The Empire Film Podcast

Want to know the story of how Chris Hewitt almost stepped on Florence Pugh's dress? Well, this isn't the podcast for you, as it features Chris and Helen O'Hara trying to tell that tale, from the press night of Cynthia Erivo's Dracula (sorry, Draclier), only to get sidetracked by a dozen different things and forget to finish it. But if you want to hear Chris, Helen, James Dyer, and John Nugent talk about movie characters falling from great heights, pay tribute to the great Robert Duvall, discuss the latest The Mandalorian And Grogu trailer, and review The Secret Agent, Good Luck Have Fun Don't Die, Wasteman and If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, this is the podcast for you. Oh, and Chris and Helen launch new careers as theatre reviewers too. Guest-wise, Harry Stainer talks to the Oscar-nominated star of the Brazilian thriller, The Secret Agent, one Wagner Moura, and his director, Kleber Mendonça Filho. It's a cracking episode, even if we're still nowhere nearer to finding a nickname for Tin Jim. Enjoy.

The Interviews returns this week, folks, with a bumper-sized edition of chatty goodness. First, Chris talks to David Jonsson and Tom Blyth, the stars of hard-hitting prison drama, Wasteman, about the impact of their movie, and wild auditions. Then, Chris has a right giggle with Asim Chaudhry, who is one of the potential saviours of the world recruited by Sam Rockwell in Gore Verbinski's Good Luck Have Fun Don't Die. And, finally, Chris has an audience with a genuinely legendary film critic, the great Leonard Maltin, who tells Chris all about his new book, Every Movie Is A Miracle, meeting Buster Keaton, and starring in Gremlins 2. Three cracking interviews about three wildly different subjects. Every movie podcast is a miracle. Enjoy.

Love is very much in the air on the Empire Podcast this week, as Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Becky Darke cram themselves into the podbooth and get all misty-eyed over Jason Voorhees, the masked maniac from the Friday The 13th movies, just in time for his birthday. But Valentine's Day also looms large this weekend, so the podteam answer a listener question about the worst choices made in rom-coms. The answers will shock you. Elsewhere, our intrepid quartet discuss the week's movie news, including the shock news that Mike Flanagan has decided to adapt a Stephen King story, and review Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights, Bart Layton's Crime 101, Corin Hardy's Whistle, and Hasan Hadi's The President's Cake. And Helen sits down on Zoom with Emerald Fennell to ask her all about her adaptation of the classic novel. [45:29 - 1:02:11 approx] Enjoy!

This week's Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down for a delightfully dotty chat with Send Help stars, Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien, who talk about being directed by Sam Raimi with a paper bag over his head, pretending to know how to play golf, and delivering the greatest line reading of all time. There are no spoilers here, but maybe wait until you've seen Send Help before listening. Either side of that, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Amon Warmann as they use Steven Spielberg's elevation to EGOT status to Mount Rushmore the greatest EGOTs of them all. They also bid a sad farewell to Catherine O'Hara and pore over the pictures of Sam Mendes' Beatles in the news section, while a packed reviews section sees them run their collective critical eye over Send Help, Riz Ahmed's Hamlet, My Father's Shadow, The Chronology Of Water, another Dylan O'Brien movie in Twinless, and 100 Nights Of Hero. Oh, and James may have got a new nickname at last. Enjoy.

Another week, another episode of The Interviews, the new show that collects the Empire Podcast's chats with filmmakers into a handy one-stop shop. This week sees Chris Hewitt talk to Kristen Stewart about her directorial debut, The Chronology Of Water, the directors who inspired her to direct, and working with national treasure, Imogen Poots; Zootropolis 2 director Jared Bush about the wild success of that Oscar-nominated, billion dollar-grossing, A-list-cameo-crammed animated movie; and Andrew Guest, co-creator of Wonder Man, drops by to drop some spoiler chat about his new MCU Disney+ show, Wonder Man. It's another cracking line-up, and we hope you enjoy.

Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans' golden animated movie, KPop Demon Hunters, is the kind of phenomenon that comes along once in a blue moon, dominating both the Netflix charts since its release last June, and the music charts over the last few months. Now, fresh from success at the Grammys, the Oscars are firmly in its sights. So it's the perfect time for KPop Demon Hunters' writer/director duo, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, to sit down virtually with our Alex Godfrey for a deep dive into the movie's origins and subsequent success. Enjoy.

