of fame. Now everyone's famous — everyone's famous on Instagram. So, everyone's got abs, and they’re standing next to a boat they don't really own. And there are people going, “I haven’t got a boat or abs”, and I want to say [shouting], “NOR HAVE THEY! Stop worrying about it!” [laughs]

The scene where Tim takes off his mic when he and Dawn go into the room and we don’t know what they’re saying, did you write dialogue for that?

Yeah, that was all written, all planned. I remember one of the producers saying, “You might need an alternative shot — this might not work.” So, I just thought “Well, it definitely will now, I’ll make sure of it”. And it worked great because it's a tiny moment. Tim saying, “She said ‘no’ by the way”. But because everything was quiet and there was digital silence, it made it big. I think that's another thing that I've always tried to do is to make the ordinary extraordinary. If you start with the extraordinary, you've got nowhere to go and then anything can happen. I remember when I was a kid I watched Superman, and as soon as he could go round the earth the wrong way and go back in time I thought, “Well that's it!” There was no point watching after that.

“Milligan, Cleese, Everett, Sessions****”: Did you have different options for that line?

I think John Sessions asked David Baddiel if we were taking the piss. But we weren’t taking the piss. There is a certain amount of bathos to it but only because those are absolutely revered people and whoever you say next will be funny. And the reason I chose “Sessions” was because the word itself “Sessions” is funny — it’s a great name to say. I wanted him to know that. Sometimes it was just fun, saying things like that, for example Brent listing the local towns: Burfield, Tadleigh, Winersh. He’s saying these ordinary things like they're meaningful because to him they are.

Brent’s dance: do you remember actually thinking about putting those moves together?

Yes I do. Again, it was something I used to do to get a laugh. I used to take the piss out of those dancers you’d see on variety shows on TV, like the Wayne Rogers Connection, and when I saw them, I would just think, “Why would you ever do that? Why would you ever dance like that?” And I just thought it'd be funny to do that, to be this man thinking he is a good dancer, and then you have to work back from that and the more you work back and put structure around it, the funnier it is. And what better than for Neil to do a really good dance, and then Brent panic and think, “I've got to show them. I will do anything. I will do ANYTHING!” And it's not a joke as such, but it's such a climax to a man desperate to win. Same as him saying “I think there's been a rape up there!” That is not a punchline to a joke. But when you realise what context it's in, it's really funny. He will say that in a roleplay, just to win the roleplay, and there was never meant to be a winner, but he had to win the roleplay, so he came up with that!

And that scene, that whole thing came up because I used to have to do management training when I worked in an office. And the first couple of years we would have a professional come in, like Rowan in The Office, and we’d all sit around and do these really good things. But then there were cutbacks, and they said they were going to do their own management training that year. So some of the managers got together and they tried to do it, and they couldn't. I remember me at the back with someone watching these two other managers do it, and they did a role play of a complaint at a hotel. And this is what they did: The first one said, “Right I’d like to make a complaint,” and the other one said, “I don't care. Why don’t you get lost?” Then the other one says, “I'm never coming here again”. Then they said they were going to show the right way to do it. And one of them says, “Well, what seems to be the problem, sir?” “This isn’t working.” “Oh well I’ll change it right away sir and can I give you a free night here?” “Yes, thank you very much.” And I'm thinking that’s not always possible! You could just give them a thousand pounds! So what you’re saying is, “Don't be an arsehole.” Is that what you’re saying? We laughed about that amongst ourselves, and it must have just gone into my brain and then 10 years later I’m using it in the training day episode.

What was the editing process like?

It was key, particularly because we were shooting a fake documentary. The Office was coming in at 45 minutes each episode, and with the first series it broke my heart that we had to lose 15 minutes. Now I relish it. Because I know what's left is good. There was this old ad for John West salmon which went, “It’s the salmon John West rejects that makes John West salmon the best”! And I remember thinking, “Yes if you throw away all this stuff, even if it's good, that means what's left is even better”.

What did you learn while you were making The Office****?

It was a learning process and I'm still learning, I'm still trying other things, but what I've learned that never changes comes down to: what are you telling us? With all the innovations, with all the technology, Avatar and CGI where anything can happen, what doesn't change is one human being telling another human being what sort of day they've had. That will never change. What's important is character. It’s character every time. The advice I give to new writers is: show me who are we watching. I need to love or hate this person within five to 10 pages. Just let me see him get up and make breakfast — don't say a word, just let me see him get up. How does he look at a letter? How does he look at the dog? Who is this this person? Why are we watching?

**What was the atmosphere like on set?**I might have mucked around and been really annoying because it amused me [laughs]. But now I will say, if I'm the one that corpses and fucks my lines up and mucks around, it does lighten the atmosphere. I think having a miserable set is not worth it. I don't want to win awards for the best show ever, where it was the worst experience of my life. Because real life is still more important than a sitcom. So I wanted to enjoy every minute. I demand that it's fun. Everyone else would probably say, “It was a fucking nightmare – he ruined my best takes!” The actors make me laugh, and people would say, “Why did you laugh – you wrote that line”. And I say, “Yeah but they did it really well!”

So yeah, I would cough just before someone’s take and ruin it. Even though I admit it was for my amusement to put them off and make Martin Freeman angry, I still say it made the day better. And we came up with something that we wouldn't have otherwise. There's a little bit of alchemy, just before a take or at the end of the take, where that little moment might make it funnier. So yeah, I'm still a big fat annoying child, because I can't believe my luck. It's still the best job in the world, so why would anyone complain?

Was Finchy created to show Brent isn’t that bad?

Yes, that's exactly right. You think Brent's a bit of a twit, but he's not a bully, he’s not a nasty person. He just wants to be one of the gang. He doesn't hurt people. He only hurts himself. And that was very important. I correct the people who say, “So what's it like playing the boss from hell?” I say, “He's not a boss from hell. He is a bit confused. He wants to be loved. He's been told that being famous will sort it all out. He’s quite a sweet guy, really. I'd have a drink with him”. I wanted people to know that, but it takes a long time, because he was in charge, and that's what's funny as well. I think you have to be trapped in a certain way, in a sitcom and it has to be either literal, like you're in the army like Bilko, or you're in prison like Porridge, or you’re economically trapped or emotionally trapped like Steptoe & Son. When I was a kid, I thought, “Why doesn’t he leave home?” Well, he’s got to look after his dad. You don't realise that until you’re older. So you've got to be trapped. That's why you're there.

How much pressure did you have over the second series?

We did feel the pressure about what to do for the second season. And I remember thinking “Well, we didn't know what to expect for the first, so we shouldn't know what to expect for the second. And don't just second guess anyone. Just do something else, just do what you think you like, not what you thought they liked, because you’ll get it wrong”. It was easier to write series two for the cast because we knew what Martin could do and what Lucy could do and we could work in their physicality, putting things in about their hair and the way they walk, and it was fantastic.

Why do you think it resonated so much?

I think there's lots of reasons why it resonated. I think it resonated because everyone has that sort of day. What’s that saying? “Drama is real life with the boring bits taken out”. Well, I was more fascinated with the boring bits being left in. What do you do with the boring bits? The boring bits are watching a clock and talking to people you wouldn't really want to talk to. That's funnier to me than having a great day. You know, all those little things. You know when you watch Friends, Chandler’s making great jokes, and everyone's laughing. What happens when someone's not as funny? What happens when you think you're funny, and you do a joke and no one laughs? Let's have a look at that vacuum. I've never been one to be embarrassed but I'm embarrassed for other people. If I'm in a group of people and we're all laughing, and someone makes a crap joke, and no one laughs, I want to go back in time. I want to go, “Whatever you do in a minute, don't do that joke, please.” So I do like honing in on the shittier bits of life – the boring bits, the unfunny bits, the say-the-wrong thing bits,  the failure – all those things excited me a lot more, and I still say that about stand-up. No one wants to hear what a great day you've had; no one wants to see what a great holiday you had. They want to know he got drunk and had a fight with the air steward!

Did you get many notes from the BBC?

We really didn't. Just little things. I remember thinking whenever I walked into the BBC or on to the set, that I had a big flaming sign on me saying, “Get away, get away from me!” and I think that's because I was in my late thirties and I was thinking, “Just let me fail, just let me fucking fail, right?” I remember the first meeting with [producer] Jon Plowman after he’d seen the little demo video we made of Brent. He really liked it but he had one question: “If David Brent is so bad at his job, how has he kept it?” And I said, “Let's have a walk around the BBC, shall we?” And he laughed and said, “Good point”. And that was it. I think that was the only note. There was a time when we were in the edit and I was told “Oh they didn't like this”, and I said, “Okay, send it back to them with a note saying, ‘How's this?, but don't change anything”, and the reply came back saying, “Thanks – much better.”

What is your favourite episode?

I think it’s episode four [‘Training’]. So much came from that episode. A lot happens. Tim blurts out his love for Dawn, and he can't take it back and now everyone knows. Brent goes ballistic to be the centre of attention: he gets the guitar out and Freelove Freeway came out of it. “We used to have a political reggae song called Equality Street” was an ad lib on the day, and then when I did 10 years of Brent for Comic Relief, I thought, I should write that song. And that became the seed of Life On The Road. So a lot came from episode four. I love David Brent being a failed musician as well, which touched upon my own history of being a failed pop star.

Did you always have in mind that you’d stop at two series and then have that emotional climax of the Christmas specials?

Well, I've always written the first series like it could be the last. Just in case, because you never know. I could get hit by a bus. So we could have concluded it there after one series and it would have been a very short-lived sitcom. But no, I always wanted to do two series. I knew that Fawlty Towers was the most highly regarded sitcom in the world, and it had done two. I know there are great sitcoms that have done 300 episodes, but they've got 24 producers and 92 writers, and I never wanted to do that. So when it came to our auteured, cottage industry of a show, 12 episodes was good, and I always thought the Christmas special was a bonus. But I knew that would be it. But I think it's a good template. I don't think it has to be that way. And I think a certain amount of it is because I want to do something else. You don’t want to hang around too much, because people think they want a fourth series or fifth series, but they don't know what they want, really. And I think it is easier is with 50 people involved, but I don't think you can keep the interest or the quality up much over two or three series.

How big a moment was Brent telling Finchy to “Fuck off”?

It was big because of how small the world was. How many times do you tell people to fuck off – like once a week. It's not a big deal, but it was for Brent because Finchy was his hero, his abusive hero. So it was massive. Then Brent met a girl who said “Be yourself,” and it was a big victory because Brent suddenly thought, “Be yourself? That’s interesting! That's an interesting concept!” Tim and Dawn: that's the biggest. But again, not particularly big in filmic terms. When you think of people getting shot to death in The Godfather, people going into space, we just have this girl deciding she's leaving her fiancé. But in our world, that’s massive. And we don't know what happened. We don't know they live happily ever after. Because no one knows. And I got that from two films really: one, The Apartment, when they're already friends, and they know each other, and all she has to say is “Shut up and deal.” There’s no kiss, just “Shut up and deal.” Brilliant. And then in The Graduate when they’re finally on the bus and they sort of look at each other and they’re thinking “So what now?”. Well, we don't know. Maybe you should just call this conversation “What did Ricky steal from?” [laughs]

So what do you say when people ask what happened to Tim and Dawn?

I don't want to tell them that I haven't thought about it. It's a constructive fiction. And also, the answer is, “What do you think?” And that’s why I should never show them because they’ve had too long to think about it. There’s a thousand things that could have happened, and 999 are going to be disappointing. What do they think they want? They could be married with five kids but what does that mean? We don't know how good that is. That might be terrible. The best thing to say is that they’re happy. They’re fine.

Did it take a while to decide on the music choices for the finale? Yazoo and Take That?

No, because you sort of do it from your own library. We rarely used songs, because we wanted it to be a sort of a timeless British sitcom. But that Yazoo song was just perfect. It just worked. And you can't tell why – it was just a good, cool slow song at a disco, and there aren’t many of those. It would have been over-egging it to put on Lionel Richie, so it just sort of worked.

When it went out on that Monday night in July, in 2001, what do you remember?

I remember I watched episode six go out when I was in Edinburgh, and I did a week [of stand-up shows] between the fifth episode, and the sixth episode, and I think the Monday night still wasn't sold out – with 50 seats. So that’s how I thought life was going.
At what point did you realise that it had become a cultural phenomenon?

Well, I think it was a gradual process. I think that I was aware of what it was at the time. And then I was aware of what it was two years down the line, and then I was aware that when Extras came out they said it's not as good as The Office.  But now, at the moment, I think it's big among the people who loved it when they were 13, 14 or 15. So I think for every 35 to 40 year old, it's in their parlance. People tell me husbands and wives talk to each other like they were in The Office. And I’m aware there’s a cult of The Office now. In the first couple of years, if there was an article about chairs or bad backs, or a bad boss, or a goatee and bad dancing, anything to do with a bad boss, there would be a picture of David Brent. And that's gone away, because new things come and go, but what's good about The Office is it's always around. I love the fact that it's always remembered.

Do you remember when it became popular among Americans?

I remember when a journalist told me that [Simpsons creator] Matt Groening loved the show. He'd got a British DVD, and he watched it on a plane or something. And that was the first spark, and then you start hearing other people talking about this little show called The Office. I remember I got a phone call when I was walking down Wardour Street on my cell phone, and it was Ben Silverman [from NBC]. And he said, “I want to remake The Office for America.” I went, “Okay,” and he said, “Where are you, I'll come to you?” And within 25 minutes, we were having a coffee in Starbucks, and the ball was already rolling by the time we'd gone to the Golden Globes in 2003. That was suddenly another level. That week I won two Golden Globes, met with Ben Silverman about the remake, got invited to do an episode of The Simpsons, and that was just on the Monday! Then JJ Abrams asked me to do an episode of Alias and I did my first dramatic role and I still haven’t watched that episode because I’m all serious in it, playing a terrorist.

Finally, what is the one single moment or scene that you're most proud of in The Office****?

I do love the timing and the silence and the inappropriateness of “I think there's been a rape up there.” I think that is so quintessentially Brent. Right on his ‘A’game! And I'm probably proudest of the first bit of acting I did when he begs for his job back, but it's a personal thing because I had to be real, and it's not perfect but I think I'm proud that I tried to get people to genuinely feel sorry for another bloke who they've laughed at for all that time in the middle of a sitcom. And I’m proud of the songs — they're pretty good songs coming from a middle-aged man working in an office who thinks he can be Bruce Springsteen. I’m very proud of the whole thing. You know, it's amazing that it made a connection with people. Whatever anyone says when people recognise it and it means something to them. It was Thom Yorke that said, “The point of it is to make a connection with strangers.” And there's nothing like it – you don’t know them, you don't see them, but you know that someone somewhere is watching you make a prat of yourself and it’s cheered them up for half an hour. That’s a lovely feeling.

Is it that time again already? You know, where the big screen awards bashes — the BAFTAs, Oscars, *whispers* and Golden Globes — make way for the granddaddy of small screen celebrations, the Emmy Awards? Yes. Yes it is. And this afternoon, Liza Colón-Zayas and Jeff Hiller took to the Academy's Saban Media Center stage to reveal the nominees for the upcoming 78th Emmys. And coming off the back of another doozy of a year on the box, a mighty trio of top tier shows have emerged as early frontrunners. HBO Max real-tome medical drama The Pitt leads the way with 25 nominations — including a staggering 13 acting nods across its impressive ensemble; Hacks has made Emmy history for a comedy show with a Schitt's Creek besting 24 nominations; and, in a surprise boon for Apple TV, Matthew Rhys led horror-comedy Widow's Bay has landed itself a remarkable 19 nods of its own.

Following close on Widow's Bay heels with 18 and 16 nominations respectively are Vince Gilligan's original Apple TV offering Pluribus and Netflix anthology show Beef's second season. While all of the shows already mentioned make up the lion's share of nominees across the major 2026 Emmys races, this year's nominations are perhaps already most notable for what isn't in the running for awards recognition than what is. Excluding the likes of Heated Rivalry, The Vampire Lestat, and The Bear's last season, which were ineligible for this year's Emmys, major snubs befell both Stranger Things and Euphoria's final runs. Things' last outing was a total lockout in the drama and acting races, despite getting a little more love in technical categories. Meanwhile, Colman Domingo and Zendaya's acting nominations were two of only seven overall noms for Euphoria's surely final bow, with Sydney Sweeney a notable omission from this afternoon's nominees.

Elsewhere, this year's nominations are peppered with shouts for fan-favourites like Spider-Noir (11 noms), A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms (9), Shrinking (9), and Fallout (9). Film and TV lovers will doubtless be pleased to see that Michael J. Fox's acting return in sad-com Shrinking landed the screen icon a well-earned nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series, a race which poignantly also carries a posthumous nod for the late, great Rob Reiner and his turn in The Bear Season 4. It's also surely worth noting that the incomparable David Attenborough has made history as the oldest Emmy nominee ever, scoring two narrator nods at the ripe old age of 100!

As you can see, it's been a busy old year for TV — and that's not even all the nominations. For a full rundown of all the major categories at this year's Emmy Awards, see below;

2025 Emmy Awards Nominees List

Outstanding Drama Series

The Diplomat
The Gilded Age
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Paradise
The Pitt
Pluribus
Slow Horses
Your Friends and Neighbors

Outstanding Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Hacks
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Nobody Wants This
Only Murders in the Building
Shrinking
Widow’s Bay

Outstanding Limited Or Anthology Series

All Her Fault
The Beast in Me
Beef
DTF St. Louis
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series

Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age
Chase Infiniti, The Testaments
Keri Russell, The Diplomat
Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
Zendaya, Euphoria

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Mark Ruffalo, Task
Rufus Sewell, The Diplomat
Noah Wyle, The Pitt

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Elle Fanning, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Jean Smart, Hacks

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Wonder Man
Steve Carell, Rooster
Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay
Jason Segel, Shrinking
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie

Claire Danes, The Beast in Me
Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures
Carey Mulligan, Beef
Sarah Pidgeon, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. And Carolyn Bessette
Sarah Snook, All Her Fault

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie

Riz Ahmed, Bait
Jason Bateman, Black Rabbit
Oscar Isaac, Beef
Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series

Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons
Paul W. Downs, Hacks
Harrison Ford, Shrinking
Nick Offerman, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Stephen Root, Widow’s Bay
Michael Urie, Shrinking
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series

Patrick Ball, The Pitt
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Shawn Hatosy, The Pitt
Gerran Howell, The Pitt
Jack Lowden, Slow Horses
Tom Pelphrey, Task
Carlos-Manuel Vesga, Pluribus

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie

Jason Bateman, DTF St. Louis
Richard Gadd, Half Man
David Harbour, DTF St. Louis
Richard Jenkins, DTF St. Louis
Charles Melton, Beef
Nick Offerman, Death by Lightning

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series

Dale Dickey, Widow’s Bay
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay
Michelle Pfeiffer, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Megan Stalter, Hacks
Jessica Williams, Shrinking

Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Michael J. Fox, Shrinking

Brett Goldstein, Shrinking

Hamish Linklater, Widow's Bay

Christopher McDonald, Hacks

Rob Reiner, The Bear

Connor Storrie, Saturday Night Live

Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Leslie Bibb, Hacks

Jamie Lee Curtis, The Bear

Cherry Jones, Hacks

Laurie Metcalf, Hacks

Kaitlin Olson, Hacks

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series

Taylor Dearden, The Pitt
Fiona Dourif, The Pitt
Allison Janney, The Diplomat
Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt
Sepideh Moafi, The Pitt
Julianne Nicholson, Paradise
Karolina Wydra, Pluribus

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie

Linda Cardellini, DTF St. Louis
Dakota Fanning, All Her Fault
Laurie Metcalf, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Joy Sunday, DTF St. Louis
Yuh-Jung Youn, Beef
Constance Zimmer, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series

Colman Domingo, Euphoria

Ernest Harden Jr., The Pitt

Jeff Hiller, Pluribus

Jeff Kober, The Pitt

Jonathan Pryce, Slow Horses

Bradley Whitford, The Diplomat

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series

Brittany Allen, The Pitt
Tal Anderson, The Pitt
Tina Ivlev, _The Pitt
_Miriam Shor, Pluribus
Merritt Wever, The Gilded Age
Shailene Woodley, Paradise

Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary (Quinta Brunson for “Team Building”)
The Chair Company (Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin for “Life goes by too f**king fast, it really does”)
The Comeback (Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow for “Valerie Does It All”)
Hacks (Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky for “Hacks”)
Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat (Anthony King for “Mergers and Acquisitions”)
Widow’s Bay (Katie Dippold for “Welcome to Widow’s Bay”)

Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series

The Diplomat (Peter Akerman and Debora Cahn for “Amagansett”)
The Pitt (Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman & R. Scott Gemmill for “1:00 PM”)
The Pitt (Valerie Chu for “12:00 PM”)
Industry (Mickey Down and Konrad Kay for “Dear Henry")
Pluribus (Vince Gilligan for “We Is Us”)
Slow Horses (Will Smith for “Scars”)
Task (Brad Ingelsby for “A Still Small Voice”) {#mntl-sc-block_120-0}

Outstanding Writing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie

All Her Fault (Megan Gallagher for “Episode 8”)
The Beast in Me (Gabe Rotter and Daniel Pearle for “Sick Puppy”)
Beef (Lee Sung Jin for “All the Things We’re Never Gonna Have”)
DTF St. Louis (Steven Conrad)
Death by Lightning (Mike Makowsky)

Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary (Randall Einhorn for “Ballgame”)
The Bear (Christopher Storer for “Bears”)
The Chair Company (Andrew DeYoung for “Life goes by too f**king fast, it really does”)
Hacks (Lucia Aniello for “Hacks”)
The Ms. Pat Show (Mary Lou Belli for “Give It Arrest”)
Widow’s Bay (Hiro Murai for “Welcome to Widow’s Bay”)

Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series

The Gilded Age (Salli Richardson-Whitfield for “My Mind Is Made Up”)
Paradise (Hanelle M. Culpepper for “Exodus”)
The Pitt (Noah Wyle for “12:00 PM”)
Pluribus (Vince Gilligan for “We Is Us”)
Slow Horses (Saul Metzstein for “Scars”)
Task (Salli Richardson-Whitfield for “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a river”)

Outstanding Directing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie

Beef (Jake Schreier for “It Will Stay This Way and You Will Obey”)
Beef (Lee Sung Jin for “Oh, the Comfort, the Inexpressible Comfort”)
Black Rabbit (Jason Bateman for “The Black Rabbits”)
DTF St. Louis (Steven Conrad)

For the complete list of nominees, head to the Television Academy website. The 78th Emmy Awards will take place at the Peacock Theatre, Los Angeles, on Sunday 14 September at 1am BST — so buckle up for a late night telly fans!

No one does repressed families quite like the British. And it seems Bill Nighy’s latest film, & Sons, will be no exception. Nighy’s latest sees him getting dishevelled to play a dying novelist, making one last attempt to connect with his estranged family. And they’re quite a clan, comprising a raft of young British talent: George McKay, A Quiet Place’s Noah Jupe, and a particularly beardy Johnny Flynn (soon to be seen in HBO’s Harry Potter series). That trio plays & Sons’ eponymous sons – although they’re hardly a united front, with family secrets bubbling under the surface, and Nighy’s father figure preparing to deliver a confession that could bring his family closer together or tear them all apart. Check out the trailer exclusively here:

Beyond Nighy and the starry trio of sons, the film boasts an impressive homegrown cast – also featuring Imelda Staunton and Dominic West. And it looks like we could be in for a strong turn from the ever-great Nighy as the difficult patriarch – and not just because he looks less dapper than usual. The film comes from Argentine director Pablo Trapero, with a script from Women Talking filmmaker Sarah Polley. Here’s the official synopsis: "A world-renowned but reclusive novelist, convinced he is about to die, summons his estranged sons to his home. But instead of seeking forgiveness for his countless mistakes, he instead reveals a truly unbelievable secret that brings his beloved ex-wife back into his orbit. With decades of resentment, jealousy and rage on the verge of spilling over, this splintered family is forced to face an inevitable reckoning, for better or for worse."

Just what could Nighy’s character be hiding? Could it be worse than an affair? Is there something more to Noah Jupe’s heritage that he’s letting on? See what secrets are spilled in & Sons when it arrives in UK cinemas on August 21.

It’s not too late. There’s still over a month to go until Mutiny – the latest hard-man action outing from premiere action hard-man Jason Statham, this time directed by Jean-François Richet – comes to UK cinemas in late August. Now, real Richet-heads will know that the director’s previous film was 2023’s Plane. You know, the one with the plane, starring Gerard Butler as the pilot of said plane, forced to land the plane in hostile territory, and protect the plane-folk from a militarised group. In Mutiny, Statham’s Cole Reed is framed for the murder of his billionaire boss, and boards a boat to exact his plan of revenge, taking out the boat-folk only to stumble on a bigger boat-plot. We’re all thinking it: it should be called ‘Boat’. Here’s the trailer:

This looks like more straight-up action cinema from Statham, who already in the last couple of years has given us The Beekeeper, A Working Man, and Shelter. And, lest we forget, next year brings The Beekeeper 2, and the brilliantly-titled Jason Statham Stole My Bike in which he’ll play – you guessed it – Jason Statham. Mutiny sees him co-star with fellow Brit actors Annabelle Wallis, Adrian Lester, and Jason Wong; Statham also produces the film.

Mutiny is set to take over cinemas – by force, if necessary – on August 21, and will arrive beyond that on Sky Cinema in the UK. Here’s hoping they’ve decided to call it ‘Boat’ by that point. And why not go deeper into the Richet-verse and give us a Plane and Mutiny crossover? It’s what cinema was made for.

The Evil Dead series is a tonal spectrum. The whole saga is oozing in entrails, but such ghoulish excesses are either deployed for splatstick laughs (Evil Dead II, Army Of Darkness) or genuine terror (Sam Raimi’s original The Evil Dead, Fede Alvarez’s 2013 Evil Dead). The last outing of the cackling Deadite demons — Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise — bridged the gap, combining raw gore and nasty shocks with a sense of Machiavellian mischief. Follow-up Evil Dead Burn, from incoming director Sébastian Vaniček, cranks the dial even darker, with nerve-rattling results.

Impressively, Vaniček — with co-writer Florent Bernard — manages to shake up the formula a little. How the Kandarian nasties get involved is different to any other film in the series. And for the first time, the Deadites have a purpose beyond simply swallowing souls — they’re on the backfoot, and they’re pissed. That makes them even deadlier for Alice (a hard-as-nails Souheila Yacoub), trying to tough out an emotional afternoon with the in-laws, hiding from them that their recently deceased son Will — her husband — was an angry, violent man; a dramatically rich dynamic for the demons to mine once they start infecting the family one by one.

Even for hardened Evil Dead fans, Burn is a gruelling ride.

Vaniček revels in the possibilities provided by an Evil Dead movie. A deeply stylish director, he orchestrates chaotic extended takes and gravity-defying tracking shots with thrilling precision. And he gets seriously gory, too — smashing heads, slamming fingers in doors, and melting charred flesh like pulled pork. There is a fire, an anger here that permeates the film, evident both in the human characters — Will’s propensity for violence is evidently an inherited family trait, simmering in dad Edgar (Erroll Shand), and latent deep within son Joseph (Wednesday’s Hunter Doohan) — and the supernatural forces.

But even for hardened Evil Dead fans, it’s a gruelling ride. The series exists on a tonal knife-edge between gleeful nastiness and the just plain unpleasant — and Burn occasionally strays on the wrong side of it. While the film has a genuine sense of humour, it’s also an intentionally dark and dour exploration of male aggression, set in the depths of winter, amid the ashes of grief. Combine that with this level of bloodshed, and it’s a lot to stomach. Oddly, it’s a little slack on the pacing side too. For all Vaniček clearly understands Evil Dead’s ferocious kineticism, he favours a series of slow build-ups (and gut-churning pay-offs) rather than letting the mayhem rocket along.

Still, this is a bold and brutal entry that refuses to water down its themes or its gnarliness, with smart twists on series lore. Maybe a little more grooviness next time, though.

So. Here we are again, then. Back in the ’90s, Disney made a couple of live-action remakes of their animated classics, to modest success, but it wasn’t until 2010, when Tim Burton’s colourful live-action re-imagining of Alice In Wonderland earned a cool billion at the box office, that the Mouse House’s remake floodgates opened. Since then, we’ve had over 20 films adapting old, animated material into shiny live-action form — almost one a year. But few have felt so recent, or seemed so pointless, as Moana.

2016’s Moana, animated edition, is a high point in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ recent history: a fun, funny, poignant coming-of-age yarn with fantastic music and a winning Polynesian spin on the Disney Princess template. If you liked that film, so the thinking presumably goes, you’ll love this redo, a mere ten years later. Because it is, to all intents and purposes, exactly the same. It is Disney’s answer to Gus Van Sant’s Psycho: a shot-for-shot remake, an exercise purely in imitation.

Yet for all the familiarity, something feels off. It’s flat. To call it live action feels like a misnomer: a good two-thirds or so of this new film is animated, too. The live-action bits are simply the actors, comped in; even then, sometimes the actors are animated too, with clear use of digital doubles during some ocean sequences. (“This is a sacred place,” says one character at one point, of what is very plainly a green-screen studio.)

There’s no attempt to actually adapt to the new medium here.

So crisp and sharp and coherent in the original, the animation here seems awkward and jarring, with goofy chicken Heihei and the blowdart-firing Kakamora keeping their cartoon aesthetic next to flesh-and-blood humans. The remake of Mulan, for all its faults, at least tried to ground its story in live action, excising elements that better suited the animated medium. There’s no attempt to actually adapt to the new medium here.

Catherine Laga'aia, replacing Auliʻi Cravalho as the new Moana, is a bright and breezy presence and has a Broadway-standard voice. Dwayne Johnson, reprising his role as the shapeshifting demigod Maui, sometimes feels a little like an AI interpretation of the character, uncanny in his nipple-less bodysuit and wig, but undeniably charismatic. And there are flashes where you forget the strangeness of the endeavour. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs, in particular, are unassailably brilliant, deserved earworms, with ancestor-tribute ‘We Know The Way’ proving particularly moving, especially when performed by a huge ensemble of Pacific Islander actors.

But it is all just very confusing. Where the original film felt vibrant and original, there seems to be no authorial voice detectable here. (It is directed by Hamilton’s Thomas Kail, in his feature debut.) Even kids will feel shortchanged. Why would you want to pay money to watch a slightly worse version of the film you could watch on Disney+?

After M3GAN 2.0, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster’s burgeoning horror franchise got something of a downgrade. The first M3GAN was a monster hit, pulling in $180 million at the global box office with its tale of a sinister robot doll going awry. But then last year’s M3GAN 2.0 – which went much bigger, spinning the series into a summer blockbuster with more of an action bent – got the blue screen of death, making less than $40 million in total, despite great reviews. In the wake of that, things weren’t looking good for SOULM8TE – a M3GAN-verse spin-off with more of a grown-up angle, delving into the ‘robot girlfriend’ subgenre.

Due to hit cinemas at the start of 2026, SOULM8TE quietly disappeared from the release schedule, and has been little heard-of since. Until now. The trailer has finally arrived, touting a digital release for the movie – watch the teaser here:

Directed by Kate Dolan, from a script she co-wrote with Rafael Jordan, SOULM8TE stars Evil Dead Rise’s Lily Sullivan as Sara – an android, purchased by David Rysdahl’s widower David for… companionship, shall we say. But when he starts meddling with Sara’s coding, it soon becomes clear that’s a big mistake, bringing danger to him and those around him (including a new human love interest, played by The Boys’ Claudia Doumit). If it sounds like a mix of Companion and Obsession, well the trailer certainly leans that way too. The film is produced by James Wan and Jason Blum, under their Blumhouse / Atomic Monster partnership.

Notably, the trailer confirms the film is being distributed as a digital release by Universal – and it will be available in a few weeks from now, on 1 August. Stay tuned for more information on whether that’s an international release, or whether it’ll land in the US before arriving elsewhere. Either way, SOULM8TE is finally being let out of the box. Could it prove there’s life in the M3GAN series yet? Answers are currently loading…

Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Assassin's Creed has drifted a long way from its action-adventure roots over the last decade, expanding its horizons from deliberately paced assassin plots to sprawling open-world RPGs like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Assassin's Creed Shadows. And as much fun as it is to spend upwards of 80 hours pillaging villages in Anglo-Saxon England (still talking about the games), it's easy to long for simpler, stealth-driven times. Enter this remake of 2013’s Black Flag — for many, a swashbuckling franchise favourite — casting its sails once again with an all-new lick of paint, guaranteed to satisfy those longing for the Assassin's Creed games of yesteryear.

Built from the ground up, Resynced revisits the pirate adventures of Edward Kenway, one of the series' most likeable protagonists, as he makes a name for himself across the Caribbean. _Black Flag'_s open world was always a sight to behold, with its vast open seas and bustling ports, but in this new upgrade it feels so much more alive than before. Newly added dynamic weather and water effects, an expanded underwater world (explore those shipwrecks!) and beautiful islands to traverse make every voyage feel worthwhile. Ubisoft has expanded the world perfectly, making it feel more than up to snuff with the modern console generation. Countless attempts at pursuing the main story led  us instead to sailing into uncharted waters, making land to explore every nook and cranny for loot, or sometimes simply climbing to the highest point and taking in the beauty of the world around us (made all the better by a very appreciated Photo Mode.)

What a joy it is when your crew bursts into sea shanties after taking down a gargantuan Spanish galleon, while your own ship feels like it's being held together with duct tape as you limp back to port.

_Assassin's Creed'_s old-school stealth remains intact, and it's just as enjoyable to hide in bushes and haystacks, methodically taking out an entire hideout, as it ever was. Better still, many of the late-game tools are introduced much earlier, so having the option to hoist an enemy up a tree or yank them off the edge of a building with your rope provides an abundance of options early on in this sneaky playground. The same can be said of the naval battles, which, unsurprisingly, is where the game shines brightest. With far more control over your ship The Jackdaw’s expanded arsenal, firing broadsides across choppy waters offers incredibly tense gameplay, and thoughtful tactics are needed to succeed when you inevitably find yourself out of your depth. (Note: try not to pick on any ships bigger than yours early on.) But what a joy it is when your crew bursts into sea shanties after taking down a gargantuan Spanish galleon, while your own ship feels like it's being held together with duct tape as you limp back to port.

The real overhaul comes in Resynced's swordplay. Once a simple counter-based system, combat now actively encourages you to trade blows with enemies before timing parries to their attacks. It isn't particularly deep, but it very quickly makes you feel like one of the finest swordsmen on the seas, pulling off flashy (and hyper-violent) finishing moves. Most importantly, though, the ability to send enemies flying into the ocean with a swift boot is still alive (and kicking), and trust us, it never gets old.

This revamped version also addresses the pacing issues present in the 2013 original. All of the modern-day sections have been gutted (the whole future-self exploring ancestors’ memories via the mystical Animus device having never been the series’ strong suit), and the game feels far more immersive for it. Not only do you feel fully integrated into pirate life, but it also prevents the plot from losing momentum. Missions no longer auto-fail either, meaning there's no tailing a shifty-looking pirate for ten minutes only to face a ‘game over’ because you mistimed a jump and landed squarely on their head (a far more common occurrence than you’d think).

Despite some much-needed quality-of-life improvements, you'll still occasionally be reminded that Black Flag is a game from 2013. A few too many missions boil down to glorified fetch quests, and once you've jumped aboard one enemy ship, you've more or less jumped aboard them all, making the gameplay loop a touch repetitive. That said, these are only minor blunders when a pirate's life is this rich.

An absolute treasure for anyone itching for a big, expansive pirate adventure. Over 13 years on, Assassin's Creed Black Flag remains the definitive pirate experience (no shade to Sid Meier's Pirates! or Sea of Thieves). Ubisoft has dusted off a classic, trimmed away what didn't work and expanded it to truly soar across the seas. Oh, and did we mention you can now have a pet aboard ship? There really has never been a better time to sink your hooks into one of the series' very best.

When a high profile filmmaker manages to make a new movie in secret, especially in this day and age, you've got to respect it. But when a high profile filmmaker manages to make a new Ali G movie in secret, well, you've really gotta give it some serious respek. And that's exactly what Sacha Baron Cohen, the man responsible for West Staines' finest shell-suit sporting hip-hop interviewer, has done. Yes, per Deadline's reporting, Cohen has just wrapped filming on a surprise follow-up to 2002's Ali G InDaHouse. Booyakasha!

In recent weeks, there have been rumblings and rumours doing the rounds that Cohen would be donning the goatee and wrap-around specs soon, bringing back his iconic rude-boy sketch show creation after over two decades away. At the same time though, three-time Oscar nominee Cohen had seemed to shoot down those whispers while out on the press tour for Netflix comedy Ladies First, throwing fans off the scent. But after the surprise release — and critical as well as commercial success — of the brilliant Borat Subsequent Moviefilm in 2020, a movie released a solid fourteen years after Cohen's Kazakh reporter had his first big screen adventure, we should've known better than to believe one of the 21st century's great comic provocateurs could resist an opportunity to bring back one of his most beloved, button-pushing characters.

At this point in time, it's worth noting that Cohen's own reps have declined to comment on Ali G's return to da house, and we are currently none the wiser as to who may be in line for the Mr. G treatment this time out. Heck, we don't even know whether Kellie Bright will be tempted away from Albert Square and Eastenders to reprise her role as Me Julie, or if Martin Freeman will come back to represent the West Staines Massiv once again as Ricky C. Still, given the riotous fun that was Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the current cultural climate, and just how wild Ali G really was in its heyday, the prospect of the self-proclaimed 'voice of da yoof' returning has both our curiosity and our attention. Until we hear more on this one though, which could appear on our screens anytime realistically now that it's in the can, big up yourself and keep it real, yeah?

In case you missed the memo, Godzilla Minus One was kind of a big deal. Bringing terror to Tokyo and pitting the atomic might of cinema's ultimate scaly boi against the heroic spirit and heart of kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), Takashi Yamazaki's movie reinvigorated the legendary kaiju on the big screen with a jaw-slackening creature feature that went on to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and spawn upcoming sequel Godzilla Minus Zero. And now, with one major Hollywood movie already heading our way from Yamazaki (more on that below), Tinseltown has already come calling for another slice of the Yamazaki moviemaking pie.

Per Deadline's reporting, 20th Century Studios has landed 'an original epic' from writer-director and VFX maven Yamazaki named Nue. Set to be produced by Ridley Scott and Michael Pruss under their Scott Free banner, with Godzilla Minus One shingles Robot Communications and Toho-Tombo also aboard to co-produce, Nue will mark Takashi Yamazaki's second foray into major studio filmmaking on the other side of the Pacific. Yes, in case anyone had forgotten, we already have monster-versus-mech sci-fi spectacular Grandgear — made in collaboration with J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot — to look forward to, an English-language effort currently slated for an 18 February, 2028 release. And, of course, we'll be getting Godzilla Minus Zero in all its outsized IMAX glory this November, too.

As for Nue, everything about the movie is currently being kept under lock and kaiju-guarded key for now. We don't know who'll be in it, what it's about, or when we can expect it to hit our screens. But surely it says something about the enormity of Yamazaki's talent that with nothing more than a three-letter title, we already find ourselves excited by the prospect of another massive film from one of Japan's finest contemporary filmmakers. We'll keep you posted on what's Nue just as soon as we find out for ourselves...

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's actually a Byrd on a motorcycle — and that Byrd is the artist formerly known as The Rock, Mr. Dwayne Johnson. Having flexed his dramatic muscles (and his muscly muscles) in The Smashing Machine just last year, it looks like Johnson is about to dig deep again with a new action-drama. Per Variety's reporting, the Moana star is set to play a dementia-stricken motorcycle stuntman in Free Byrd, the latest film from Sing Sing director Greg Kwedar.

Hailing from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Artists Equity production company, and to be rewritten by Kwedar from an earlier draft by The Peanut Butter Falcon duo Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson, Free Byrd will see Johnson portray a Las Vegas motorcyclist who hides a devastating dementia diagnosis from everyone around him — including his mechanic brother — in order to pursue one final jump. Per a logline shared with Variety, the movie "examines and confronts the mind’s vast mysteries and the beauty and power of asking for help before it’s too late.”

Speaking about the project while out on the promotional tour for his next movie, Disney's live-action Moana remake, Johnson said of Free Byrd: "Free Byrd is a gift in many ways. Emblematic of life’s sacred beauty, as well as life’s harsh and callous reality. The subject matter of Free Byrd has become deeply personal to Greg Kwedar and myself as we’ve started to unpack this fateful journey together. Artists Equity have been incredible filmmaking and artistic partners, who not only share Greg’s vision for the film, but who are all connected to our story in their own unique and personal ways. When the mind of a loved one begins to slip away, life sure takes on a whole new meaning.”

Free Byrd is only the latest addition to a diverse slate of upcoming Dwayne Johnson joints, including the above-mentioned Moana as well as Benny Safdie reteam Lizard Music and the forthcoming final movie in the modern Jumanji trilogy, Open World. After the brilliance of Kwedar's Sing Sing and the dramatic depth of Johnson's work in The Smashing Machine, colour us very intrigued to see Free Byrd take flight.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “I’ll be back” as The Terminator, chances are he didn’t specifically mean, “I’ll be back in cinemas again 35 years later, in a re-release of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, one of the greatest sci-fi blockbusters ever made.” But if he did, then that’s some serious prophetic prowess. Because it’s just been confirmed that Judgment Day – for most people, the pinnacle of the Terminator saga – is indeed returning to the big screen at the end of the summer, marking the 35th anniversary of James Cameron’s super-sequel.

The film is going to be back in cinemas in UK and Ireland from September 4, presented in a variety of formats – including 4K digital, REALD 3D, and other “premium formats”. And, as James Cameron notes, the film remains timely even all these decades later. “T2 was made for theaters, and our lovingly-prepared 3D version, coming back to the big screen, is the absolute best way to see the film,” he said in a statement for the re-release. “I believe it's safe to do spoilers after 35 years, so SPOILER ALERT:  the good guys win against the AI superintelligence!  And maybe that’s a message of hope we all could use this summer.” It’s been confirmed that the re-release comes from the 2017 4K restoration of the film, and the 3D conversation that it received at that time too.

So, will you be back, too, for another hit of Judgment Day? And will you be following it up with a rewatch of Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines, or Teminator: Dark Fate? Or – here’s a hot tip – the ace but short-lived anime show Terminator Zero? Choose your own path, and remember: there is no fate but what we make for ourselves.

It's a very trying episode of the Pilot TV Podcast we have in store for you this week, folks. No, no, it's not a bad one — fear not! Rather, we're actually talking all things Apple TV's Trying Season 5 with the cosy core comedy's star and executive producer Esther Smith. [38:15 — 48:52 approx.] Plus we pick through the wreckage of the TV schedules this week to try and find shows that haven’t been consumed by the world cup, only to stumble across a Scottish crime drama in The Dark on ITV, a remake of Japanese supernatural story Human Vapor on Netflix, and the long-awaited second season of X-Men ‘97 on Disney+.

All that, and James Dyer, Steph Seelan, and Boyd Hilton even find the time to plan their perfect TV-themed getaways as well as diving into this week's telly news — including Tom Hardy's MobLand reverse ferret and Yellowstone TV universe architect Taylor Sheridan's somewhat spicy recent comments on the current landscape of film and television. Yippee!

You can watch this week's Pilot TV Podcast below;

Prefer your pods to be purely audio? Well, you can also listen to this week's episode — which, if you're counting, is #396 — 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.

Slowly but surely, Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse is coming. It’s been three years now since Across The Spider-Verse arrived, taking everything that made Into The Spider-Verse such a delight and maximising it – not only sprawling across multiple universes, but delivering the first half of a huge two-part narrative for Miles Morales. There’s a lot riding, then, on Beyond – which will not only bring the entire story home, but could secure the series a place in the list of ‘best trilogies of all time’ if it manages to stick the landing.

As Spider-Verse writer-producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller – fresh from Project Hail Mary – recently told The Empire Podcast, progress is well underway for Beyond The Spider-Verse’s 2027 release. “We are deep, deep in it,” says Miller. One of the key technical challenges this time around is trying to make an animated movie on the expanded 1.43:1 IMAX ratio. “We’re actually going today to the IMAX headquarters to see what the footage looks like at scale, and make sure that it has the resolution that it needs to look gorgeous,” Miller notes. “We're chugging away in the edit room with the team, and it's coming together really well. It's a lot of movie, and a lot to do.” Safe to say, the pressure’s on. “You got to keep doing something that hasn't been done before. That's all you got to do,” deadpans Miller. “Easy!”