We interview a lot of people for the Empire Podcast, folks, and we've finally decided to collect most of them in one easy-to-find place. So welcome to the second episode of The Interviews. This week, Chris Hewitt catches up with Jason Statham and Ric Roman Waugh, star and director of new action thriller Shelter, and along the way Chris and The Stath realise they've been doing the interview dance together for a long, long time. Chris also chats to director Derek Cianfrance about the excellent Roofman, which is out now on shiny discs and streaming. And finally, we have an excerpt from our 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple spoiler special chat with that film's director, Nia DaCosta, who tells Ben Travis all about some of that film's key moments. Remember: swerve that if you don't want to be served a nice big slice of spoiler pie. Enjoy!

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down with Bradley Cooper and Will Arnett, director, co-writers, and stars of the new dramedy, Is This Thing On?, which takes inspiration from the real-life story of British comedian, John Bishop. It's an in-depth chat that we bring to you in full (although we did cut out a bit where someone poured a glass of water. Sorry to all you water completists out there), and it's well worth your time. It starts at 55:50 approx and runs until 1:20:14 approx. Either side of that, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Alex Godfrey for a fun episode in which they discuss the movie moments guaranteed to make them cry no matter how many times they've seen them; run their eyes over what passes for movie news (it was quite a slow week); review Is This Thing On?, action-comedy The Wrecking Crew, Jason Statham's Shelter, mad monkey movie Primate; and Richard Linklater's love letter to the French New Wave, Nouvelle Vague. Oh, and we make good on last week's promise, and bring you James, Helen, and Chris tackling their specialist subjects in a round that pays homage to classic BBC quiz show, Mastermind. It's pure chaos. Thanks to Magneto Magnetosson, for stepping in at short notice to host. Enjoy.

The Shameless Plug is never late. Nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it means to, roughly halfway through the on-sale cycle of the latest issue of Empire. To which, after all, this show is dedicated to shamelessly plugging. And once again, the Fellowship of the Plug — Chris Hewitt and Empire editor, Nick de Semlyen — have assembled in the Podmines of Moria for that plugging. You have Nick's microphone, and Chris' copy of Adobe Audition, and if the deluge of Lord Of The Rings references hadn't already clued you in, the duo are here to talk about issue 450 of Empire, which is dedicated to celebrating 25 years of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Rings. Nick regales us all with tales of reuniting the four Hobbits and Sir Ian McKellen, virtually collecting the rest of the Fellowship, plus Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and getting Andy Serkis to write a piece for us. It's not all LOTR, with tales of Raimi-wrangling, a bit of Gore, and a Gollum impression you will never be able to unhear. Simples. Enjoy!

In the first episode of a new regular, the Empire Podcast brings you the interviews that matter about the movies of the moment. So that means a lovely chat with the legendary South Korean director, Park Chan-wook, and actor Lee Byung-hun, as they (with the help of translators) tell Amon Warmann about their new movie, and first collaboration in over 20 years, No Other Choice. And things get very Irish as Chris Hewitt sits down with Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke to talk about their new movie, Saipan, which tells the story of the real-life falling out between Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy (Coogan) and captain Roy Keane (Hardwicke)just before the World Cup in 2002. Enjoy.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down with two wonderful guests — first, we strap Chris Pratt to a chair (metaphorically speaking, that is) and ask him about his new thriller, Mercy, in which he does battle with an A.I. judge played by Rebecca Ferguson; [25:50 - 40:14 approx] and then Claire Foy, star of this week's moving drama, H Is For Hawk, drops by the office to talk about working with goshawks and Gleeson, Brendan. [1:13:07 - 1:32:55 approx] Both are delights, we're sure you'll agree. Either side of those, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer and, briefly, Beth Webb for a fun episode in which they reveal their specialist subject on Mastermind, discuss great movie doctors, review No Other Choice, Saipan, Mercy, The History Of Sound, and H Is For Hawk, and go all-in on Oscar nominations discussion in a bumper-sized movie news section. It's all here, apart from the bits we cut out. Enjoy!

We haven't done a trailer breakdown podcast for a while, folks, but when not one, not two, not three, but FOUR oblique teasers dropped recently for Avengers: Doomsday, which heralds the return to the MCU of Robert Downey Jr., the Russo Brothers, Chris Evans, and who knows who else, we felt the need to pop into the podbooth and natter about the teasers until, well, doomsday. So join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and Amon Warmann for an in-depth look at the four teasers and what they mean for the movie that might just be the biggest film of 2026. Enjoy.

The first in-studio Empire Podcast of the year, following hot on the heels of our triumphant live episode at Kings Place, sees Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and John Nugent get together to discuss their New Year's resolutions and define what 'cinema' means for them in 2026; review 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, The Rip, and Rental Family, and discuss the week's movie news. Guest-wise, Chris has lovely chats with two twosomes — Ralph Fiennes and Chi Lewis-Parry (yes, back for more after the live show, even if this was recorded months before the live show) from 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, and Rental Family's star/director duo, Brendan Fraser and Hikari. Oh, and James tells a joke. Enjoy!