On such a huge canvas, audiences will get to see every moment up-close. “Details matter,” says Lord. “The thing that's a joy about those pictures is that everyone on the crew is so good at what they do. So you just sit around, marvel at all these brilliant artists, and then we get to work with these great filmmakers, sit in a room all day, and just try to make everything incrementally better together. It's a lot of fun.”

All that, and the duo is currently getting things moving on 24 Jump Street too – the long-awaited follow-up to 2014’s 22 Jump Street. “We developed a ’23 Jump Street’, and I think this is just out of respect for that,” laughs Lord of the title. “We're calling this 24, out of respect for the dead.” The film is being directed by Rodney Rothman – one of the directors of Into The Spider-Verse – who is in the process of revising the script. “There was a script that was made years ago. And the dust has been blown off of it, and it’s being rewritten right now,” says Miller. Here’s hoping it’s clean and rad and powerful.

Listen to the full Lord and Miller interview on the Empire Podcast. Project Hail Mary is out now on Prime Video and on digital platforms.

Hello, dear readers. Or, rather, "Bello! Papaya Dua Lipa gelato big bosses!" At long last, Pierre Coffin's Minions & Monsters — surely the biggest one-eyed monster featuring Universal blockbuster releasing this July — is here, marking the staggering seventh overall outing for everybody's favourite outsized-tic-tac-looking, narna obsessed, evil-worshipping little guys. But despite being a hit with critics and landing as top banana at the box office in its opening weekend, the Minions' Classic Hollywood caper and its $159.8 million global haul isn't quite the summer success story Illumination's top brass would've been hoping for.

Per Variety's reporting, Coffin's latest entry in the Despicable Me Cinematic Universe (or DMCU, as nobody has ever called it), marks a franchise-lowest opening weekend for the series, having taken just $61 million stateside since previews started last Wednesday. Across the actual 4th July weekend itself, Minions & Monsters actually took a mere $36 million, which is $20 million less than the first Despicable Me's first frame haul and way off the pace of Minions: The Rise Of Gru and Despicable Me 4, which bowed to $123 million and $122 million respectively when they launched. It's not all doom and gloom though, as not only does Illumination's animated monster movie have that incredibly positive critical and word-of-mouth response swinging in its favour (and it really is very good, even for the Minion-agnostic), but also the Minions' adventures have traditionally tended to demonstrate real staying power at the box office — so a Hot Minion Summer is still very much on.

Minions & Monster's underperformance follows a nervy couple of weeks at the global box office following the flop of DC Studios' Supergirl, which has sadly suffered a damning 74% drop-off in ticket sales in just its second week. Sure, Toy Story 5 has done as expected and continued to ride like the wind in its third weekend, cruising past the $750 million box-office milestone with considerable ease. But still, all eyes will now be on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and Destin Daniel Cretton's Spider-Man: Brand New Day to see if the big guns have the firepower to bring the masses out of the next heatwave and into the multiplex. We have a sneaking suspicion they may do just fine....

Stop The Clocks! Dig Out Your Soul! Be Here Now! Yes, those are Definitely Maybe all titles of albums by Mancunian rockers Oasis — but they're also all things that fans of the Gallagher brothers, Liam and Noel, should do at this very moment. Why? Because the supersonic first teaser trailer for Don't Look Back In Anger, creator Steven Knight and directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace's (Meet Me In The Bathroom) access all areas, IMAX-bound Oasis Live '25 reunion tour documentary just dropped — that's why! And you can check it out below;

C'mon you know that looks like a must-see for any self-respecting music lover already, right? Sure, this first teaser for Don't Look Back In Anger barely stretches to forty seconds, but it's not hard to see The Masterplan at work here for a doc that's set to give fans the inside track on a historic musical event that's familiar to millions. You've got Noel Gallagher saying he can't see himself on stage with his brother after their band's 16-year-long hiatus. You've got Liam Gallagher saying that the way it finished for Oasis — fisticuffs backstage at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris, 2009 — was "unacceptable". And there's snippets of the impossible comeback happening before our very eyes, with the newly reunited brothers walking to the stage as the crowds go wild, Noel promising "it's gonna be chaos" as he and Liam rekindle their Heathen Chemistry. It looks, in a word, biblical.

Of the doc, Steven Knight says: “The Oasis world tour united generations, cultures and countries and spoke to a broken world about reconciliation. ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ is not only your ticket to the show – it’s a backstage pass and a seat at the table when Liam and Noel sit down together for the first time in 15 years and tell it how it is and how it was.”

Set to feature unprecedented on stage and backstage footage from the Gallagher brothers' Live '25 tour as well as the duo's first on-camera interviews together in over 25 years, Knight and co are Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants to bring Oasis fans closer to the Gallaghers than we've ever been before. We look forward to stepping out of the sunshiiiiiiiine and into the multiplex to see Don't Look Back In Anger when it hits cinemas and IMAX in September. And if that doesn't give us all a bit of (What's The Story?) Morning Glory then honestly, we just don't know what will.

Bello! It is July. The month of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Madonna's Confessions II, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final is upon us. But wait? What’s that coming over the hill? Is it a monster? Is it a monster? Well, actually, it’s more than a monster — It’s Minions & Monsters. Yes, those adorable yellow henchmen (who may or may not have allied themselves to Hitler once upon a time — Google it!) are back this month in an Old Hollywood adventure filled with Citizen Kane homages, toilet humour, pure Minionese sequences, and *checks notes* a baby Cthulhu. Thank the maker!

With the Minions back on our screens, this time with a whole buttload of many-eyed and monstrous friends, we here at Empire HQ have gone a little bit monster mad. And the result? Well, we’ve only gone and pulled out three more animated monster movies for you, your friends, and the whole family to stream as soon as you get back from the multiplex, little yellow friend themed cup and popcorn bucket in hand.

So kick back, relax, and join us as Empire’s own Kevin, Stuart, and Bob — namely Deputy Online Editor Ben Travis, Social Media Editor Harry Stainer, and Online Writer Jordan King — present your post-Minions & Monsters must-sees. Enjoy…

Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Directors: Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich | Runtime: 1hr 33m | Streaming on: Disney+

Starring: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly

No doubt about it: Monsters, Inc. is still pure genius. Pixar’s buddy-movie creature-feature sees big fuzzy scare-king Sully (John Goodman) and little green sarcastic orb Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) forced to chase a tiny human toddler set loose in the world of Monstropolis – with all the monsters deathly terrified of humans, naturally. Packed with toothy, tentacley life forms, it’s a beautifully-designed film that revels in the history of monster cinema – keep an eye out for Harryhausen’s restaurant. And when you’re done, why not double up and treat yourself to underrated, similarly easter egg-stuffed sequel Monsters University, a fun prequel that follows a young Mike and Sully at — you guessed it — Monster University!  BT

Read Empire’s review of Monsters, Inc..

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005)

Directors: Steve Box, Nick Park | Runtime: 1hr 25m | Streaming on: Prime Video

Starring: Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham-Carter, Peter Kay

The only way to top a murderous chicken ahem penguin is to go all in on an old-school monster movie. And that’s exactly what Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit does. The duo’s first feature-length adventure embraces full-fledged mayhem as their town comes under threat from a vegetable-stealing, carrot-obsessed creature. Packed with delightfully absurd British Aardman humour — from wrestling nuns to Ralph Fiennes’ gloriously ridiculous Lord Victor Quartermaine and his over-the-top toupee — the film lands every joke like a 24-carrot bullet to the funny bone. Aardman’s unmistakable love of classic monster movies is also on full display, delivering spooky imagery and a plot that is way less predictable than you'd think, all this amounts to a yarn that both adults and children can happily sink their teeth into. Cracking stuff! HS

Read Empire’s review of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit.

The Sea Beast (2022)

Director: Chris Williams | Runtime: 1hr 59m | Streaming on: Netflix

Starring: Karl Urban, Zaris Angel-Hator, Jared Harris, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dan Stevens

Having first co-helmed Disney’s Big Hero Six and Bolt, Chris Williams’ criminally underseen solo directorial debut was a total breath of fresh air when it hit Netflix in 2022. A swashbuckling seafaring animated adventure with shades of Moana and How To Train Your Dragon woven into its surprisingly complex narrative, Williams’ film is as impressive for what it says about our world as for the brilliantly animated way it says it. Karl Urban is a hoot as legendary monster hunter Jacob Holland (think Guybrush Threepwood with muscles), who is joined by feisty, wide-eyed stowaway Maisie (Zaris Angel-Hator) on a monster hunt that soon has them questioning who the real monsters in their story truly are. Come for the adorable wonder of creature design that is Red and a monster movie all the family can enjoy; stay for a thoughtful, nuanced reckoning with the legacy of colonialism. Yippee! JK

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Finished watching these monster mashes? Why not check out The 59 Best Movies Streaming On Netflix UK? Or our guide to what to watch on Disney+? Or, for more family friendly fare, our rundown of the 50 best kids' movies has got you covered. Dive right in!

The latest episode of the Empire Podcast sees the team — Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, Alex Godfrey, and James Dyer — go simply ga-ga for Olivia Wilde's new film, The Invite. In fact, Wilde is this week's guest, along with her co-star, Edward Norton, who have a lovely natter with Mr. Godfrey. Either side of that, the team talk about movies in which people bounce back after being made redundant, discuss the week's movie news, including the new trailer for Robert Eggers' Werwulf and Supergirl's somewhat disappointing box office debut, and review not just The Invite, but also Nirvanna: The Band The Show The Movie, Minions & Monsters, and Enola Holmes 3. Oh, and there's quite a bit of humming and whistling, but it'll make sense. Probably. 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 #723) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Interviews, in which we bring you even more chat with the stars and filmmakers behind each week's biggest movies. The most recent edition finds Chris Hewitt talking music, Irish accents, life post-Game Of Thrones, and more with 500 Miles star Maisie Williams, before diving deep into Disclosure Day spoilers with that film's writer, the great David Koepp, in an excerpt from our latest spoiler special pod (out now). And for even more podcasting goodness, our newly launched Empire+ subscription awaits... go check it out!

As the blood-soaked final showdown of The Furious unfolds, you will start to notice that across its near two-hour runtime there are barely five minutes of this film where someone isn’t being punched, kicked, or having their face slammed through a table. It’s clearly where action choreographer-turned-director Kenji Tanigaki is most comfortable, and considering the kidnapped-daughter plot here boils down to a repackaged version of_Taken_, it’s a good thing. Thankfully, Tanigaki trusts his instincts, getting his characters to shut up and play the hits, throws, and bone-breaking blows, resulting in a relentlessly fun slice of Hong Kong martial-arts mayhem.

There’s real creativity in how the action escalates. It begins with mute father Wang Wei (Xie Miao) attempting to rescue his kidnapped daughter in a surprisingly blood-light slice of Jackie Chan-inspired (notably First Strike) kung fu, which sees the performers creatively throwing themselves in, around, and through a truck. From there, the film continually ups the ante, eventually arriving at a wall-painting police-station brawl that mixes wushu, judo and more to unleash absolute carnage that wouldn’t feel out of place in the Raid films. It’s made more immersive by sound design that ensures you feel every damn crunch, heightened further by Tanigaki’s camera, which weaves through every fight with the kind of energy that feels like it’s just downed a Red Bull. Throw in the electronic score, and this is pretty jaw-dropping (or snapping) stuff.

The Furious clearly isn’t afraid to go over the top. In true Hong Kong tradition, its emotions are running just as high as the number of bodies hitting the floor.

Elsewhere, the action embraces complete absurdity. Want to see a child riding down a hallway on the back of a motorbike while whacking henchmen? This is the movie for you. It’s all played with a not-so-subtle wink —the kind of bananas action to which you sense somehow, somewhere John Woo is raising a glass.

The Furious clearly isn’t afraid to go over the top. In true Hong Kong tradition, its emotions are running just as high as the number of bodies hitting the floor. The film’s attempts at emotional moments with journalist Navin (Joe Taslim), who joins Wang Wei on the mission, don’t always land quite as well as the punches, but its commitment to emulating Hong Kong classics is admirable. The same can be said for its child-centred drama, which slows the plot slightly as it enters its final act. Thankfully, the film quickly remembers what everyone is really here for.

The showstopper comes in the form of a mid-movie fight, featuring Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Brian Le. The martial artist swaps butt plugs for a sledgehammer, an absolutely dominating screen presence as he towers over Xie and Taslim. The trio blast their way through a warehouse, trading one inventive blow after another as the hammer swings between them, changes hands, and even smashes through human ice sculptures (with actual humans inside — as disgusting as that sounds!) to create an even bloodier mess. For a brief moment, you might find yourself thinking that all this insanity is exactly what cinema was made for.

The Furious wears all its influences proudly on its sleeve, but comparisons aside, Kenji Tanigaki has still created a bone-crunching beast that feels distinctly his own. More of this mayhem, please.

Star Trek fans, rejoice! It’s time to slingshot around the sun once again. One of the franchise's most beloved big-screen adventures is heading back to UK cinemas this September, with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home returning to the big screen to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Better still, the rerelease comes with a gorgeous brand-new poster from artist Matt Ferguson. Take a look at the new artwork for the whale-saving classic:

This latest piece joins Ferguson's celebrated series of posters for the earlier original-cast films. And it's fitting that The Voyage Home gets the anniversary treatment too. Directed by Leonard Nimoy, the fourth Trek film remains one of the series' most crowd-pleasing outings, swapping galaxy-spanning battles for a time-travelling mission to 1986 San Francisco, where Admiral Kirk and company discover that navigating late-20th-century Earth can be just as alien as exploring deep space. Between punk rockers, pizza, exact-change buses and a pair of humpback whales, it's easy to see why the fish out of water film remains one of the franchise's most beloved entries.

The anniversary arrives during a landmark year for the franchise. Not only does The Voyage Home turn 40, but 2026 also marks 60 years since the creation of Star Trek, with celebrations taking place throughout the year before culminating in Star Trek Day on 8 September.

Whether you're revisiting one of the original crew's finest adventures or introducing someone to the film for the very first time, this is one voyage well worth taking. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home returns to UK cinemas from 4 September, with tickets on sale now. Time to brush up on your whale song.

One of the absolute highlights of Star Wars in the Disney+ era has been Star Wars: Visions. Over the course of its three seasons, spanning shorts from animation studios across the globe, the animated anthology series has consistently put out banger after banger — from Volume 1's Ronin inspired 'The Duel', to Volume 2's Aardman racing caper 'I Am Your Mother', to last year's Volume 3 and the phenomenal stormtrooper odyssey 'Black'. Among fans though, Production I.G. and Kenji Kamiyama's 'The Ninth Jedi', which started in Visions' first season and continued in Volume 3, has been a real favourite. So much so that its story — of Kara, a young Force-sensitive girl searching for her missing father, the last known sabersmith in the galaxy, while evading Jedi Hunters — has now expanded to Star Wars: Visions Presents — The Ninth Jedi, the franchise's first full anime series. Check out the visually dazzling trailer below;

And here's the English dub, if you'd rather;

Stunning hybridised 2D/3D animation? Check! Adorable droids? Check! Clashing sabers left, right, and centre? Check! A mysterious new masked villain, Interstellar style black holes, and our heroine getting caught in a tug of war between the pull of the light and the temptation of the dark? That'll be a triple check, folks! Yeah, we're thinkin' Visions is back — and if this first trailer for The Ninth Jedi is anything to go by, then perhaps a non-Jedi/Sith/Mando centric Star Wars story is exactly what the ever-so-slightly-wobbling franchise has been crying out for. And the concept of a new kind of lightsaber that directly reflects its user' heart is very compelling, especially as new 'baddie' Nawaam's saber burns blue while our fave Kara is seen here wielding what appears to be a Sith-red blade. Very interesting...

This time lead-directed by Shunsuke Tada (Kamiyama remains a supervising director), The Ninth Jedi's latest chapter — all eight episodes of it — is light speed-skipping to Disney+ on 5 August, meaning we really don't have long to wait until we find out what's next for Lah Kara. Now this is where the fun begins!

Good news for UK-based Studio Ghibli fans – the legendary Japanese anime studio has found a new home on these shores. In recent years, Ghibli films (including recent releases Earwig And The Witch, and The Boy And The Heron) have been distributed in the UK by Elysian Film Group. But after that banner went into liquidation earlier this summer, it’s been unknown who will take over those rights. Now we have an answer: GKIDS, a major player in the animation space, is now overseeing the Ghibli library in the UK and Ireland – and there are already plans to bring some beloved favourites back to big screens. And we mean big.

Yes, more Studio Ghibli IMAX releases are coming – and the first one on the way is a super-sized re-release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service. On the cosier end of Ghibli, it’s a sweet coming-of-age story, as a young girl leaves her home in order to fulfil her witchy duties – and begins a flying courier service on her broomstick, with sarcastic cat Jiji by her side. Kiki’s Delivery Service will hit UK IMAX screens on August 21.

GKIDS has also confirmed IMAX releases for Arrietty – Ghibli’s take on The Borrowers – as well as a cult favourite of major Ghibli-heads, Whisper Of The Heart. A rare fantasy-lite Ghibli movie, Whisper Of The Heart depicts the friendship between bookworm teen Shizuku and local boy Seiji across the course of a summer; it was the only film directed by Yoshifumi Kondō before his untimely death, and is heralded as one of the studio’s best (and most under-seen) works. Dates for Arrietty and Whisper Of The Heart have not yet been confirmed, so stay tuned for more info in the near future.

Hopefully, there’ll be many more Ghibli re-releases in the months and years to come. After all, who doesn’t want to see Pom Poko’s gigantic tanuki testicles on the biggest cinema screens in the country?

You shuddered at Slender Man. You cowered from The Empty Man. You recoiled at the sight of Backrooms' Cap'n Clark. And now, brace yourself, for horror's next urban legend/creepypasta/meme-based lanky nightmare is heading for a cinema near you. Yes, per Deadline's reporting, creature designer Trevor Henderson's creepy cryptid Siren Head is getting the big-screen treatment. And what's more, Weapons director Zach Cregger and Whalefall's Brian Duffield are joining forces to turn the spook some viral sensation into a cinematic chiller.

The cause of a heated five-way bidding war, Siren Head — which Duffield has co-written with Cregger and is set to direct himself — looks set to capitalise on a recent trend of wildly successful horror movies that lean into internet culture and urban legends with contemporary edge (see also: Talk To Me, Obsession, and movies like the above-mentioned Empty Man and Backrooms). Brought to wider internet prominence by Iron Lung filmmaker and YouTuber Markiplier, Siren Head is most commonly depicted as an incredibly tall, humanoid monster with, well, a siren head. Internet legend frames it as a predator who stalks rural North America, blending effortlessly into its surroundings as it stalks its unsuspecting prey, leading to many unexplained disappearances and tales of terror. It's a pretty cool hook and concept that would seem to well suit both Barbarian helmsman Cregger and No One Will Save You man Duffield's milieus — and one which has already yielded millions of views from fan-made content and internet 'explainers'.

We don't yet know when Siren Head will sound the alarm and hit cinemas, who will star in the movie, or even what its angle on the iconic meme will be. But with Cregger and Duffield aboard, there's already plenty to get excited about. And we imagine by the time Cregger's Resident Evil and Duffield's whale-swallowed-man movie Whalefall reach out screens later this year, that excitement will only increase. In the meantime, we're off to trawl Reddit for more on these very troubling sounding Siren Head sightings over the years. Seriously, you'd have thought someone would be looking into all of this by now...

“If you asked me where we were happiest, I’d say here, in Dingle. I suppose I thought it would always be like that,” Finn (Roman Griffin Davis) narrates at the beginning of Morgan Matthews’ tender road-trip tear-jerker 500 Miles (which, despite the title, is not a Proclaimers musical á la Sunshine On Leith). It’s easy to see what Finn’s getting at: when we meet them in a flashback, it’s a picture-perfect day for Finn and his family, sharing special moments on the beach with his grandparents, playing boules and building sandcastles.

Those moments are just a memory. In the present day, Finn and Charlie (Dexter Sol Ansell) no longer have a relationship with their grandfather (Bill Nighy, who tells us everything we need to know with his eyes). Their grandmother has passed away, and their parents are constantly bickering. Sneaking out of their home, the brothers decide to embark on an ill-advised road trip, from Sheffield to the west coast of Ireland, to track down their grandfather and reunite the family. Their journey won’t be an easy one, as they’re too young to travel without adult supervision, and Matthews’ clever framing reminds us how vast the countryside is, hills and mountains dwarfing their small frames. Their journey gets a surprise assist from Kait (a lovely Maisie Williams), who they meet on a train while she is busking.

There’s a wonderfully authentic relationship between Finn and Charlie at the heart of 500 Miles.

There’s a wonderfully authentic relationship between Finn and Charlie at the heart of 500 Miles. As Finn, Davis is terrific, continuing to impress after his breakthrough performance in Jojo Rabbit. Ansell, best known for his role in A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, is delightful as Charlie, managing to toe a tricky line of feeling both larger-than-life and authentically grounded. It’s always a risk to anchor your film on child performances, but Finn and Charlie’s brotherly love is likely to remind you of your relationship with your own siblings.

The film hinges on a reveal that, once unveiled, shifts everything into a new perspective. Whether it works for you will likely define how you feel about the movie: if you’re averse to heavy doses of sentimentality, then you’ll probably wind up annoyed. And this film is drenched in sentimentality. But while 500 Miles can feel cloying and heavy-handed — a relentless, overbearing score doesn’t help — it’s hard not to be moved by it, thanks to the wonderful work of its two leads.

Streaming on: Paramount+

Episodes viewed: 10 of 10

The life of a spy is fraught with constant danger. Or at least, that’s what the likes of James Bond want you to think. The truth is somewhat more grounded. There’s danger, yes, but paperwork and endless meetings also abound. Season 1 of The Agency skewed a little too close to that tedium, resulting in a slow-burn series that took quite some time to pick up.

After Brandon Colby — codename ‘Martian’ (Michael Fassbender) — was blackmailed in the Season 1 finale, Season 2 picks up with stronger momentum, running with that double-agent twist at double speed. This newfound tension immediately ups the ante and, as such, our interest, too. In addition to Martian’s internal struggle, which soon brings him into (secret) conflict with various colleagues, three more storylines vie for our attention: juggling Samia's (Jodie Turner-Smith) imprisonment, Owen’s (John Magaro) undercover operation and Danny’s (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) intelligence-gathering work in Iran.

Wright, Fassbender and Katherine Waterston each stand out in an already starry ensemble.

A lesser show might struggle under the weight of all this, but like Le Bureau Des Légendes), the French series that The Agency is based on, Season 2 is adept at multitasking. Jumping between each storyline in rapid bursts helps pick up the pace while overcoming the disconnect that hampered the two main arcs in Season 1. For viewers who stuck through that, it goes without saying that the show’s high-profile cast remain just as impressive as the production values at hand. Some actors are inevitably under-used, especially Turner-Smith, but Wright, Fassbender and Katherine Waterston each stand out in an already starry ensemble.

The Agency remains a little sluggish at times, especially in comparison to rival spy shows available to watch elsewhere. However, Season 2 drops all at once this time around, better encouraging viewers to stick around and see what comes next. And stick around you should, because there’s real potential here for this to be the rare remake that might one day match the original.

“She’s a lesbian, she’s in space, and she’s also a princess (oh, and she’s very sad!),” trills a musical interlude over this very Australian for-adults-only animated adventure’s title card. And if that sounds endearing as opposed to toe-curling, this candy-coloured inter-gay-lactic voyage, clearly inspired by Rick And Morty and streaming service Adult Swim, might be for you.

Princess Saira (voiced by The Pitt’s Shabana Azeez) is the painfully insecure daughter of the two queens of queer planet Clitopolis (“famously hard to find!”). Overshadowed by her uncaring but universally adored mums, incapable of summoning her “labrys” (her destined all-powerful lesbian weapon), and dumped by her super-hot bounty-hunter girlfriend Kiki The Destroyer (Bernie Van Tiel), things are looking pretty bleak. Early on, first-time filmmakers and IRL couple Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs launch into a hilarious homage to The Twilight Saga: New Moon’s break-up montage, with Saira staring glumly out of a window to a funereal soundtrack and screaming into a pillow à la Bella Swan having been ditched by Edward Cullen.

It’s all rather hit-and-miss, and your mileage may also vary with some of the cutesy musical sequences.

But the film’s funniest moments mostly, and unfortunately, come from the Straight White Maliens, a trio of incel extraterrestrials who kidnap Kiki and lure Saira into handing over her labrys to power their Hot Chick Magnet, obviously. Voiced by the comedy trio Aunty Donna, they’re a brilliant marriage of performance and character design, resembling strips of blinding-white gum with permanently petulant blue eyebrows. There’s a refreshing looseness to their scenes as they ineptly role-play approaching women in bars (“I wore a nice shirt to this bar”, “It’s making me horny”), and over-explain the rules of a RPG featuring a character named Big Titty Sorcerer.

It’s a bit of a shame the same can’t be said of all the stabs at humour, which often feel dated and overly safe, relying too heavily on stereotypes or tired gags about monstrous penises. As Saira journeys across space in search of both her labrys and Kiki, she encounters various quirky characters, from a sentient problematic spaceship (a fun turn by Richard Roxburgh) who acts like an Aussie lorry driver, to drag royalty Blade (Kween Kong) and upbeat singer-songwriter Willow (Gemma Chua-Tran). It’s all rather hit-and-miss, and your mileage may also vary with some of the cutesy musical sequences.

And yet despite its flaws, it’s hard not to be charmed by this scrappy, deeply silly sex-positive sci-fi fantasy. Saira’s true mission, to overcome her literally monstrous self-doubt and love herself without a super-hot girlfriend, feels like a timeless one, and will undoubtedly resonate with LGBTQ+ audiences.

Streaming on: Apple TV

Episodes viewed: 10 of 10

Mystery-box shows are built on a risky foundation, as the showrunners have to try to stay one step ahead of audience conjecture. Too often, their eventual answers are disappointing or even rob the entire story of what made it compelling. But three seasons in, Apple TV's Silo is managing the near-impossible feat of becoming more intriguing the more it reveals.

If you’re not drawn in by now, nothing here is likely to change that. The pace remains glacial, the science-fiction dense, and the dialogue often takes the form of cryptic half-truths. Characters rarely say exactly what they mean, and understanding true motivations requires the attention usually reserved for deciphering diplomatic communiqués. But for those open to its charms, this penultimate season is the best yet.

It’s a testament to Ferguson’s performance that she remains unmistakably our intrepid, resourceful and hyper-vigilant hero, even though she doesn't recognise herself in the mirror...

The timeline-jump teased at the end of Season 2 is not a one-off fake-out but a permanent expansion. So while Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) attempts to navigate the new status quo in the aftermath of the rebellion, the show also journeys back hundreds of years to track a journalist (Jessica Henwick) and an ambitious congressman (Ashley Zukerman) as they uncover the web of hubris and conspiracy that will ultimately result in humanity disappearing underground. This additional timeline gives Silo something it has occasionally lacked: room to breathe. After two seasons of being hemmed in by Brutalist concrete walls and steampunk contraptions, there’s something rejuvenating about the sunlight. And, for that matter, a darkly hilarious Peter Gabriel cameo.

Not that Silo 18 has become any less fascinating. If anything, the contrast only emphasises how twisted and oppressive the place is — now more than ever. Three months post the events of the last season, Juliette has woken up as mayor, reeling from having no recollection of how she got there and aware that virtually everyone around her appears to be lying. It’s a testament to Ferguson’s performance that she remains unmistakably our intrepid, resourceful and hyper-vigilant hero, even though she is unable to recognise herself in the mirror and is dressed in improbably glamorous mayoral gowns.

This season is ultimately less interested in who holds power than who actually has principles. Politicians, revolutionaries and law enforcement all discover the limits of their authority, and hovering over everything is the mysterious Algorithm, whose growing role is best left unspoiled. As events past and present cruelly unfold, Silo retains its ability to make its world and stakes feel ever more substantial; what began as a show that was essentially a murder-mystery wrapped in dystopian world-building has carefully evolved into something far more ambitious.

Ready to go back to the Backrooms? Well, A24 certainly is. As Kane Parsons' creepypasta inspired liminal space chiller Backrooms soars past the $330 million mark at the global box office, further cementing the horror movie's status as A24's highest grossing movie yet, the studio has dug around its own backrooms and pulled out 15 more minutes of hazy horror goodness for fans. Yes, Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition is coming to UK and US cinemas this weekend — as the below social media announcement from A24 shows:

Neither truly an extended or director's cut of Backrooms, Parsons' Everything Must Go Edition instead comes with an extra quarter-hour long "theatrically exclusive post-credit" sequence, as advertised in cinema listings. Whether this means we'll be getting something newly created for the film, more of Renate Reinsve or Chiwetel Ejiofor's characters' journeys, or perhaps even some kind of cinema-exclusive extra episode of Parsons' original Backrooms web series remains to be seen — but the hype for whatever it may be is very, very real. And, in all honesty, probably comes not a moment too soon for A24 after a somewhat turbulent week.

For those who may have missed the headlines, A24 found itself in hot water with fans earlier this week when it was revealed that the studio has accepted a $75 million investment from Google as part of a research partnership undertaken with the ultimate aim of developing new AI filmmaking tools. For many, this seemed to represent a betrayal of A24's independent roots and artist-first model as a studio. And despite studio reps' attempts to downplay any controversy ("We’d rather have a seat at the table than on the sidelines," communications head Sophia Shin diplomatically told Wired earlier this week), the icky feeling hasn't dissipated over the last few days — especially given that the studio's most successful film hails from a staunch anti-AI filmmaker.

Still, A24 backing Parsons' Backrooms with an extended rollout and a mid-run theatrical release update may go some way to reassuring cinemagoers that human art is going nowhere anytime soon. And regardless of what the future may or may not hold, more Backrooms, more Parsons, and more bums in cinema seats is always a good thing. Well, a good thing for us... less so for the poor unfortunate souls stuck in that sickly yellow purgatorial hellscape. Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition hits cinemas on 3 July.

This summer’s most epic blockbuster is nearly here. Christopher Nolan is about to unleash The Odyssey, his star-studded adaptation of the Ancient Greek myth shot entirely on 70mm IMAX – and the new issue of Empire is here to bring you right into the heart of the action, going on set for two days with Nolan and his cast.

The issue – which comes in three collectible cover editions – doesn’t hit shelves until July 2 (or you can order a copy online here), but here’s a sneak peek inside its pages.

The Odyssey

Swords up! Empire goes on set of Christopher Nolan’s mythical epic to see how he pulled off his most ambitious movie yet – and speaks to Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and more to get the inside story on this year’s must-see summer movie.

The End Of Oak Street

What happens when dinosaurs invade suburbia? You get a true toothy competitor to Jurassic. Director David Robert Mitchell and producer JJ Abrams talk their razor-toothed sci-fi adventure.

The Dog Stars

Ridley Scott is back, now in apocalypse mode. The director and his cast – Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley – tell Empire about the soul that underpins their end-of-days thriller.

Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma

Get ready for a brand new, totally original vision from Jane Schoenbrun – a psychedelic explosion of slasher movies, lust, and buckets of blood. Scheonbrun, plus stars Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, talk a movie that changes all the rules.

Coyote Vs. Acme

It was nearly erased from existence. But finally, Coyote Vs. Acme is about to hit cinemas, outrunning the axe with pure Looney Tunes energy. Its creators and cast tell Empire about coming back from the brink – and making something worth celebrating.

Pressure

Everyone knows the story of D-Day. But do you know the story of the weather forecast that nearly stopped D-Day in its tracks? Empire speaks to Brendan Fraser, Andrew Scott, and director Anthony Maras about their gripping historical drama.

Hollywood’s Dream Coach

Want to inhabit a role even more deeply? Then go to Hollywood’s premier dream coach: Kim Gillingham. Empire speaks to Gillingham – and many of her clients – to explore the process that’s delivering killer performances.

First Word

In this month’s news section, we get up close and personal with Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil; explore how Obsession became the world’s obsession; visit the set of marauding hippo horror Hungry; sink into the floor with the case of Trainspotting The Musical; enter the kitchen with Anthony Bourdain drama Tony; get the early buzz on Kenneth Branagh and Ryan Reynolds’ buddy comedy Mayday; and much more.

Final Cut

In the home entertainment section, we delve deep into Spider-Noir with Nicolas Cage himself; unpack Send Help’s biggest spoilers with Sam Raimi and writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift; rank the greatest football movies; go role-by-role with Cary Elwes; give Memories Of Murder the Masterpiece treatment; and plenty more.

Reviews

In this issue, you’ll find reviews of  Steven Spielberg’s alien comeback Disclosure Day; Olivia Wilde’s sharp relationship drama The Invite; cult Canadian comedy Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie; ultra-gory horror sequel Evil Dead Burn; the return of Silo with Season 3; the final season of The Bear; and many more.

Order a copy of Empire’s The Odyssey issue here

You can always count on Robert Pattinson to bring something unexpected to a role. This, after all, is the guy who based his two Mickey 17 clones on Ren and Stimpy, who transformed his voice completely to dub a cantankerous magic bird in The Boy And The Heron, and brought emo grit to Bruce Wayne in The Batman. And in The Odyssey – his second collaboration with Christopher Nolan, following Tenet – he’s relishing playing the villain. He takes on the role of Antinous, an antagonistic figure back in Odysseus’ home of Ithaca; who, hoping that our far-flung hero is out of the picture for good, begins scheming to take his place, vying for the attention of Odysseus’ wife, Anne Hathaway’s Penelope.

Safe to say, Odysseus and Penelope’s son Telemachus – played by Tom Holland – isn’t best pleased. Pattinson gets it. “I mean, he’s just the worst stepfather you could possibly have,” he grins of Antinous. This is his third time starring alongside Holland, after The Lost City Of Z and The Devil All The Time – and whenever the two pair up, it’s always in a film where Pattinson is going… well, weird. “I always end up doing these slithery things with Tom and I don’t know why,” he says, noting that The Odyssey is no different. “This was just a fun part to play: ‘I just want to be your daddy. I want to be your daddy. That’s all I want!’”

For all the taunting, Holland was pleased to be reunited with his regular co-star. “Having a familiar face and someone that I could share the screen with was a real safety blanket for me,” he explains. “I’m always eager to share scenes with Rob, because he just brings the best out of everyone.” And, by the sounds of it, we’re in for another thrillingly oddball Pattinson performance. “I admire his ability to take big swings and make them feel like the perfect decision for that character,” says Holland. Daddy’s home!

Read Empire’s full The Odyssey feature – going on set for two days; speaking to Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson; spending time with Christopher Nolan in post-production; and much more – in the August 2026 issue, on sale Thursday July 2. Pre-order a copy online here – and choose one of three collectible covers. The Odyssey comes to cinemas from July 17.

I was invited to be a member of the international film jury at the fifth Mykolaichuk Open Film Festival in Chernivtsi, Ukraine. It’s a relatively young festival, but significantly it begun the same year Putin’s forces engaged in a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

I felt a strong sense of needing to be out there, to further my understanding of what was going on and lend any kind of support I could – so I accepted their jury invitation and offered to provide a masterclass in ‘Making Horror’, and to also screen my recent film Whistle in what would become its Ukrainian Premiere.

I first flew to Romania, and was driven across the border into Ukraine as the country is under martial law and no flights can enter/leave presently. The border crossing was delayed by a few hours, and I learned it was because the previous night Putin had attacked the capital city of Kyiv, heavily bombing landmark, educational and cultural buildings – including tragically, their beloved 1000-year-old Pechersk Lavra monastery (equivalent to the Notre Dame).

The festival’s motto is ‘The brave are always lucky’, more commonly phrased as ‘Fortune favours the bold’.

As well as the battles being fought on the front lines, these kind of attacks on Ukrainian culture, history and identity are designed to crush their spirit. And so the Mykolaichuk Film Festival – named after Ukraine’s own iconic actor and film-maker Ivan Mykolaichuk – is a part of the defence, using culture, art, music, poetry and film to strengthen their unity, identity, cognitive resilience, and to help bolster the Ukrainian spirit in this time of war and misinformation.

The festival’s motto is ‘The brave are always lucky’, which may be more commonly phrased as ‘Fortune favours the bold’__. Either way, I felt immensely lucky to be out there with them, together with fellow jury members David Mackenzie (director of Hell Of High Water, Outlaw King, Young Adam) Mike Downey OBE (prolific UK and international director, producer, author and activist) and Ukrainian writer-directors Iryna Tsilyk (The Earth Is Blue As An Orange, Rock, Paper, Grenade) and Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Pamfir, Silent Flood) to watch movies, deliberate over local food and drink, meet the locals, and trade stories. Upon arrival, we were warmly ushered into the ‘Mykolaichuk Centre’, a modern building and exhibition space, home to a single large cinema screen where most of the festival took place.

I’d been on a film jury once before, at Italy’s Torino Film Festival, and it was much more exhausting than I had expected! You find yourself becoming custodian of the films you care most about, and jury deliberations can become quite heated as you fight and defend the ones that affected and impressed you the most. But not always everyone feels the same about the same movies... I wondered if this would be a similar experience.

There were eight very different films in the International Film category, from South Korea (People And Meat), Romania (3 Days In September), Ukraine (Our House Is On Fire), UK (Queen At Sea), China (Now I Met Her), Mexico (Rock, Weed & Wheels) and Brazil (Heart Of Darkness) and more than a couple had me reduced to shuddering tears in my cinema seat. (Emotional, good, heart-felt tears!)

I also sought out a few Out Of Competition films, including an epic Chinese animated feature called Another World, and when festival organiser Alex Malyshenko passionately recommended a trip to the city centre to an old cinema built inside a former synagogue (The Czernowitz Synagogue was closed in 1940, and repurposed to be used as a movie theater in 1959) to watch a 1968 Ukranian folk horror, David, Mike and I embraced the trip. And we were not disappointed! It was called The Eve Of Ivan Kupalo, directed by prolific Ukrainian filmmaker Yurii Illienko.

It was an extraordinary experience sat in the cavernous Ukrainian synagogue and beholding the vividly striking images and mind-boggling compositions involving practical special effects, miniatures, masks and impressive, lavish choreography and cinematography. Alex explained that Robert Eggers had selected and screened The Eve of Ivan Kupalo in New York’s Lincoln Centre as part of a series of films that inspired his take on Nosferatu. Of the films he chose, including Yurii Illienko’s film, Eggers said: “It’s a world of Gothic romance, fairy tales, and folklore, with a passion to transport the audience to another time, another place, and another way of thinking and believing.” I could see why he had chosen it. It was like nothing I had ever experienced.

On Thursday I presented a masterclass in ‘Making Horrors’ to a predominantly female audience (so many of the men are conscripted to the frontlines of war) using visuals and storyboards to show my journey from stop-motion and music videos, to making The Hallow, The Nun and Whistle. And they were a hungry crowd, keen to ask many questions about filmmaking, horror, storytelling, mythology and scares. One of them asked: “What in horror scared you the most?”. I said that it sometimes feels at odds, making a horror movie when the real scares are on the daily news, beamed into our feeds, out there in the real world. That that’s what scares me the most! But I hoped that cinema and movies, horror included, can somehow provide us with a valuable escape even for a few hours. The audience agreed.

I felt sad to leave such inspiring, resilient-minded and strong-spirited people.

As if running a film festival wasn’t enough to oversee, on a couple of occasions during the week, I learned that Alex had had to make the 12-hour train ride back to Kyiv, to also fulfil his duties in the Ukrainian Military. He can’t have had a lot of sleep... But come the time of my screening of Whistle, he was back to introduce it with me, and I was able to thank him, the festival, and the Ukrainian audience for warmly welcoming me and the jury.

It was a joyous screening and I conducted an impromptu Q&A afterwards, stood out on the Mykoliachuk Centre forecourt, answering more questions about the film, the soundtrack, Iron Maiden, the death sequences and more, before we all hustled back to the hotel because of the curfew all across Ukraine. There, we heard stories of individuals and families and the terrible and traumatic effects of the ongoing war.

Later I stood looking out from my own hotel room balcony, humbled by the stories I had heard as a thin orange crescent moon, and Venus above it, hung over the pin-drop silent and dark city of Chernivtsi.

We made our final jury deliberations, and it was affirming to know that we all unanimously aligned on our favourite choices for the winners of the International Grand Prix going to Yang Jong-hyun’s touchingly bittersweet street comedy People And Meat – about a trio of lonely senior citizens in Seoul, finding unexpected friendship when they begin a series of amateur restaurant heists (or, dine-and-dashing). Please look out for this one! And our Special Mention was awarded to Lance Hammer’s raw and deeply emotional drama Queen At Sea about a single mother (Juliette Binoche) struggling to cope with her elderly mother’s advanced dementia, her stubborn stepfather, and teenage daughter. This wouldn’t usually be my go-to kind of film, but it was incredibly well made, un-sensational and gripping and also featuring Oscar-worthy performances from Tom Courtenay, Anna Calder-Marshall and Binoche. Seek it out!

Departing at the end of my week in Chernivtsi, I felt sad to leave such inspiring, resilient-minded and strong-spirited people. The sense of community, passion, solidarity and courage was so evident everywhere and it made me reflect on our own country, and the rest of the world. We could sure learn a thing or two from Ukraine and what Mike Downey referred to as its “fierce defense of democracy, freedom, and human dignity.”

I hope that the Mykolaichuk Festival will go from strength to strength and be able to celebrate its sixth year next year, without the ongoing threat of the Russian Invasion.

“The brave are always lucky”, indeed.

“Slava Ukraini!”

With thanks to Alex Malyshenko and the Mykolaichuk Open Film Festival team, including Liza Sushko and Olha Aladko. For more information of the Mykolaichuk Festival, click here.

It's been ten years now since Yeon Sang-ho stunned the horror-loving world with Train To Busan, and with the possible exception of 28 Years Later and its sequel, no zombie movie has come close to matching Sang-ho's masterclass in the art of jugular-munching filmmaking. Heck, even Sang-ho's own animated prequel (Seoul Station) and live-action sequel (Peninsula) couldn't quite recapture Busan's sheer kinetic and emotional force. But if the gnarly first trailer for Yeon Sang-ho's buzzy new zombie horror joint Colony is anything to go by, then it looks like we may be in for a bit of a banger with a fresh hook. Check it out below;

We've seen zombies on a train. We've had zombies in a mall. And now, behold, zombies in a high-rise! Yes, for those who've ever wondered what The Raid would be like if Tama Riyadi and his henchmen were instead a Borg-like hive-mind of feral infected and the SWAT team were just the unsuspecting attendees of a biotech conference, it looks like Yeon Sang-ho's latest has been made just for you. And by just for you, we do of course mean just for us. Even in this two-minute trailer alone, the combination of kick-ass action, gnarly The Last Of Us Part II Rat King-style entangled zombie bodies, and rapidly evolving — not to mention absolutely terrifying looking — infected breaking out in a locked-down high-rise has our hearts thumping. And that's without even accounting for the zombie monkeys at the end!

The official synopsis for Colony — which stars Gianna Jun (Assassination), Koo Kyo-hwan (Peninsula, Escape From Mogadishu), Ji Chang-wook (Healer), and Shin Hyun-been (Hospital Playlist) — reads as follows. "Professor Se-jeong (Jun) is thrust into a bloody nightmare when a rapidly mutating virus is released during a biotech conference causing authorities to seal the facility. Trapped inside with no escape, Se-jeong along with a small group of survivors must fight to stay alive while the infected undergo horrific transformations."

Will Professor Se-jeong and her petrified cohort make it out alive? Just how monstrous will the infected hordes be when their transformation is complete? And will our hearts actually be able to take Yeon Sang-ho back at what looks to be his blood-spattering, jugular-munching best? We'll find out when Colony spreads to cinemas on 28 August.

Despite what some misinformed folk may say *cough* Quentin Tarantino *cough*, Paul Dano is surely one of his generation's great character actors — the kind of guy who can just as easily mix it up as the villain of a major blockbuster (The Batman) as multi-role in a Paul Thomas Anderson epic (There Will Be Blood) or voice an existentialist space spider (Spaceman). Now, per Deadline's reporting, Dano is set to flex his horror chops in Smile director Parker Finn's upcoming remake of cult genre classic Possession.

Dano joins leads Margaret Qualley and Callum Turner In Finn's movie, a retooling of the late Polish filmmaker Andrzej Żuławski's classic 1981 chiller. For those unfamiliar with the original film, Żuławski's West Berlin-set psychological supernatural horror (try saying that twice as fast) stars Sam Neill as a spy who suspects his wife (Isabella Adjani) might be having an affair. Infidelity and marital woe are very soon the least of the couple's worries however as their impending divorce catalyses a destructive cycle involving murder, doppelgangers, and a full-on nightmare-inducing tentacled alien creature. Qualley and Turner are expected to take on the Adjani and Neill roles in Finn's film, while Dano's part in it all is currently being kept under wraps — which means yes, he could be playing the alien! Probably not, admittedly, but possibly... you just never know.

With a new golden age of horror seemingly upon us courtesy of the likes of Danny and Michael Philippou (Bring Her Back), Nia DaCosta (28 Years Later: The Bone Temple), Kane Parsons (Backrooms), and Curry Barker (Obsession), we're very intrigued to see if Finn — whose most recent horror joint, Smile 2, caused a real buzz among genre aficionados — can chill and astonish us anew with his vision of Żuławski's unfettered, uncompromising, incredibly tentacly masterwork. Watch this space!

Streaming on: HBO Max

Episodes viewed: 7 of 7

Four score and seven years ago (actually, scratch that, it was October 2000), Larry David brought forth onto TV a new form of comedy, conceived in cringiness and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal — and should act as such in social situations. No stop-and-cuts in the buffet line at restaurants. No cutting the queue when arriving to see your doctor (especially if the person you’re jumping ahead of just held the door for you in the elevator). No taking too many samples at the ice cream parlour — the list goes on. Okay, the time he killed a swan on a golf course is a little harder to describe as Thomas Jefferson-esque, but on Curb Your Enthusiasm — the Seinfeld co-creator’s long-running sitcom, which finished in 2024 — David really did defend deeply held American values of fairness and what’s right. The Founding Fathers would have been prettay, prettay proud.

All of which makes Life, Larry And The Pursuit Of Unhappiness — the 78-year-old’s new sketch show — a somewhat fitting follow-up. Released to coincide with his nation’s upcoming 250th birthday celebrations, each skit zooms in on a pivotal moment in US history and finds pop-culture’s favourite pedant at its centre, causing chaos with history-defining ramifications. In one sketch, David is the chatty bus passenger sitting next to Rosa Parks as she attemptsthe protest that would spark a civil rights movement. In another, he’s Deep Throat, the Watergate informant who helped fell Richard Nixon. World War II, the invention of the telephone, the Lincoln assassination and everything in-between — The Pursuit Of Unhappiness skewers them all, and like the history of America itself, there are definite highs and lows.

Life, Larry And The Pursuit Of Unhappiness, rather than being a declaration of independence from what came before, is a continuation of Curb’s comic style...

The series’ guest stars are impressive. Barack Obama, a producer here through his Higher Ground production company, makes an appearance to introduce the show. Samuel L. Jackson narrates, while there are cameos from Bill Hader as Abraham Lincoln, Kathryn Hahn as Mary Todd Lincoln and Jon Hamm and Sean Hayes as airplane inventors the Wright Brothers. Almost the entire ensemble from Curb are here too, of course, with Susie Essman — who played Larry’s frequent arch-nemesis Susie Greene — magnificent as famous suffragette Susan B. Anthony in one of the show’s funniest vignettes. One scene set during the Great Depression, in which David discovers an acquaintance killed himself but declined to name him in his suicide note, feels like David going where he couldn’t in Curb Your Enthusiasm, with hilarious results.

There are also sketches in which The Pursuit Of Unhappiness’ period laughs bleed fascinatingly into the present day. Throughout his comic career, David has been adored by factions spread across the entire political aisle — there are those on the right, for example, that view his truth-telling ways in Curb as a riposte to left-wing political correctness. Here, though, the comic lets fly at Donald Trump and his administration in ways he hasn’t done before. Case in point — the only Curb co-star who doesn’t make an appearance here is Cheryl Hines, wife of US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and when you get to a certain sketch about the curing of polio, you’ll probably be able to surmise why.

For all those hilarious moments, however, there are sketches that drag on too long and suffer in comparison with David’s former work. Life, Larry And The Pursuit Of Unhappiness, rather than being a declaration of independence from what came before, is a continuation of Curb’s comic style, albeit in fancy dress and broken into bitty segments. The genius of Curb was often in how storylines and jokes had a habit of coalescing at the end of episodes in surprising ways. The sketch-show format doesn’t allow David to flex that particular talent, leaving us instead with what sometimes feels like a YouTube playlist of America-themed SNL skits.

While film and television history has made way for a plethora of onscreen therapists — from Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting to Lorraine Bracco in The Sopranos — it was once relatively rare for shrinks to achieve main-character status. Between last year’s Rose-Byrne-starring If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and, now, delightful sleuthing-shrink dramedy A Private Life, therapists themselves finally seem to be the ones on the psychoanalysis couch.

After her exquisite parenthood romcom Other People’s Children, French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski reunites with Virginie Efira, who here plays another mother who may or may not have been murdered. But the effortless charisma of Efira (even when playing a corpse) aside, A Private Life is undeniably a performance vehicle for its American lead, Jodie Foster, who finds herself again somewhat in The Silence Of The Lambs mode, as a shrink-turned-amateur-detective.

Foster’s Dr Lilian Steiner lives in a Paris apartment of dreams. The Jewish therapist is frequently slagged off by her neighbours, her fed-up patients are steadily ditching her, and, after her client Paula (Efira) dies, this usually stoic professional starts crying unstoppably for the first time in years.

At first glance, this seems like a clear-cut meltdown. Yet after Lilian is approached by Paula’s daughter Valérie (Luàna Bajrami), the analyst gets wind that something about her departed former patient’s family is off. Convinced by a quack hypnotist that these events are an elaborate case of déjà vu, Lilian digs further, enlisting the help of her eye-doctor ex Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil) — much to the ire of her unimpressed son Julien (Vincent Lacoste) — and trotting around the French capital with a voice recorder à la Twin Peaks.

Visually, A Private Life is très chic. Georges Lechaptois’ cinematography, Katia Wyszkop’s production design and Bénédicte Mouret’s costuming combine for an aesthetic feast. Below this gloss, though, Zlotowski, Anne Berest and Gaëlle Macé’s screenplay is somewhat slight. There are some standout scenes, such as a comic chaise-longue montage, a wild hypnotherapy dream sequence and a sequence with a tuxedoed Foster which seems to parallel TÁR. But overall, this story of a doctor seeking to cure her ennui is thin in terms of its theme of Jewish identity, and has an unsteady denouement.

That does not detract from the fun of the ride, however. French-film fans will be pleased with its stellar Gallic ensemble — especially Quantum Of Solace’s Mathieu Amalric, who makes an excellent villain — elevated to new levels by the brilliance of Foster, who adeptly navigates this twisty world. And — a fluent speaker, having attended a lycée as a child — she does it all in impeccable French.

Having brought us one of the darkest, boldest, and most talked-about things to hit our screens in 2025, one-shot child-killer series Adolescence, it would be fair to say it came as something of a surprise when Netflix announced that director-writer duo Philip Barantini and Jack Thorne’s next team-up would be on the newest Enola Holmes movie. But while Enola Holmes 3 never threatens to be anything as groundbreaking as Adolescence (which, in fairness, was never its MO), this third instalment in the adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ sleuthing younger sister is far from elementary. For both better and worse.

To give a sense of how many plates Barantini and Thorne are spinning with Netflix’s latest dive into the world of Nancy Springer’s wildly popular books, consider this. In the first ten minutes of the movie there is *deep breath* a jailbreak plot, a ‘one year later’ time jump-forward, a ‘some months earlier’ time jump-back, a horse-drawn-carriage chase, both the beginning of a wedding and then the proposal (in that order), the reveal that Henry Cavill’s Sherlock Holmes is missing, and some plot-pertinent exposition relating to the Explosive Substances Act of 1883. Oh, and everyone heads off to Malta for Enola Holmes’ (Millie Bobby Brown) and Lord Viscount Earnest Augustus Tewkesbury’s (Louis Partridge) nuptials. And yet somehow — somehow — this third sister-sleuther caper is nearly half an hour shorter than Enola Holmes 2. (Which, in almost any other circumstance, would actually be a blessed relief.)

Millie Bobby Brown and Louis Partridge’s chemistry remains as effortless here as it has been from that first film six years ago.

By the time you chuck in a spot of ‘Sins Of The British Empire For Dummies’ courtesy of a band of Maltese freedom-fighters and the return of Sharon Duncan-Brewster’s deliciously well-pitched but ultimately still fairly inert Moriarty, what you end up with is a high-octane adventure that is occasionally breathless, often exhausting, but admittedly never boring.

Working in Enola Holmes 3’s favour right from the jump is the fact that, despite blamelessly both possessing iPhone faces (Google it), Millie Bobby Brown and Louis Partridge’s chemistry remains as effortless here as it has been from that first film six years ago. Sure, Enola and Tewkesbury’s loggerheads-to-lovers love story isn’t really anything new to YA readers, or anyone who’s ever watched a teen romance, for that matter. But there’s a surprisingly rich exploration of co-dependence here — and what marriage may do to Enola’s identity, which she’s struggled so hard to forge — that allows Brown and Partridge to add new steps to Enola and Tewkesbury’s now-familiar dance. A particularly lovely oceanside sequence between the pair, a moment of (re)connection amid the chaos of everything around them, is so sincerely romantic and beautifully played that it’s almost a shame when it ends and the overarching plot kicks back in.

The thing is that there’s actually no shortage of elements to recommend Enola Holmes 3. Costume designer Consolata Boyle has outdone herself with the various incredible fits on display here, all intricately detailed and impeccably tailored finery that's sure to spawn a thousand cosplays. It’s also incredibly well-lit and dynamically shot by Barantini’s Boiling Point and Adolescence cinematographer Matt Lewis. (Seriously, never underestimate the amount of goodwill generated by a bit of decent lighting in the streaming age.) The film’s social commentary — on the legacy of empire (British, not our magazine), on gender and class and the weight of familial legacy — is as well-handled as you'd expect from a Thorne script. And Barantini even manages to squeeze in a couple of signature oners that, though comparatively low-key when weighed against his past works, give this entry a kinetic force that sets it apart from its predecessors.

The actual problem with this third film, then, is simply that it’s just so overstuffed, knotty and overly plotty that it rarely gives itself (or the viewer) chance to take stock and catch breath. There are great moments — the above-mentioned oceanside rendezvous; an unexpected heart-to-heart between Watson (an underused but ever-dependable Himesh Patel) and Tewkesbury; a Maltese-flavoured third-act Mexican stand-off — but they’re bound to a story that constantly feels as if it’s creaking under the weight of its many moving parts. By the time the credits roll, it’s hard to fully remember everything the past 105 minutes have held, let alone make sense of some of it. Still, it’s all fun and game’s afoot while it lasts.

For the last five weeks, the drama around Paramount+ crime drama MobLand has been about as intense as the drama in the show itself. This time last month, it looked like the Guy Ritchie and Jez Butterworth produced streaming hit was about to lose its star, with Hollywood's trades reporting that Tom Hardy — who plays the series' lead, mob fixer Harry Da Souza — was set to leave the series having finished filming the forthcoming Season 2 on less-than-friendly terms with production. Now however, Deadline is reporting that Hardy is back in his producers' good books and will return for a potential MobLand Season 3 down the road.

According to Deadline, discussions and 'outreach' have been ongoing over the last month as Paramount's top brass have sought to find a way to save their prized streaming cow. And, in the end, it was a meeting in London between Hardy, Jez Butterworth, and series executive producer David Glasser — as well as some peacekeeping/making involving Guy Ritchie — that eventually helped all involved parties find a positive, productive way forward. That several of Hardy's co-stars and colleagues have been so vocal in their support of the series' lead certainly won't have hurt.

When asked by Variety last month whether she'd want to work with Hardy again, Helen Mirren, who plays Harrigan crime family matriarch Maeve in the show, said: "Absolutely. In a fucking heartbeat. I love Tom, I think he’s the most amazing actor. Different actors have different processes. I’ve learnt over the years that some people get to things faster. As long as what’s on the screen is fantastic, I’m totally chilled with however someone gets there. Tom is a very special person. I think he’s absolutely remarkable. My support of him is genuine and heartfelt.”

Now, it's worth noting that MobLand Season 3 hasn't been formally greenlit just yet, despite the public furore over the show's future in recent weeks. Paramount has however opened a writers' room for a third season, and given the success of Season 1, the lengths Ritchie, Butterworth, and creator Ronan Bennett have gone to already to branch out MobLand's world by the end of Season 1, and the fact Tom Hardy is believed to have a three-year contract already on the show, more MobLand now seems almost inevitable. So, all's well that ends well!

When you think of dinosaur movies, there’ one franchise that rules them all: the Jurassic saga, that began with Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, and still continues to pull big box office today. While there have been other major movies involving prehistoric beasts – from early stop-motion cinema, to Peter Jackson’s King Kong, and recently the Adam Driver-starring 65 – it all comes back to that dinosaur theme park. But this summer comes The End Of Oak Street, a different kind of dino movie, from It Follows director David Robert Mitchell. Produced by JJ Abrams, it sees a suburban street – and its fleshy human inhabitants – somehow transported back to the time of those terrible lizards.

As Abrams tells Empire, its every setting is what makes Oak Street stand out from its toothy competition. “I think people are hungry for new stories, original stories, and to me, the undeniable appeal of this is the fact that it takes place in suburbia,” Abrams tells Empire. “I love the Jurassic movies as much as anyone, but those films, for the most part, take place in these beautiful jungles, these distant islands. David’s whole approach here was the juxtaposition of the absolute mundane suburban family life — swing sets and ice-cream trucks, and above-ground pools and school buses — and dinosaurs. If there’s any part of you that is excited by what you saw in the trailers, I can promise that the movie will deliver on everything.”

Mitchell’s monster influences run from those early cinema classics – The Lost World, King Kong, The Valley Of Gwangi – to The Twilight Zone, Signs, and Amblin movies. But he’s also deeply invested in the humans here – led by Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway, as parents Greg and Denise. “The family is not my family, but there are elements of some of the characters that resemble things that I experienced,” he says. “And some of it is like with my wife and our friends and family [now]. Everyone in the [Platt] family is dealing with normal, different little problems, and there are the ways in which they are communicating or not communicating.” Get ready for a new spin on a tale as old as prehistory.

Read Empire’s full The End Of Oak Street feature in The Odyssey issue, on sale Thursday July 2. Pre-order a copy online here. The End Of Oak Street comes to cinemas from August 14.

There’s a lot of pressure that comes with making a movie. Millions of dollars riding on it, hundreds of cast and crew involved. And, as any actor will tell you, during the making of a film, there’s no real way of knowing how it’s going to turn out. It’s a lot of pressure – and gut feelings can be strong. Speaking to Empire, Josh Brolin shared that he had a major moment of doubt after his first day on the set of Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars – an apocalyptic drama depicting the aftermath of a deadly flu virus – in which he stars opposite Jacob Elordi as gun-toting neighbour Bruce Bangley.

Arriving to set after a string of other back-to-back movie productions – including Weapons, Wake Up Dead Man, and The Running Man – Brolin landed in Italy for a rehearsal session with Scott (who he’d previously worked with on American Gangster) and Elordi. But once there, he felt his fight-or-flight kick in. “Ridley was talking a lot of stories and not really rehearsing,” Brolin explains, “and it bugged me out, and I got really scared. I went back, called my agent and said, ‘I want out. Something’s really wrong, and I’ve got to get the fuck out of here.’ Luckily my agent is a close friend and he said, ‘Rest for a day.’ I was like, ‘No, man, I know what the fuck you’re doing. It’s not one of those day-things.’ And I was right.”

With some hindsight, he attributes his reaction to Scott’s unconventional filmmaking process. These days, the great director is light on rehearsal, preferring to keep the immediately energy of a scene, and famously shoots multiple-camera set-ups to ensure brisk production. It was a process that took Brolin some adjusting to. “[Ridley] goes, ‘Come here,’ and he brought me into his trailer, and played the scene we had just finished,” says Brolin. “It was a really good, very dynamic scene between me and Jacob, and he goes, ‘Okay?’ I go, ‘Okay,’ and then I started to feed off that.”

Brolin is thankful he stayed – getting into the unique Ridley Scott rhythm as filming progressed. “It took about a day or two for me to really embrace that, and then I got super into it because it was stratospherically creative and stratospherically dangerous,” he says. “It was like, ‘This is what I’ve been asking for but now I’m getting it, I’m fighting it, because there’s zero comfort in it.’ It became one of the more creative, satisfying projects that I’ve ever been involved with.” The risk paid off – and, simply put, nobody does it like Ridley Scott.

Read Empire’s full The Dog Stars feature – speaking to Ridley Scott, Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin and Margaret Qualley on making a different kind of apocalypse movie – in The Odyssey issue, on sale Thursday July 2. Pre-order a copy online here. The Dog Stars comes to UK cinemas from August 26.

In recent years, Jane Schoenbrun has emerged as one of the most exciting voices in cinema, with 2021’s We’re All Going To The World’s Fair and 2024’s I Saw The TV Glow earning them major critical acclaim and a cult following. Now, Schoenbrun is back with their third feature, the brilliantly-titled Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma, this time leaning even further into the horror genre with a meta-textual tale of slasher movies, moviemaking, and… well, sex and death.

The film stars Hacks’ Hannah Einbinder as Kris, a director hired to reboot the long-in-tooth ‘Camp Miasma’ slasher franchise. And when Kris connects with Gillian Anderson’s actor Billy Presley, the Final Girl of the original ‘Camp Miasma’ movie, things get seriously twisted. As Schoenbrun tells Empire, it’s another deeply personal work. “I remember feeling when we wrapped, ‘Oh my God, that was the first film that represents all of me,” they explain.

The horror genre continues to be a resonant one for exploring the queer themes embedded in Schoenbrun’s work, with the director noting the “gender fuckery” found in many genre classics. “Norman Bates dressed up in his mother’s clothes, or Buffalo Bill in his skin suit, tucking his penis back and doing his freaky dance — even the movies where there isn’t an explicit transsexual menace, you still get the impression that a Michael Myers or a Leatherface is dealing with all kinds of fucked-up Freudian shit that has something to do with sex and gender deviance.”

But the main required viewing for the Camp Miasma team was Crystal Lake Memories – a near-seven-hour documentary on the making of Friday The 13th, which Schoenbrun screened for their cast and crew. “To me it’s better than Best In Show in [that] it’s a perfect mockumentary, except it’s real,” Scheonbrugn says. Bring on the sex and death.

Read Empire’s full Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma feature in The Odyssey issue, on sale Thursday July 2. Pre-order a copy online here. Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma comes to UK cinemas from August 21.

When Coyote Vs. Acme finally hits cinemas this August, its mere existence can be counted as a victory. Because, notoriously, the film – a Looney Tunes live-action-animated hybrid, in which Wile E. Coyote tries to sue Acme for all their faulty products – was nearly wiped from existence. Back in 2023, it was shelved by Warner Bros as part of a tax write-off alongside a handful of other WB films (including Batgirl), never to see the light of day. But then, its fortunes were reversed – and nearly three years later it finally arrives, courtesy of new distributors Ketchup Entertainment. Like Wile E. Coyote himself, it proved to be a film that won’t stay down.

That, writer Samy Burch tells Empire, is core to the central conceit of Coyote Vs. Acme. “We had always wanted the film to be a love letter to failure. To reframe that word, because people don’t like it,” she explains. “That’s what Wile E. is doing — he’s failing every day. But that’s not what defines him — it’s his resilience that defines him. That plan to catch Road Runner didn’t work? Okay. He’ll get a new blueprint and make a new plan. There’s beauty in that — in trying even when things are not coming easily and when you’ve failed a hundred times before. Which is sort of the story of the journey of the movie.”

For director Dave Green – and his entire cast and crew – the fall and rise of Coyote Vs. Acme has been an emotional rollercoaster. But he was heartened that people cared so much. “Because these are characters that people have grown up with, who’ve been passed on between generations, when a corporation claims ownership and says, ‘Actually, they don’t belong to you,’ sometimes that doesn’t sit right with an audience,” he says of the support the film had. “I was very [moved] by the immediate rush of people who came to support us. Adil and Bilall, who directed Batgirl, had my back. Lord and Miller beat the drum for us. Same with the Daniels. That moment of people standing with us was so beautiful. It was just an incredible outpouring.” Case closed.

Read Empire’s full Coyote Vs. Acme feature in The Odyssey issue – on sale Thursday July 2. Pre-order a copy online here. Coyote Vs. Acme comes to UK cinemas from August 21.

You’d imagine that, in the wake of Barbarian and Weapons – two of the best and buzziest horror films in recent years – all kinds of franchises came calling to filmmaker Zach Cregger. But as it turns out, Resident Evil was entirely his choice. For his third feature as director, Cregger is presenting his own story set in the world of the video game saga he loves, with all-new characters and spooky setpieces – and he was the one who approached the rights owners.

“They were kind enough to hear me out and let me run with it,” Cregger tells Empire, promising a film that is very much him, wrapped up in a beloved IP. “It’s really a Zach Cregger movie that just happens to be a Resident Evil movie.” As a major fan of the games, Cregger is dialling in on what it feels like to play them – with Austin Abrams’ medical courier Bryan as an audience surrogate “The concept here is that we’re following an idiot,” says Cregger. “Not that he’s stupid, but he’s not your typical game character, with no combat skills whatsoever and completely inept at survival. Bryan is very much an everyman who happens to be burdened with this kind of sacred mission that’s going to take him into the heart of everything. It’s kind of like Frodo going into Mordor.”

The result, he promises, should feel relentless – a non-stop horror thrill-ride, lighter on the twisty-turny perspective-shifting narratives of his previous two films. “It feels like one gigantic sequence,” he says. “Things pop off about five minutes in and it basically stays like that until the end. What I love about the games is that you move from set-piece to set-piece. Every location has a unique challenge. So again, I’m borrowing from the games directly in that rhythm, where you’re just running through a gauntlet.” Game on.

Read Empire’s full Resident Evil story in The Odyssey issue, on sale Thursday July 2. Pre-order a copy online here. Resident Evil comes to cinemas on September 18.

It’s been over a decade since David Robert Mitchell unleashed It Follows on the world. And, appropriately, it’s a horror film that’s stayed with us ever since, with a brilliantly-conceived set-up (a sexually-transmitted death curse, with an entity that follows you relentlessly) and eerie execution from its director. For years now, we’ve known that a sequel is on the way titled They Follow, with star Maika Monroe reprising her role of Jay – and as he prepares to unleash his dinosaur blockbuster The End Of Oak Street later this summer, Mitchell has unveiled some exciting new tidbits of information for the much-anticipated next chapter.

Speaking to Empire, the filmmaker confirmed that several of his key collaborators will be returning. “Maika is back for this, and [cinematographer] Mike [Gioulakis], and the editor, Julio [C. Perez IV],” he says. And there’s another major comeback to be excited about: “Disasterpeace will be doing a score,” confirms Mitchell. The synth soundtrack to It Follows was a significant part of its atmosphere, invoking the John Carpenter classics of the 70s and 1980s. “I wouldn’t want to do a sequel without him,” says Mitchell of Disasterpeace. “That first movie is so much to do with his fantastic music, so I’m excited about seeing what he does with this.” The composer, aka Richard Vreeland, also wrote the score for Mitchell’s mind-bending Under The Silver Lake, with a completely different sound to the It Follows score – so who knows what he’ll cook up this time.

As for what They Follow involves, the filmmaker is keeping his cards close to his chest – but it’s expected that the film will be shooting in the not too distant future. “I’m very proud of the script,” Mitchell teases. “It is its own unique thing, while still being very much connected to the first film. It’s doing something cool that is going to be really fun.” Begin the existential dread.

Read more from David Robert Mitchell in The End Of Oak Street feature, in The Odyssey issue of Empire. Pre-order a copy online here. The End Of Oak Street comes to UK cinemas from August 14.

There’s nothing like a Sam Raimi jump-scare. His Evil Dead movies are full of mischievous jolts, as is spiritual follow-up Drag Me To Hell. Even his Spider-Man movies often see him dip back into the horror well. And this year’s Send Help saw Raimi return to the genre for the first time in 17 years, telling the story of two co-workers – Dylan O’Brien’s douchebag CEO Bradley Preston, and Rachel McAdams’ downtrodden employee Linda Liddle – stranded on a desert island together, vying for power. For all its thrills and spills – of vomit, blood, and other goops – it is a largely grounded horror tale, without any supernatural elements.

But, one dream sequence sees Raimi indulge his inner Deadite, as a guilt-ridden Linda is spooked by a zombified body – of Zuri, Bradley’s girlfriend who Linda has (SPOILER ALERT!) brutally dispatched – on the beach. It’s a giddily fun little fright, and the director simply couldn’t help himself from – in cinematic terms – shouting “boo!” at the audience. “We wanted to scare those kids,” he tells Empire. “They deserve it! That seems to get them, that one.” It’s not just that Zuri’s demonic corpse pops up on screen – Raimi even pushes it screaming towards the lens, in a move that doesn’t make logical sense, but is a brilliantly fun flourish. “At that point it’s a dream, so why not have the monster turn to the audience?” he asks. “It’s kind of hokey, but it was a lot of fun to shoot.”

As daft as the scare is, it reveals the monstrousness hiding in Linda – and previous drafts of Send Help had an even bigger twist involving McAdams’ not-really-a-hero. “Originally, we revealed that Linda is the one that brought down the plane,” co-writer Mark Swift tells Empire, revealing that there was once a third-act flashback sequence that would have shown Linda orchestrating the crash. “Sam loved it, everyone loved it, and we had a very hard time getting that made because it was dark.” Either way, don’t mess with Linda Liddle.

Read Empire’s full Send Help interview with Sam Raimi and writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift in The Odyssey issue, on sale Thursday June 2. Pre-order a copy online here. Send Help is out now on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, digital, and streaming on Disney+.

He’s given us witches, Vikings, vampires and – perhaps his biggest monster of all – Willem Dafoe’s maniacal lighthouse keeper. His films are steeped in folklore, committed to undying (or undead) detail in the name of convincingly nightmarish experiences – so of all people, we can trust Robert Eggers to do right by lycanthropes.

In Werwulf, set at the start of the 14th century, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as a nameless farmer who, well… let’s just say that things might get a little hairy. As his wife (Lily-Rose Depp) pleads in the teaser: “Keep my husband safe from his cursedness.” Do we detect a story about uncontrollable urges? Is this a severe case of anger management? “I think you’re onto something!”, laughs Eggers. Here, he gives us a breakdown of that teaser’s key moments.

EMPIRE: You kick things off with a full moon. What did you learn about that sort of iconography and mythology?

ROBERT EGGERS: For the werewolf nerds out there, it’s commonly stated that the full moon’s connection to werewolves began in cinema. But I found a very, very old English text – older than the period of the film – that does say that werewolves are affected by the cycle of the moon. And there is also some stuff in some Icelandic literature. So... I went for it.

Aaron's performance is truly harrowing. I’m super proud of what he did.

In terms of werewolf cinema, how did you go about making the film convincing and grounding it, making it not goofy? There are many potential pitfalls.

For me, going back to the old folklore is a way in, because you’re going to find different stuff – the tropes aren’t the same tropes that are so tired that they’ve become clichés. So that in and of itself gives it some freshness. I’ve also struggled with the creature, because it’s difficult in monster movies to make the monster convincing. I think that’s another pitfall of werewolf movies – they either look like guys in suits, or they look like CG. Are you willing to go along with that, knowing that they look seriously fake, or not? One of the best horror movies – and monster movies – of all time, is the first Alien, where it’s about the monster being a mystery and in the shadows.

Let’s get on to Aaron. What made you think he’d be right for this?

Aaron has a dance background and is incredibly physical and athletic, and I knew that he could do the kind of body work that he does in this film, in collaboration with [movement artist] Marie-Gabrielle Rotie, who worked with Lily on Nosferatu. I can’t think of another actor of his caliber who could really do it, with the pathos and pain that this character needed to have, and also a kind of traditional masculinity, while still feeling internally fragile. It’s a balance of a lot of things. His performance is truly harrowing. I’m super proud of what Aaron did. It’s quite extraordinary.

We see his character as a kid too – clearly there’s a formative experience going on there.

Yeah. We spend a good amount of the film with him as a young man. In the research, some of the historical cases of werewolves were men on trial for doing super-horrific things that they were accused of that were so taboo, and so hard for people to wrap their minds around… like, they had to be werewolves, they couldn’t be human. But some of these guys, it was clear to me – either explicitly, or reading through the lines – experienced some pretty severe childhood trauma. I’m not like trying to say, like, trauma or alcoholism or whatever equals a werewolf. But that is something I’m definitely exploring in this movie.

There’s some hellish religious iconography in the teaser. How does that play into what you’re exploring, and is that one of the reasons you set it in this time period?

It’s set around 1300, and if you were living in England in 1300, every single part of every of everyday life was through a Catholic lens. That was just how it was. So if we’re setting it in that period, that becomes a baseline for every character and every way of thinking. The reason why it’s set then is because there was a knight and hunter who was bidden by the king to kill all the wolves in England, to protect the wool industry, basically. And this ex-knight/hunter was so successful that, by Henry VIII’s reign, there were no wolves left in England. So this is the last time that there was any werewolf lore in British history, because once there are no wolves, there are no werewolves for people to be frightened of. I wanted it to be English, so it needed to be this early. But most of the English stuff that is written down from this period was more for the intelligentsia. I needed to turn to the continent to enrich the folklore.

We did a post-process that makes everyone’s skin tones look extra wrecked.

What can you say about who Willem Defoe is playing? You keep coming back to him, but every time he plays someone completely different – he’s not doing the same shtick.

Yeah, but he always plays someone in my movies who loves what they do (laughs). He’s an antagonist [here], and he might be inspired by that guy I was just talking about.

Clearly this is a very different role for Lily after Nosferatu. She did some very physically challenging work in that film – what did you ask of her this time?

There were things about [Nosferatu’s] Ellen that were particularly challenging in a way that this character wasn’t, but also this character is so far from Lily, physically and in her general way of holding herself. So to be this mediaeval farmer’s wife, this mother who is super grounded, was a challenge which she embraced and was super into. It’s a really remarkable performance, and she’s the heart of the movie, she really is.

What were you and [cinematographer] Jarin Blaschke going for in terms of the palette of the film?

It has a unique look. The night photography is fairly similar to what we’ve been doing in moonlight [in other films], but…  this was shot on colour film, and it’s very desaturated. We also did an orthochromatic post-process that makes everyone’s skin tones look extra wrecked. And we found a way to give it the grain structure of black-and-white film. So it’s a very textured and dirty look, but also detailed. Which should make the gruesome, grisly, miserable, horrible, no-good, very-bad mediaeval world even nastier and smellier than it ever could be.

If you’re not smelling all the shit, then you’re not experiencing this movie properly.

There are some exquisitely unique looking people in the trailer. Leads aside, is there something specific you were looking for in the casting that would particularly work for this time period?

Yeah, very extreme looks. Casting this movie was incredibly fun and rewarding, and at times really difficult. It was definitely the most challenging movie to cast so far. He was a little later, but it needs to feel like Bruegel.

The final shot has Aaron bone-crunching, foaming at the mouth. That’s as much as you give us, werewolf-wise, as it were. For now.

Yeah, this is a slow-burn horror that’s about the tension and the anticipation and the mystery and the darkness, and… we don’t want to give it away. But… this film is immersive, and needs to be experienced full-immersion, on the big screen. If you’re not smelling all the shit and mud in the street, then you’re not experiencing this movie properly.

I hope they put that on the poster. I don’t think they will.

Werwulf comes to UK cinemas from January 1, 2027

A Ridley Scott film can be many things. It could be set in deep space, where no one can hear you scream. Or it can be set in a rain-lashed future-vision of 2019 LA. Or perhaps millennia ago at the Colosseum, where a gladiator fights for his freedom. Even at 88, his latest film takes him somewhere new: The Dog Stars is an apocalyptic drama, depicting the aftermath of a brutal flu virus that has wiped out great swathes of the population. And in its wake, Jacob Elordi’s Hig – along with his dog, and an old Cessna plane – seeks to find sparks of humanity out there, while protecting what he has from marauding survivors.

Based on Peter Heller’s 2012 novel, The Dog Stars seems an ideal fit for Scott, with his blockbuster sensibilities and stories of underdog heroes. But the director was less sure. “We’re doing too many end-of-the-world stories,” he tells Empire. “This is not The Road. I did not want to do World War Z again; no zombies, please. I thought, ‘What the fuck am I gonna do here?’” Seeing how The Revenant screenwriter Mark L. Smith approached the material in his script, he was drawn to the light in The Dog Stars’ story. “There’s a lot of optimism within the context of the story, and the bottom line is, people do need people,” he says. And, the action sequences were no issue. “No action scene is challenging for me, dude,” he hollers. “Are you fucking kidding? It’s easy.”

Plus, it offered the chance to work with Elordi (“Did you ever see The Narrow Road To The Deep North? He’s great in that”) after his initial choice for Hig had other commitments. “I had a good time doing Glad II with Paul [Mescal], and from that I thought it was going to be him,” says Scott. “But then he got hooked into playing Paul McCartney and I’m his friend, so I’m not going to complain. I’d had my eye on Jacob for a while anyway.” The Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein actor proved the perfect for the role after all. “His background is a farm lad,” says Scott. “He can drive tractors, he’s great with dogs, and he’s a very outdoors, practical kind of guy. I met with him, and that was it.” You could say, it was written in the stars.

Read Empire’s full The Dog Stars feature – speaking to Ridley Scott, Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin and Margaret Qualley – in The Odyssey issue, on sale Thursday July 2. Pre-order a copy online here. The Dog Stars comes to UK cinemas from August 26.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it *shudders* DC Studios' first flop? That'd be a 'no', another 'no', and unfortunately a 'quite possibly'. Yes, this past weekend saw Cruella and I, Tonya director Craig Gillespie's Supergirl, starring the ace Milly Alcock, swoop into multiplexes the world over. But as Toy Story 5 continues to fly at the box office and Obsession remains everybody's latest obsession, Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El struggled to break through in its opening weekend, landing just $68 million worldwide against a reported $170 million budget.

To put Supergirl's disappointing box office open into some sort of context, Sony's widely derided SPUMC offering Morbius managed $84 million worldwide in its own opening weekend, while the old DCEU's last non-sequel solo superhero effort, The Flash, took $131 million despite mixed reviews. DC Studios' own first film, last year's Superman, took off to the tune of $217 million — albeit with a much more cinematically well-established hero at its centre. As for Supergirl then, which has been met with widespread enthusiasm about Milly Alcock's take on Kara Zor-El but lukewarm responses from critics to Gillespie's movie itself, a sub-$100 million open — with only $38 million being made domestically — is more than a tad concerning. Especially if, as Variety reports, the movie realistically needs to make $300 million to break even at the box office.

Still, despite a less-than-super opening weekend, Supergirl's financial success — or lack thereof — isn't keeping DC Studios' co-CEO Peter Safran up at night. In an interview with The New York Times, Safran downplayed the potential repercussions of the DCU's sophomore feature flopping. “While ‘Supergirl’ didn’t meet our box office expectations, it’s just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in,” said Safran. Said long-term strategy includes this October's Clayface, next summer's Superman sequel Man Of Tomorrow, and Matt Reeves' very long awaited The Batman Part II.

So, Supergirl hasn't been quite the blockbuster hit DC Studios might've anticipated, likely due to a multitude of factors — from ongoing superhero fatigue, to the competition it faced against the likes of Toy Story and Obsession, to a very vocal minority's pre-meditated backlash to the existence of a woman-fronted superhero movie (this is, after all, a very different landscape culturally and cinematically to that which saw Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel fly.) But here's the bright side. The film exists. Milly Alcock has a major part to play in Man Of Tomorrow. And the DCU is still only just getting started. No cause for panic then — at least not just yet, anyway....

This week's Empire Podcast might see Chris Hewitt and Helen O'Hara write their own ticket, folks, as they come up with an idea for Toy Story 6 that should, if there's any justice, be in production by the end of the weekend. Pixar, call us! That comes in the movie news section, where there is also much discussion of trailers and the prospect of a new Jim Carrey Grinch sequel. Either side of those, the gang — Chris, Helen, Amon Warmann, James Dyer, and this week's workie, Juliet Duff, who pops in for a cameo from time to time — talk about the most hellishly hot places in movies, review Supergirl, Jackass: Best And Last, A Private Life, and 500 Miles, and Chris has a lovely natter with Jackass supremos Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine about saying goodbye to the franchise, poop, and catheters. 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 #722) on the pod app of your choice. There, you'll also find the latest episode of Empire Pod regular The Interviews, in which we bring you even more chat with the stars and filmmakers behind each week's biggest movies. The most recent edition finds Chris Hewitt talking music, Irish accents, life post-Game Of Thrones, and more with 500 Miles star Maisie Williams, before diving deep into Disclosure Day spoilers with that film's writer, the great David Koepp, in an excerpt from our latest spoiler special pod (out now). And for even more podcasting goodness, our newly launched Empire+ subscription awaits... go check it out!

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To quote the great Norfolk philosopher Alan Partridge, “It’s hotter than the sun!” Partly because of the ongoing climate crisis and the 30°C+ heatwave we’ve been melting through all week. (Seriously, how many more Mini Milks must we consume to ensure our survival?) But also partly because this week’s Empire Recommends picks are seriously hot — in some cases quite literally.

In case you didn’t know, Empire Recommends is a new regular feature that sees our friendly neighbourhood film experts here at Empire HQ — namely Deputy Online Editor Ben Travis, Social Media Editor Harry Stainer, and Online Writer Jordan King — come together to deliver three handpicked, personal streaming favourites that we just have not been able to stop banging on about in the office. And to keep you entertained while you contemplate just hitting buy on a full-on aircon unit this weekend, we’ve got a smokin’ new sports romance series, a scorching three-hour sci-fi epic, and one of the hottest coming-of-age comedies of the last decade.

And so, without further ado, here’s what Empire Recommends this week…

Off Campus

Showrunner/Creator: Louisa Levy | Genre: Romantic Drama | Streaming on: Prime Video

Starring: Ella Bright, Belmont Cameli, Mika Abdalla, Stephen Kalyn, Jalen Thomas Brooks

You wait all your life for a sexy hockey romance series to come along and suddenly BAM!, two arrive all at once. Who’d have thunk? But while Heated Rivalry was the groundbreaking first in the burgeoning ‘horny hockey’ microgenre, Prime Video’s Off Campus — based on Elle Kennedy’s bestselling books — is, for my money, the best. Yeah, I said it. Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli are both incredibly good and incredibly hot as the hockey-hating academic and the uni team’s star centre who agree to embark on a mutually beneficial faux-mance (he’s flunking philosophy; she wants to make her crush jealous), only to find themselves faking it a little too well. Come for the sex, yearning, and banging needledrops. Stay for a sensitively written, tonally well-balanced drama that dares to let its jocks have a heart, its women express their desires, and everyone to get their rocks off in a sex-positive, ultimately super wholesome way. What are you waiting for? Pucker up and stick it on! JK

Avatar: Fire And Ash (2025)

Director: James Cameron | Genre: Sci-Fi Fantasy | Streaming on: Disney+

Starring: Oona Chaplin, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Sigourney Weaver, David Thewlis

‘Fire and ash’ doesn’t just describe the weather in the UK heatwave right now – it’s also the name of the third Avatar movie, which has just hit Disney+ after its mega box office haul. It’s another undeniably epic outing from James Cameron in his thrillingly-realised sci-fi sandbox – and while there are a few repetitive beats from The Way Of Water, it boasts outstanding action sequences and a killer new villain in Na’vi baddie Varang. Whether or not you saw it on the big screen, it’s worth a return visit to Pandora – especially now you can pause it for a wee break. BT

Booksmart (2016)

Director: Olivia Wilde | Genre: Coming-of-Age Comedy | Streaming on: Netflix

Starring: Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Skyler Gisondo, Billie Lourd, Molly Gordon, Mason Gooding

Over the years I've seen Booksmart 10, possibly even 11 times, and I think I'm finally ready to accept that this is a five-star film. Astonishingly directed for a first feature, with a soundtrack that's perfect, from Anderson .Paak to Perfume Genius. Few films capture being young, awkward, and staring down your future this well, and even fewer capture what it's like to wholeheartedly love your friends this much. (P.S. More films about loving your pals, please.) I implore you to seek it out, sit down with a pal, and watch Olivia Wilde's wonderful directorial debut. Your heart will be fuller for it. HS

———

Boshed our three picks for this weekend already? Do you find yourself craving even more streaming delights? Fear not: we’ve got you covered. Check out our guides to The Best Netflix Movies, Shows, and Documentaries; The Best Movies And TV Shows On Disney+; and The Apple TV Shows You Must See. And if you're a real screen fiend, then our lists of The 100 Best Movies and 100 Best TV Shows Of All Time will keep you going for a long, long time to come.

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Here’s a conundrum: since The Odyssey is, famously, one of the most mythical stories ever told – stacked with fantastic beasts, told on a gigantic scale – how do you imbue it with a sense of realism? The answer is, with a bit of Christopher Nolan magic. This, after all, is the director who gave Gotham true grit in the Dark Knight trilogy, and flung audiences to the far reaches of space with scientifically-accurate physics in Interstellar. And so, for his Ancient Greek blockbuster, he went all-out to place audiences right next to Odysseus on his treacherous journey home to Ithaca.

But, how do you make a real-looking Cyclops, for the sequence in which Matt Damon’s hero – and his men – are menaced by the one-eyed giant Polyphemus in a murky cave? The answer is, a combination of all kinds of techniques – from animatronics to puppetry – all overseen by Interstellar’s TARS star, Bill Irwin. Including a towering 60-foot contraption that brought a sense of gargantuan scale on set. “Everything about the Cyclops sequence is aimed at trying to imagine: what would this be like in real life?” Nolan tells Empire. “Not approaching it from a storybook or cartoony point of view, but really trying to be in there with Odysseus and his men. It’s a horrifying situation.” With the help of Irwin, Polyphemus had a real presence in the cave. “Bill was doing voices and noises and was with us that entire time,” explains Damon.

The sequence was shot inside Nestor’s Cave in Messenia, Greece, which brought its own challenges. “At the cave mouth, there was a buzzing,” Damon recounts. “And you can hear it in the movie, because there were thousands of bees right at the mouth of the cave. You had to walk through this curtain of bees to get in.” Inside, meanwhile, was a rather ripe smell, thanks to the 40 sheep who were part of the scene. “It got pungent,” Nolan chuckles. “Yeah, it got very, very dank and smelly after a time. But I’ve built a lot of caves before — shooting in a real cave, the feeling is utterly different. Once the rock is moved across the door and you’re in the dark, it’s very, very oppressive. It gave it a sense of reality.”

Read Empire’s full The Odyssey feature – going on set for two days; speaking to Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson; spending time with Christopher Nolan in post-production; and much more – in the August 2026 issue, on sale Thursday July 2. Pre-order a copy online here – and choose one of three collectible covers. The Odyssey comes to cinemas from July 17.

Streaming On: Disney+ 
Episodes Viewed: 4 of 9

It’s hard to get the Marvel fandom to agree on anything — especially post-Avengers: Endgame — but X-Men ’97 was one of the few exceptions to the rule. The über-positive reception and appointment-viewing status it earned was about more than just the iconic, unskippable intro. The show married creative, ambitious action with rich storytelling and pointed, quotable conversations about the limits of mutant co-existence with humanity. Thankfully, Season 2 gives us more of what worked the first time, in addition to a pleasingly complex depiction of En Sabah Nur, aka Apocalypse, a formidable X-Men foe.

The massive cliffhanger of Season 1, which left groups of X-Men stranded in different timelines, is cleverly built upon here. First, we journey to the future at the height of Apocalypse’s reign, in which Cyclops (Ray Chase) and Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) debate how much to tell their young son Nathan, aka Cable (Michael Johnston), about his heritage and future. Then — in an episode that comes complete with an arresting bespoke intro — we’re back in the ’90s as Jubilee (Holly Chou) and Sunspot (Gui Agustini) team up with other mutants to fill the void left by the X-Men’s sudden departure.

An exceptionally strong start to the show’s sophomore season.

Next — and most compellingly — we go to Ancient Egypt, where Professor X (Ross Marquand) and Magneto (Matthew Waterson) find themselves allying with a not-quite-Apocalypse-yet En Sabah Nur (a superb Adetokumboh M’Cormack), who is engaged in a slave revolt against evil Pharaoh Rama-Tut (John de Lancie). In addition to adding tons of nuance to Apocalypse’s story, it’s also the gateway to the lofty ideological questions that underpin the season. Is the future set? Can destiny be altered? And if so, what could it mean for mutantkind?

Just like the first season, these episodes plough through the story at quite a clip. And while there were storylines in the first season that could definitely have used more screen time, it doesn’t feel like too much meat is being left on the bone in these first four episodes. Apocalypse being clearly established as the overarching villain spanning multiple timelines proves a structural boon.

It all looks fantastic, too. The introduction of some new characters means there are more opportunities to flex with the animation when it comes to depicting powers in fluid, colourful and dynamic ways, while the different eras the show plays in also lend themselves to fresh visual delights. All in all, this makes for an exceptionally strong start to the show’s sophomore season. Whatever their future holds, it feels likely to make for a thrilling watch.

Hey, why are you charging?

When we started knocking out the odd Spoiler Special back in 2012, alongside the regular EMPIRE Film Podcast, we never truly saw the massive hit they would become. But each episode takes time and people! So we asked you lot via a survey last year if you’d be up for paying a small fee for Spoiler Specials and a ton of you said yes. The idea is that this’ll enable us to produce new episodes more regularly, including the oft-discussed retro spoiler specials.

Will I also have to pay for the normal EMPIRE Film Podcast?

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This is a bizarre misfire from director Julian Schnabel. His previous work — locked-in-syndrome POV drama The Diving Bell And The Butterfly; Vincent van Gogh biopic At Eternity’s Gate — achieved something far more profound. In The Hand Of Dante, meanwhile, is almost impressively pretentious and misjudged at almost every turn.

Set across twin timelines, it sees Oscar Isaac play both 14-century poet Dante Alighieri, of ‘Divine Comedy’ fame, and real-life New York “literary iconoclast” Nick Tosches. (The modern-day side is shot in crisp black-and-white, while the flashbacks are in Horrible Histories colour.) The film adapts Tosches’ 2002 sprawling, ambitious book of the same name, which included Tosches himself as a semifictional protagonist. In the modern day, Tosches accepts a job from an old friend, to steal a rare copy of Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’, bringing him into orbit with the Mafia; in the 1300s, Dante wrestles with his spiritual and artistic practice, via unintentionally comic levels of pomposity.

Schnabel’s tone and approach is both overly self-important and fatally confused about whatever it is trying to say.

Taking a Cloud Atlas approach to casting, we see several actors take on dual roles in both timelines, including Gal Gadot, Louis Cancelmi and Gerard Butler, the last as both a nastily murderous Mob enforcer and the Pope. Also, Martin Scorsese pops by with a massive beard for a confusing cameo as Dante’s mentor. It’s not nearly as fun as any of that sounds. Everyone is dreadfully miscast, almost entirely across the board, while Schnabel’s tone and approach is both overly self-important and fatally confused about whatever it is trying to say.

The intention, perhaps, was to make something on a par with epic Renaissance-era poetry — a pompous, metafictional piece of art, about art — but while occasionally pretty, it is mainly just overlong and boring. “My books can’t be edited any more than a leopard can be manicured,” insists Nick at the beginning of the film; perhaps Schnabel should have considered editing this two-and-a-half hour folly into something even remotely watchable.

The romcom renaissance is upon us. It started unassumingly enough, a Rye Lane here and an Anyone But You there. But in the last couple of months alone we’ve had Finding Emily and Office Romance, and now writer-director Leah McKendrick’s lovely Netflix warm-and-fuzzies-triggerer Voicemails For Isabelle (aka You’ve Got Voicemail) comes along. And honestly, not a moment too soon. It seems at a time where it’s become so easy to see nothing but war, hate and division in our everyday lives, the humble romantic comedy has returned to allow us an escape into a world where joy, love and connection are still possible… where meets can be cute, ethical quandaries can be quashed by good intentions, everyone dances to Robyn, and Nick Robinson remains forever young.

The set-up for McKendrick’s sophomore feature, which follows the multi-hyphenate’s self-starring 2023 directorial debut Scrambled, is, it must be said, more than a little eyebrow-raising on the face of it. Zoey Deutch stars as Jill, an up-and-coming baker living in San Francisco who — when not being subjected to the workplace outbursts of her pompous boss Chef Bastien (a dependably chuckle-worthy Nick Offerman) or the bedroom outbursts of her latest dates — is relaying said encounters to her cystic fibrosis-stricken sister Isabelle over voicemail. When tragedy — and an unfortunate reassigned number — strikes, however, doe-eyed Texan real-estate agent Wes (the aforementioned, ever-youthful Robinson) finds himself receiving Jill’s confessional recordings.

As soon as Deutch and Robinson share the frame, the atavistic desire to see these two together overrides all logic systems

Now because this is a romcom, which is time and again a realm reserved exclusively for irrational decision-makers, rather than disconnecting the phone and carrying on with his life, Wes finds himself invested in Jill’s love life, before long landing himself in San Fran to set up a (digitally aided-and-abetted) date with destiny. Which, as you can probably figure out, is a great idea — until it’s really not a great idea.

The thing about Voicemails For Isabelle is that yes, its set-up is perhaps just a little bit icky. And yes, there are at least a dozen occasions where you can’t help but think hair-sweeping, mild-mannered would-be lothario Wes could do himself — and Jill — a lot of favours by just fessing up to the whole voicemail thing that obviously has to come out sooner or later. And also yes, just because Will’s lovable soon-to-be-wed pals Andy (Harry Shum Jr.) and Breeda (McKendrick) repeatedly remind him what he’s doing is giving big red-flag energy, that doesn’t make it any less iffy. But here’s the thing: the second Wes and Jill meet, you just won’t care about any of that anymore.

As soon as Deutch and Robinson share the frame — the movie’s Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan aspirations literally spelled out for us, although McKendrick’s alternately zinger-filled and touching writing so winningly evokes Nora Ephron that overt references to her movie, while cute, really aren’t needed at all — the atavistic desire to see these two together, to stay plugged into the terawatt electricity surging through every one of his winsome, Love, Simon honed looks and every one of her ear-to-ear, bulb-bright smiles, overrides all logic systems. And as the duo inevitably fall for one another, their open wounds healing just a little more with each bus tour they take and eminently nommable-looking pud they share — his sensitivity and her strength pulling them both out of the dark, allowing them to let down their walls — the film opens up, goes deep (steady on!), and becomes something entirely its own. Be prepared for the best “eating something and instantly being taken back to a very poignant childhood memory” scene this side of Ratatouille, and an exquisitely deployed needle drop of deep-cut Taylor Swift ballad 'Marjorie' that keys into the film's emotional frequency almost preternaturally well.

As a romcom with a wacky premise, Voicemails For Isabelle is charming, and sweet, and lovely enough as it is. But as the story of two wayward souls who’ve been searching for their loved-ones-lost in all they see and do for so long that the possibility of embracing new love — of letting the love that shaped them help make something new, free of guilt — is as terrifying as it is exciting, this has levels to it that you forget the cosy trappings of the genre can create space for. That Leah McKendrick has been able to make something like this, that’s also sex-positive, also feminist in its formulation, and also manages to be both romantic and comedic in roughly equal measure is incredibly refreshing. And frankly, any movie that factors a flash-mob dance-along to Robyn’s ‘Dancing On My Own’ into its emotional climax is already a must-see. So, what are you waiting for?

What a week it's been for DC fans! New Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2 trailer yesterday. New Supergirl movie in cinemas tomorrow. And now, courtesy of the Annecy Animation Festival, we've learned that there's three brand spanking new DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation comic book series heading our way, too. As shared by THR, new cartoon series include an adaptation of Scott Snyder's fan-favourite Absolute Batman comics, a Clown Prince of Crime centric anime series, and a family friendly show centred around Krypto The Superdog.

First up is the aptly titled Absolute Batman, based on the bestselling comics run that reimagined Gotham's Dark Knight as an Alan Ritchson dwarfing unit of a man with a blue-collar background, one less dead parent to grieve, and a rogues' gallery filled with pure nightmare fuel versions of all Bats' greatest nemeses. (Seriously, go look up Absolute Joker — you'll soon see why this has to be an animated show.) Comics writer Scott Snyder is aboard to showrun the series, with his Absolute collaborator, artist Nick Dragotta, also attached as a producer.

Next up is DC's first ever anime series, Joker: Laugh Riot. Exec produced by animation veteran Jim Krieg, who most recently lent his talents to the DC Animated Universe's Watchmen and Crisis On Infinite Earths adaptations, this one — directed by Yasuhuro Aoki — imagines a world where Batman has died and Joker is hunting for his killer. The tantalising synopsis shared at Annecy reads: "When Batman is murdered, the Joker launches a ruthless crusade through Gotham’s underworld to find the killer who took away his greatest adversary. But as his violent quest for answers pushes him closer towards vigilante than villain, Joker is forced to confront the truth that without Batman, he doesn’t know who he is.”

And last but by no means least, the goodest superpowered boi in the DC Universe, Krypto The Superdog, is getting his own show (again): Krypto. Hailing from SpongeBob SquarePants animation sage C.H. Greenblatt, the Krypto show sounds like one for all the family to enjoy. Its synopsis reads: "When he’s not hanging out with Superman or Supergirl, Krypto tags along with a gang of misfit criminal wannabes who live down the block, and they soon discover he’s a ball of destructive, lovable energy worse than any of them! As he follows them into misadventures and poorly laid plans, Krypto’s pure nature slowly ends up redeeming them, whether they want it or not.”

So there you have it. We don't know when Absolute Batman, Joker: Laugh Riot, or Krypto will hit our screens just yet, but all three sound like fascinating projects that will each offer refreshing new angles on the DC Universe. And now we're going to watch cute Krypto videos for a little while to stave off the memory of Absolute Joker... *shudder*

A fearless and occasionally feckless bunch of pranksters and would-be-stuntmen (the solo woman here, Rachel Wolfson, doesn’t perform any pranks in this fifth film outing), the Jackass mob have been egging each other on to perform wincingly painful tricks since the turn of the millennium.

Series co-creator Johnny Knoxville and the rest of his (increasingly ageing) team know they can’t really continue thrashing their bodies and testing their physical resilience in unpleasant ways — as much fun as they’re all still having. When we see them getting slammed in the nuts, injected and Tasered, it remains riotously funny, but it’s also like watching Tom Cruise repeatedly defy death in the later Mission: Impossible films: hugely impressive, but enough to make you beg them to stop, for the love of God, before all this insanity kills them.

Those hoping for fresh insanity here may be disappointed; less than an hour of Best And Last’s 92 minutes are dedicated to brand-new stunts.

Those hoping for fresh insanity here may be disappointed; less than an hour of Best And Last’s 92 minutes are dedicated to brand-new stunts. A typical new entry involves Steve-O, Jackass’ most prominent survivor other than Knoxville, receiving a forceful prostate exam from a robot, its metal fingers lubed up with peanut butter. It is a disgusting, extremely uncomfortable scene that will have all but the must stoic viewer laughing to the verge of tears. Of the old clips resurfaced, meanwhile, many will gasp at Ryan Dunn inserting a toy car in his anus, or cheer as Knoxville rides a rocket into the air and crashes into a lake.

In one previously unseen clip, which MTV refused to broadcast on the TV series, Knoxville — convincingly dressed as an escaped convict — hacksaws his way through handcuffs in a hardware store and gets arrested. It’s a typically audacious and utterly idiotic stunt, which escalates dramatically when the LAPD turn up, guns drawn. But then, thinking things through has never really been the point of Jackass. And that’s part of its appeal, too. If this truly is goodbye, it feels dumbly fitting.

Make no mistake: just because Penelope doesn’t go toe-to-toe with a Cyclops, Sirens and murderous Laestrygonians in The Odyssey, doesn’t mean she’s not facing dangers of her own. Played by Anne Hathaway in Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster adaptation, the wife of Odysseus is stationed back home in Ithaca, awaiting her husband’s return after the Trojan War. But since the ETA of Odysseus (Matt Damon) is, well, years away, she’s tasked with ensuring the throne isn’t usurped by all kinds of nefarious types – including Robert Pattinson’s scheming Antinous.

For Hathaway, Penelope proved a fascinating character in her own right, holding strong in the belief that her husband will eventually come home. “There’s a way to think about her that she is just kind of passively, quietly waiting,” she tells Empire. “But I didn’t see her like that. I saw her as this incredible, active, ride-or-die partner. I wanted her to have a sense of danger to her. That she’s not doing this out of a sense of duty — she genuinely loves [Odysseus] with her whole fiery soul.”

Part of Penelope’s plan is a sneaky bit of subterfuge. Weaving a shroud on her loom – with the understanding that she’ll have to choose a suitor to marry once it’s finished – she secretly unpicks it each night, buying herself more time. “I’m not known for my craft work,” laughs Hathaway of getting to grips with the ancient art of weaving. A teacher was on hand to get her up to speed. “We practiced on a makeshift loom. And then I got some time to practice on the big one that was on set. It was lovely,” she says. “There's something so rhythmic about it.” By the time she needed to look comfortable with the kit on screen, she was a dab hand – and any imperfections were in keeping with the character. “I was like, ‘Well, I guess she does unpick it every night, so it doesn't have to be perfect’,” she laughs. Your move, Antinous.

Read Empire’s full The Odyssey feature – going on set for two days; speaking to Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson; spending time with Christopher Nolan in post-production; and much more – in the August 2026 issue, on sale Thursday July 2. Pre-order a copy online here – and choose one of three collectible covers. The Odyssey comes to cinemas from July 17.

Whenever Christopher Nolan flexes his action muscles, you’re in for a cinematic treat. Think about the Batpod chase in The Dark Knight, or the spinning hallway shootout in Inception, or the forwards-backwards timey-wimey battle at the end of Tenet. And after Oppenheimer found the legendary director in talkier territory, The Odyssey is an all-out action-packed summer movie – an epic spectacle, adapting one of the most foundational stories ever told, in which Matt Damon’s Odysseus faces monsters, his own demons, and the plots of nefarious suitors as he makes the long journey home to his family in Ithaca. And just wait until you meet the Laestrygonians.

One of the toughest tests in Odysseus’ journey comes courtesy of massive marauding giants, who make short work of our hero’s men – and Empire got to see the action unfold, visiting the set last July in Scotland’s Culbin Forest. Among the practical techniques Nolan used to shoot the all-out assault – many of which are being kept under wraps – are forced-perspective illusions and wirework that sent stuntmen hurling through the air, all captured by seven IMAX cameras. For the director, it’s all about the disorientation – and the danger – it presents to our protagonist. “It was a fun sequence to shoot,” Nolan tells Empire during post-production. “It’s really a thing of trying to get across the brutality. They’re warriors, and their weapons and armour is of a level of sophistication that Odysseus has never seen.”

As with Odysseus’ other fantastical encounters, these set-pieces all serve to challenge him on a character level, while also providing audience thrills. “The point of the Laestrygonians in the story, as in the original poem, is to show in some ways the questionable nature of Odysseus’ leadership. To give his men reason to doubt him,” the director explains. “And so what they come up against leaves them all shaken.” Get ready: a new Christopher Nolan action all-timer is coming.

Read Empire’s full The Odyssey feature – going on set for two days; speaking to Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson; spending time with Christopher Nolan in post-production; and much more – in the August 2026 issue, on sale Thursday July 2. Pre-order a copy online here – and choose one of three collectible covers. The Odyssey comes to cinemas from July 17.

Epic battles. Massive monsters. A long journey home. And a seriously huge horse. The Odyssey is set to be the biggest film of the summer – legendary director Christopher Nolan tackling one of the greatest stories in human history, and bringing it to seismic cinematic life. With his blockbuster vision, the tale of Odysseus and his men making the treacherous pilgrimage home to Ithaca is about to become an unmissable spectacle, captured with IMAX cameras across wild oceans and open expanses, with an all-star cast to boot. And the new issue of Empire is here to bring you right into the heart of it all. Action!

This month’s issue features unbeatable access to The Odyssey, going on set for two days with Christopher Nolan, his cast and crew as they cross the globe to film the ultimate myth on a gigantic scale. Inside, we speak to the director, producer Emma Thomas, plus stars Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, and Robert Pattinson about a spectacular production like no other – one that involved battling bees, climbing mountains, and shooting in locations where nobody has shot before. Also featuring a visit to Nolan’s post-production Mount Olympus, it’s packed with insights you won’t read anywhere else, brand new images from the movie, and much more.

A film this immense demands more than one cover – and there are three The Odyssey variants to collect. The first sees Matt Damon’s Odysseus in his armour, ready to embark on his long journey home.

The second cover sees Anne Hathaway as Penelope, wife of Odysseus, holding the fort in Ithaca as nefarious forces vie for power.

And the third cover sees Tom Holland as Telemachus, son of Odysseus and Penelope, going on his own quest to search for his long-lost father.

Plus, this month’s subscriber cover is a mythical depiction of Odysseus’ storm-battered boat, illustrated exclusively for Empire by Paul Shipper.

And that’s not all. This issue also faces dinosaur danger in The End Of Oak Street; gets apocalyptic with Ridley Scott and Jacob Elordi on The Dog Stars; investigates a cartoon beef in Coyote Vs. Acme; gets into survival mode with Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil; and plenty more.

You won’t want to miss this issue – to get yours, just agree to delivery of this massive wooden horse, with no ulterior motives. Or, visit your local newsagent from July 3 to get a copy. Order the issue online, and choose your cover, here. The Odyssey comes to cinemas from July 17.

Streaming on: Disney+
Episodes viewed: 7 of 8

The Bear has been through a lot since it opened its doors in 2022. It’s seen Chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) at the centre of intensely high-pressure situations — both in and out of the kitchen — as he desperately strives for culinary perfection while trying to unpack some heavy familial baggage. It’s a thrilling watch, and with everything operating at maximum capacity in this purported final season, The Bear goes out on a serious high.

Beginning the morning after Carmy announced that he was leaving The Bear to Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), honorary cousin Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and sister Natalie (Abby Elliott), the whole season takes place over the course of a single day — a first for the series — as the team prepares for service. In typical The Bear fashion, everything that can go wrong does. Pipes burst. Booking apps malfunction. A torrential storm rages. But along with the shorter timeframe, it all contributes to a propulsive, occasionally stressful momentum that powers this final run, peaking with a masterful seventh episode that will surely go down as one of the best hours of the entire series. Crucially, the conceit of this season means that they can tell a focused story with almost all the characters inhabiting the same space, and the time-constraints still allow multiple characters to have meaningful breakthroughs.

It makes for an especially satisfying last supper.

Indeed, one of the very best things about The Bear’s swansong season is seeing how everyone is in a more evolved, mature and healthier place than they were when the show began. It’s especially moving in the case of Carmy and Syd. Though the former officially passed the torch to the latter in the final moments of Season 4, the early episodes here are marked with growing pains as they step on each other’s toes. Ultimately, mentee and mentor are, we learn, two sides of the same knife, who finally empower each other to be the best versions of themselves they can be. It’s healing, heartwarming stuff.

Their shared happy place is the kitchen itself, and the creation of new and exciting recipes — long a staple of The Bear — is just as winning as ever. When the editing, score and visuals are all working together in harmony in a perfectly constructed montage, it’s culinary nirvana that makes for something akin to an ASMR experience. That many of the dishes (once again styled by culinary producer Courtney Storer) are inspired by family history — both personal and found — makes it all the more rewarding. For those who have been sitting at The Bear’s table since the beginning, throughout its highs and lows, it makes for an especially satisfying last supper.

When it comes to helming a cinematic universe, James Gunn has an unenviable task. Superhero fatigue has long since set in, meanwhile the imminent purchase of Warner Bros. and a shifting political climate only complicate things further. Until now, Gunn had been shaping a new era for DC around a solid, albeit idiosyncratic vision: tonal diversity, inspired casting, banging soundtracks and genuine pizzazz. For all that it could occasionally veer into bad taste, this was a franchise that did have a taste, a certain flavour, with Peacemaker and Superman both amassing audiences, while anticipation grows for the horror-tinged Clayface and a neo-noir take on Lanterns. At this pivotal point for the DCU, we get a lively if not-entirely-convincing space opera, in Supergirl’s first solo outing since 1984.

Milly Alcock’s Supergirl/Kara Zor-El was introduced at the end of Superman as his hot-mess cousin who spends her time with adorable pup Krypto on red-sunned planets where whiskey does its self-medicating work. Mid-bender, she meets a familiar plot device: the recently orphaned Ruthye (Eve Ridley), out for revenge against the dastardly S&M-coded Krem (a wasted Matthias Schoenaerts). Searching for a MacGuffin — an antidote for the poison coursing through the veins of Krypto (a very good boy) — the pair journey across a litany of sepia-toned planets, poky dive bars and fight sequences.

Milly Alcock and David Corenswet, as cousin Superman, have an easy chemistry.

Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Dumb Money) knows his way around a punchline, but now directing a superhero movie, he only offers diet-James Gunn. The jokes and needle-drops largely fizzle out, and the film lacks one of the DCU’s best signatures: a scene-stealing supporting cast. The closest we get is Jason Momoa’s glam-rock mercenary Lobo, charming in his handful of minutes but amounting to little more than an extended cameo. Even more ill-advised is the looming threat of sexual violence, tonally jarring and regressive against Supergirl’s potential as a fun feminist icon who seeks to be “good but not nice”.

There are genuine glimmers of hope. Outside the main action, flashbacks to Supergirl’s origin story and the fate of the Kryptonians are artfully composed and heartbreaking, with perfectly pitched performances from David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham as her parents, while Alcock and David Corenswet, as cousin Superman, have an easy chemistry. Those bright sparks illuminate the thin central thread, even if our hero’s moral code and PTSD don’t totally cohere.

The result isn’t disastrous by any means, just blandly safe. You just wish Gillespie would let these freak flags truly fly. There are good ingredients here: a witty, hard-partying, badass antihero, a moving backstory, an odd-couple dynamic between Alcock and Corenswet worth building on — but the fledgling DCU still has yet to prove itself.

You know how it is: you spend ages waiting for a stylised, noir Prime Video superhero series and then two come along all at once. And after the bizarrely brilliant, Nic Cage starring Spider-Noir last month, next month is bringing with it Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2, the next chapter in Bruce Timm's dark, moody, incredibly underrated spiritual successor to his own legendary nineties hit, Batman: The Animated Series. And with The Riddler, Joker, and a whole host of deep-cuts from DC's rogues' gallery awaiting Hamish Linklater's Dark Knight this time out, it looks like we're in for a blockbuster second season. Check out the trailer below;

Holy villain-stuffed trailer, Batman! No sooner have we finished catching our breath following that explosive Caped Crusader Season 1 finale than Timm and executive producers Matt Reeves and J.J. Abrams are back with what's looking like another doozy of a season. After The Penguin, Catwoman, and Two-Face took centre stage in the show's first outing, this time it appears Bats is facing new threats from all angles — including Edward 'The Riddler' Nygma (voiced, seemingly, by one Dave Franco — an official cast list has yet to materialise), that Clown Prince of Crime The Joker, and a whole bunch more monikered wrong'uns (hello Firefly, Manbat, Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter!) All this, and Batman/Bruce Wayne still finds himself under intense public, private, and mental scrutiny as chaos reigns over Gotham and its citizens continue to wonder whether the Bat has come to save or condemn them all. Suffice it to say, this really isn't your average superhero cartoon.

With cameras finally rolling on Matt Reeves' The Batman Part II, this year's Annecy teasing that puppet-based animated feature The Dynamic Duo is well on its way, and now this incredibly slick-looking, brooding Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2 trailer dropping today, it feels like the drought is finally over for fans of Gotham's Batfam. And the floodgates are officially set to open when Caped Crusader swoops onto Prime Video on 31 July.

For over three decades now, Pixar has been changing the game – pioneering the 3D-animated feature, and always delivering complex and characterful films with a sophisticated streak. From Toy Story, through beloved favourites like Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo, into Wall-E and beyond, the studio is behind some of the most iconic characters, imaginative ideas and jaw-dropping visuals to have emerged in 21st Century cinema.

But which Pixar is movie is the greatest of them all? Which ones most capture the emotions in our Headquarters, or have us feeling we could win the Piston Cup, or make our souls soar like they did in the Great Before? Read Empire’s official ranking of every Pixar feature film – from Toy Story, right up to Hoppers.

31) Cars 2 (2011)

From any other studio, the empty but colourful whizz-bang adventure of Cars 2 would be perfectly acceptable. But while the film riffs energetically on throwback spy tropes from Bond to The Man From UNCLE, it's not up to Pixar's usual storytelling standards – lacking in charm and character, over-complicated and under-cooked. It does, at least, have visual pop as Lightning McQueen and crew (now including Michael Caine as secret agent Finn McMissile) set off on a globetrotting world tour with bouts of international espionage – but Cars 2 is the rare Pixar film that seems to play solely to young audience members.

Read Empire's review of Cars 2.

30) Lightyear (2022)

There was a valiant idea in Lightyear – to take one of Pixar’s most iconic characters, and do something totally different with him. But while a full-blown sci-fi adventure from the studio sounds tantalising, the results proved oddly muted. As with weaker Pixar fare, it’s still totally watchable, but Lightyear plays unexpectedly dour, with Chris Evans’ Buzz (supposedly the ‘real’ fictional character on which Andy’s beloved space-toy is based) going on an introspective journey to learn his place in the universe. There are great ideas: a bold sequence in which Buzz repeatedly undertakes an Interstellar-like time-bending mission while everyone he’s ever known ages significantly around him; a interesting Zurg-centric villain revelation; instant-favourite robo-cat Sox. But it’ll ultimately go down as a curio, a film that never goes to infinity, let alone beyond.

Read Empire's review of Lightyear.

29) The Good Dinosaur (2015)

A boy-and-his-dog story if the boy was a dinosaur and the dog was a boy, The Good Dinosaur famously went through much overhauling and retooling – and you can feel the joins. But if it's a relative failure for Pixar, it's at least an interesting one. The emotional weight is brutally blunt (the early death of apatosaurus Arlo's dad is genuinely wrenching), and it's full of weird and wild detours – from cowboy T-Rexs and rustler Velociraptors, to a druggy sequence that sees Arlo and human toddler Spot eat fermented fruit and trip out. Odd, but not without merit.

Read Empire's review of The Good Dinosaur.

28) Cars (2006)

For all the build-up, John Lasseter's long-gestating passion project turned out to be oddly by-the-numbers – a perfectly acceptable piece of family entertainment that lacked the snappy comedy and perfect pacing of prime Pixar, even if it delivered solid plotting and impressive racing animation. Not to mention the sheer mind-bending logistical questions that its world conjures – one in which there are sentient cars but no humans, and the notion of vehicular reproduction can't help but loom. If it doesn't resonate as strongly for older viewers like the Pixar classics, it at least proved hugely popular with kids – raising an entire generation on Lightning McQueen, and spawning the studio's first proper franchise since Toy Story.

Read Empire's review of Cars.

27) Monsters University (2013)

There's a nice idea behind this Pixar prequel – a college campus comedy that's Monsters, Inc. meets Animal House. And it's full of gentle chuckles, cutesy young designs of Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan (Billy Crystal and John Goodman both returning on voicing duties), and a sprightly energy. But it's pretty lightweight stuff, even if it packs in an interesting message: that hard work might not be enough to achieve your dream if you're really not suited for it, but you might find fulfilment in putting your talents to use elsewhere. That's the lesson learned by the young Mike, desperate to become a celebrated scarer before pivoting to a less glamorous logistical role.

Read Empire's review of Monsters University.

26) A Bug’s Life (1998)

Pixar's follow-up to Toy Story transplanted the story of Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven into the world of insects. If it's not as memorable as the first adventure of Woody and Buzz, it proved the studio was far more than a one-hit wonder. Flik is the imaginative drone ant who draws in a team of circus bugs to help protect his colony from the evil grasshoppers who try to steal their food stash. It packs considerable laughs (the moths unable to resist the lure of the light, Joe Ranft's turn as hammy German caterpillar Heimlich), but remains surpassed by much of the studio's subsequent output.

Read Empire's review of A Bug's Life.

25) Cars 3 (2017)

The final instalment of the Cars trilogy is the best of the three – with a more introspective tone and deeper characterisation than either of its predecessors. Yes, it's the Logan of the Cars world – one in which Lightning McQueen is running out of steam and questioning his future, as a new generation of racers speed up from behind him. It's still not Pixar at its peak, but Cars 3 provides a satisfying closure on the remarkably popular franchise – and even nods to a brighter future with Cristela Alonzo's incoming racer Cruz Ramirez.

Read Empire's review of Cars 3.

24) Elio (2025)

If Elio — directed by the maverick trio of Domee Shi (Turning Red), Madeline Sharafian, and Adrian Molina (Coco) — is a glimpse into the future of Pixar's original animation output, then that future is bright. A (perhaps too) gently delivered, visually inspired space oddity about a lost little boy (Yonas Kibreab) whose greatest wish — to be abducted by aliens and taken on an intergalactic adventure — comes true, Pixar's 2024 original offering may carry unexpected echoes of Mickey 17 and Contact in its DNA, but its story of self-discovery and the long road to figuring out where you belong feels entirely fresh and marches to the beat of its own drum. Toy Story told wide-eyed weans to reach for the sky 30-odd years ago; Elio dares to imagine what we might find there. The plot probably won't stick with you far beyond the end credits, truth be told, but the experience of watching it will — and that ain't nothing.

Streaming now on Disney+.

23) Brave (2012)

The story of flame-haired Scottish Princess Merida feels more akin to the recent mainline Disney output (the likes of Tangled and Frozen) than a Pixar film – not a criticism, but a recognition of how tonally different it feels to the studio's usual fare. For one, the humour (mostly involving Merida's trio of young brothers) skews younger, playing a little broader, a little less refined, and the story is a little more generic. But character-wise it's beautifully done – exploring a complex mother-daughter relationship rendered even trickier thanks to a magic spell with unexpected consequences. If the gorgeous early concept art teased something more mystical and contemplative, Brave is nevertheless beautiful inside and out.

Read Empire's review of Brave.

22) Elemental (2023)

On the outside, Elemental looks like Pixar business as usual – set in a gorgeous city inhabited by fire, water, earth and wind people, director Peter Sohn’s analogy for the melting-pot New York he grew up in. But under the hood, it’s unique – a proper Pixar romcom, with water-guy mismatched Wade (Mamoudou Athie) and flame-headed Ember (Leah Lewis) falling for each other while uncovering a mystery in Element City. Their growing bond is incredibly charming, all building to a tear-jerking climax as the pair are forced to fight for each other amid city calamities, their opposite natures, and familial obligations. It doesn’t all work, but it’s an effective deliverer of warm-and-fuzzies, with some gorgeously-textured animation in Ember’s gently-blazing body and Wade’s liquid form.

Read Empire's review of Elemental.

21) Toy Story 5 (2026)

31 years after their first outing, Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of Pixar's beloved gang of plastic pals returned once again this year with Toy Story 5. The first film in the franchise to be directed by Pixar OG — and Wall-E and Finding Nemo filmmaker — Andrew Stanton, this latest entry in the toyetic saga finds the series back on philosophical form, contemplating the great battle facing today's youth: toys vs tech. In true Pixarian style, there's far more to the disruptive arrival of Greta Lee's frog-faced tablet Lilypad in young Bonnie Anderson's life than meets the eye here, with Stanton and co taking a welcomely optimistic approach to the device/dolly divide as the movies' unsung hero Jessie gets to take centre stage at last. And besides, while the movie does wade into some deeper waters in its exploration of how technology has affected our ability to play and connect with other, it's also just a rootin' tootin' blast from start to finish. The original trilogy remains untouched, obvs, but this is as good as Toy Story 4 and keeps the movies' record of nothing but bangers firmly intact!

Read Empire's review of Toy Story 5.

20) Luca (2021)

Whilst Enrico Casarosa’s 2021 fish-based fable may not trouble Pixar’s biggest hitters in the spectacle department, there’s an ineffable charm to the Italian writer-director’s small-scale, sun-soaked paean to childhood, self-discovery, and motorised scooters. Set amid the picturesque town of Portorosso (a loving nod to Studio Ghibli’s Porco Rosso), Luca follows two teen sea creatures — Luca and Alberto (Jacob Tremblay and Jack Dylan Grazer) — who come of age together in the human world over one glorious, long summer. The episodically-structured plot of this literal fish-out-of-water tale can at times feel a little shallow, but the same cannot be said of its exploration of male friendship and the experiences of marginalised communities. Luca feels like a bit of a hidden gem already.

Read Empire's review of Luca.

19) Finding Dory (2016)

If its title hints at a lazy spin-off, the Nemo follow-up is a real surprise – proving that the first film's comic relief side-kick could anchor a whole movie of her own. Taking in loss and abandonment, it packs an emotional punch while also delivering huge laughs, thanks particularly to oddball side characters like monobrowed sea lion Gerald and boggle-eyed bird Becky. It's a little overstuffed with new characters – though Ed O'Neill's grouchy octopus Hank is a mind-bogglingly impressive piece of animation – and if it goes a little wild in the final act (did it really need a car chase, as funny as this one is?), it's far more than an empty cash-in.

Read Empire's review of Finding Dory.

18) Hoppers (2026)

Pixar's 30th feature — yes, 30th! — is proof (as if any were needed) that the legendary animation studio has very much still got what it takes to deliver a damn good original movie. Or perhaps that should be a dam good original movie, as We Bare Bears creator Daniel Chong's beaver-based feature directorial debut is an absolute blast from start to finish. Desperate to save her local woodland from destruction by Mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm), this madcap (slightly Avatar-y) movie sees animal lover Mabel (Piper Curda) transfer her mind into a lifelike robotic beaver and befriend the animal kingdom in the hopes she can corral a creature-and-critter-led rebellion. If it sounds nutty, that's because it most assuredly is. But it's also heartfelt, poignant, and a timely call for us all to love each other — and this world — better while we still have the time. Also the human-in-a-beaver-body stuff is funny... like really, really funny.

Read Empire's review of Hoppers.

17) Toy Story 4 (2019)

After delivering a near-perfect trilogy that ended with a near-perfect finale, Pixar dared to go back to its old toys. And Toy Story 4 mostly gets away with it, giving us an emotional coda that feels welcome, if not strictly necessary. If the plotting is a tad hectic (it's a road trip that turns into a pit-stop at a fairground next to an antiques shop), it's full of delights – Tony Hale's suicidal, existential arts-and-crafts spork Forky ("I'm trash!"), a much more satisfying incarnation of Bo Peep after her absence from Toy Story 3, Keanu Reeves as Canadian daredevil Duke Caboom, and a poignant pay-off for Woody and Buzz. With Toy Story 5 already confirmed, it remains to be seen how the finale here is paid off.

Read Empire's review of Toy Story 4.

16) Incredibles 2 (2018)

Not quite as dazzling as the original, Incredibles 2 (no 'The', for reasons that remain unclear) is at least a natural Pixar continuation – a superhero sequel in a box office landscape saturated by them, that once again proved animation to be a natural medium for portraying superpowers. Taking place in the aftermath of the first movie, it smartly foregrounds Holly Hunter's matriarch Elastigirl, venturing back into the crime-fighting fray in the wake of Jack-Jack's birth while Mr. Incredible turns stay-at-home dad. Its domestic scenes are smartly observed, Jack-Jack remains comic dynamite (his battle with a raccoon delivers huge laughs), and it pulls off zippy action with an expanded roster of heroes.

Read Empire's review of Incredibles 2.

15) Soul (2020)

Pete Docter’s Inside Out follow-up went even bigger in ambition – delivering an existential odyssey about life, death, and the 'Great Before’, through the story of aspiring jazz musician Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx). After dying on the day of his biggest musical opportunity, his soul teams with unruly spirit 22 (Tina Fey) ands returns to Earth in unexpected form. Soul explores humanity and art with all the freewheeling imagination you'd expect from Docter, while co-director Kemp Powers brings specificity to the evocation of Black communities in New York. It's gorgeous to look at too, from the jaw-dropping lighting in the Earth-bound street scenes, to the black-and-white visual freak-out that accompanies Joe's initial demise. While it aims high and swings big, it doesn't always connect – but it’s a mind-boggling work that only Pixar could have made.

Read Empire's review of Soul.

14) Onward (2020)

Preceded by a string of sequels, Pixar's return to original stories proved a total blast – hilarious, emotional, and imaginative, presenting a contemporary fantasy world that has long lost its magic. At its heart are elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot (Tom Holland and Chris Pratt), who never got to grow up with their deceased dad. When their attempt at a 'visitation spell' goes wrong, they set off on a race-against-time quest to re-try the magic. The result is one of Pixar's funniest films, stuffed with uproarious sight gags, peppered with propulsive action, and with a rollocking tone nicely balanced out by a tug of emotional loss. Add in a glut of D&D references and a beautiful brotherly relationship, and it's a critical hit.

Read Empire's review of Onward.

13) Inside Out 2 (2024)

A thoughtful continuation of Inside Out’s emotional journey slips back inside the mind of a now-teenage Riley (Kensington Tallman), scrambled anew by the onset of puberty — and the arrival of several new emotions. Chief amongst them is Anxiety (an outstanding Maya Hawke), whose calamitous efforts to prepare Riley for high-school life — aided by Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) — see the teen’s childhood emotions left adrift. Sar-chasms, dark secrets, and a recurring bit involving a 2D toon from Riley’s favourite childhood show all handily emulate the first film’s visual invention and quick-witted humour. But, once again, it’s the nuanced take on the complexities of our emotions — here, a profoundly relatable deconstruction of social anxiety and self-doubt — that delivers all the feels.

Read Empire's review of Inside Out 2.

12) Turning Red (2022)

Following her outstanding Pixar short Bao, director Domee Shi made a seamless transition to features. Turning Red is a supremely witty, visually distinctive entry in the Pixar canon – a proper coming-of-age story set in early ‘00s Toronto, in which young Mei’s (Rosalie Chiang) journey into puberty comes with the curse (or is it?) of mutating into a giant red panda at inopportune moments. With its anime-infused unapologetically tween-girl aesthetic (Boybands! Girly magazines!), emotional gut-punches in its exploration of generational trauma, and a bevy of pop bangers from 4*TOWN (penned by Billie Eilish and Finneas, no less), it’s a vibrant and unique entry in the studio’s catalogue. As a result, it’s never not on our minds.

Read Empire's review of Turning Red.

11) Coco (2017)

With Coco, Pixar distilled its propensity for extraordinary emotional punch into just two words: 'remember me'. The film's journey into the Mexican Land Of The Dead is breathtakingly colourful and drop-dead gorgeous even by the studio's own monumental standards – but it’s the thematic explorations of grief, remembrance, and family ties that stands above it all, with a finale sure to have all viewers in pools of tears. With its vibrant and vital portrayal of Mexican culture and folklore, it's a modern classic – even if, to nitpick, you can hear the narrative gears creaking a little when attempting to propel the adventure plot.

Read Empire's review of Coco.

10) Finding Nemo (2003)

The studio's first fish-fuelled adventure was a technical breakthrough at the time – conjuring a believable underwater world complete with refracting light and floating aquatic debris. The big blue is as epic an adventure environment as you could wish for – with floundering clownfish father Marlin (Albert Brooks) encountering sharks, giant turtles, and a maze of jellyfish as he searches for his missing son Nemo who's been nabbed by tropical fish traders. Andrew Stanton's solo directorial debut is packed with memorable dialogue ("Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"), resonant familial themes, and an ocean's worth of loveable characters – not least Ellen DeGeneres's memory-challenged Dory, later granted her own spin-off.

Read Empire's review of Finding Nemo.

9) Toy Story (1995)

All movies are made against the odds – but the ones stacked against Toy Story were monumental. Tussling with revolutionary technology and considerable tonal changes throughout production, the finished film became an instant classic, an all-new kind of animated movie. The game-changing 3D animation set the template for several decades to come, while the film worked for kids and adults simultaneously on different registers – not just one-for-them-then-one-for-you jokes, but on a deeper level of conception and characterisation. If Pixar has since outdone it, Toy Story remains the nucleus of everything that makes the studio great, from the indestructible buddy-duo of Woody and Buzz, to the zinging script with surprising emotional depth, with the darkness of Sid's cracked creations and an exciting action finale, all delivered in 80 minutes.

Read Empire's review of Toy Story.

8) Ratatouille (2007)

Only Pixar could hit on the pun potential of a rat cooking ratatouille and turn it into something this sumptuous and sensory. A culinary odyssey, Ratatouille managed to make cooking cinematic – visualising scents and flavours as dazzling light shows that sing on the screen. If it's recognisably set in Paris, there's gloriously surreal stuff happening here too, as furry wannabe-chef Remy finds a novel way of controlling hopeless kitchen hand Linguine. Downright delightful, with a pitch-perfect Michael Giacchino score, and a climactic scene involving a cold-hearted critic that brings goosebumps galore.

Read Empire's review of Ratatouille.

7) Up (2009)

It's impossible to discuss Up without addressing that opening sequence, distilling the life of childhood sweethearts Carl and Ellie into a mercurial montage of marriage, miscarriage, and mortality – human, heartbreaking, and beautifully handled. In fact, it's such powerful stuff that it's easy to forget how bonkers and vibrant the film is as a whole – with dogs flying planes, houses floating away on balloons, and a giant tropical bird called Kevin. That Up manages to combine all of those those elements into a meditation on grief and the process of letting go, with an octogenarian protagonist to boot, is astonishing – the sort of feat only Pixar can pull off.

Read Empire's review of Up.

6) The Incredibles (2004)

An unlikely mash-up of The Simpsons and Watchmen, The Incredibles lived up to its name – a thrilling, action-packed comic books-meets-vintage-Bond blast. Depicting an alt-universe in which outlawed superheroes are forced into quiet domestic lives, leading into a mystery around the deaths of former costumed adventurers, it saw the studio aim at a slightly older audience – and delivered with glorious super-powered team-up sequences under the guidance of director Brad Bird. There's genius comedy, too, in fashion-forward costume designer Edna Mode. But this is Pixar pulling off a proper action movie – in fact, it's still the best Fantastic Four film ever made. Your move, Feige.

Read Empire's review of The Incredibles.

5) Toy Story 2 (1999)

Just as surprising as the original Toy Story was its supremely confident sequel – so good that Disney upgraded it from a planned straight-to-video continuation to a proper cinematic release. Toy Story 2 doubles down on the core of Woody and Buzz while introducing properly loveable new characters in the Woody's Round-Up gang (Jessie! Bullseye! Not you, Stinky Pete) and taking the toys out into the big, bad world. From its Star Wars-riffing opening, to its airport action finale, via the aisles of Al's Toy Barn, the characters, narrative and gags of Toy Story 2 remain in perfect harmony, with deeper explorations around abandonment, collectorship and the true purpose of toys. And don't even get us started on Jessie's song.

Read Empire's review of Toy Story 2.

4) Monsters, Inc. (2001)

It seemed unlikely that Pixar could dream up a duo as iconic as Woody and Buzz – until Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan entered the building. The creativity on display in Monsters, Inc. is Pixar in full-flow, with the city of Monstropolis – decked out with sight gags and fuelled by the screams of terrified children – among its most dazzling locales. There's tender emotion, too, as Sully comes to discover that human toddler Boo isn't the toxic terror he was led to believe ("Kitty!"). But it's the script that really soars – full of zingers and bickering, brilliantly brought to life by Billy Crystal and John Goodman. When do we get the all-singing all-dancing stage version of 'Put That Thing Back Where It Came From, Or So Help Me'?

Read Empire's review of Monsters, Inc.

3) Toy Story 3 (2010)

For kids, the (then) final Toy Story instalment was another fun adventure with Woody, Buzz and the gang, The Great Escape in a nursery. For adults and anyone who had grown up with the series, it was a tearjerking farewell to childhood, with a climax that evoked racking sobs and bulbous tears barely hidden behind 3D glasses. From that fiery furnace scene, to the passing of the torch from Andy to Bonnie, Toy Story 3 is so emotional that it's easy forget its joys – Spanish-language Buzz Lightyear, Timothy Dalton voicing luvvie hedgehog Mr. Pricklepants, and a Ken doll fashion show. A five-star finale to a consistently five-star trilogy.

Read Empire's review of Toy Story 3.

2) Wall-E (2008)

There's a duality to Wall-E – a film that begins quietly and entirely dialogue-free before shifting into a breakneck adventure; a Pixar movie that's swooningly romantic while positing a bleak-as-hell fate for humanity. As deeply charming as our titular robot is, he's trapped in a future hellscape of our creation – a literal world of trash, littered with remnants of our consumerism and ravaged by global warming. But it's delightfully old-fashioned too, paying homage to Hollywood history with music nabbed from Hello Dolly. There's a spark of hope thanks not only to the arrival of Apple-esque love interest EVE, but the discovery of a single piece of viable plant life. As for Wall-E himself, he rivals Gizmo and Grogu in the so-cute-you’d-die-for-them stakes. Deeply loveable, narratively bold, and already a vital piece of cinema in the climate crisis age.