It's been delayed by lurgy, but at last it's here, folks: the latest landmark in the Empire Podcast's epic journey, as we reach our 700th episode (not counting all the interview specials, spoiler specials, and sundry other specials). Recorded live, as is tradition, at Kings Place, London, on Friday January 9, it's a near three-hour odyssey of film-related fun, as Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Ben Travis talk about movie news (Avengers Doomsday trailers! Avatar box office! Tangled casting!), review Hamnet, Giant, and Song Sung Blue, and then take questions from our capacity crowd. And we have more guests than you could shake an Infinity Stone at, as Corin Hardy and Dafne Keen, director and star of new horror movie Whistle, drop by and try to kill our audience; director Bart Layton tells Alex Godfrey all about his new movie, Crime 101; Ben Wheatley returns to the live pod to chat with Beth Webb about his new mind-melting movie, Bulk; 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple stars Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, and Chi Lewis-Parry drop by to talk with Ben Travis about their infected follow-up; and the Russo Brothers themselves, Joe and Anthony, stop by (Joe on Zoom from Los Angeles) to say as much as they can about Avengers Doomsday without giving anything away. The guest interviews section runs from 50:22 - 2:22:36 [approx]. Thanks, as ever, to our guests for being so gracious with their time, everyone who made it happen, Kings Place, DNA for the great spot prizes, and you guys for supporting us through 700 episodes. We're only just getting warmed up. Enjoy!

Don't worry, folks — the Empire Podteam may be engaged elsewhere today (Friday, January 9), preparing to do the live show at Kings Place, London, that marks our 700th episode. But we'd never let you down, and let a Friday go without a dose of Empire Podcast goodness. Which brings us to this interview special, in which Helen O'Hara sits down on Zoom with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, the stars of Chloe Zhao's emotionally devastating drama, Hamnet (in cinemas from today), about the tragedy that befell William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes; and then, as James Vanderbilt's WWII (well, post-WWII) drama, Nuremberg, hits Sky Cinema, we have a chat between Vanderbilt and Chris Hewitt about the former's determination to make the movie, and much, much more. Episode 700 will be in your feeds by the end of the weekend, but we hope this tides you over until then. Enjoy.

It's finally here! A little later than usual due to some technical mishaps, the latest episode of The Shameless Plug sees Chris Hewitt and Nick de Semlyen sit down on Teams (yes, Teams!) to have a chat about the latest issue of Empire magazine, which is still on sale in all good, evil, and virtual newsagents. In it, our dynamic duo talk about the cover movie, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, Chris' epic sit-down with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and the magazine's Review Of The Year. And what, we hear you cry, is the Truffaut Shuffaut? Find out within. Enjoy!

With the Empire Podcast team still in hibernation until the first show of 2026 (our live show at Kings Place, London, on Jan 9 — check kingsplace.co.uk for last-minute tickets), we're plugging the gap where the regular podcast would usually be with something a little different: a look ahead to the films of 2026, in which Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer sit down in the podbooth and, armed with nothing but a calendar, scant research, and some terrible opinions, talk about the films they're excited to see in the year ahead. It's all here, from the unexpected proliferation of sheep-based movies to the biggest box office double date since Barbenheimer: Dunesday. Enjoy — and Happy New Year to all our listeners!

And so, as 2025 disappears off into the distance, it's the most wonderful time of what's left of the year, as the Empire Podcast team get together in the podbooth for their marathon deep dive/look back at the cinematic year that was. Join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer for this near-three-hour behemoth in which they go through the year month by month, tackle a couple of listener questions, run their eye over Empire's top 20 films of the year, and trot out enough film-related fun, absolute nonsense, and hot takes to keep you warm throughout January and beyond. Oh, and even though they were all very tired when recording this podcast, they barely mention it. Happy New Year to all our listeners, except that one guy. He knows what he did. Enjoy!

The final Empire Podcast of the year is here, folks, and it's a bumper-sized jamboree, longer than usual and hopefully fit to tide you over until we return with Episode 700 (live from Kings Place) on January 11th. For the first time ever, the revolving fourth chair revolves wildly during the pod itself, so Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer are joined by John Nugent, to answer listeners' questions; Beth Webb, to review Avatar: Fire And Ash, Sentimental Value, Marty Supreme, and The Housemaid; and Alex Godfrey, who joins the team for the News section to pay an extended tribute to the great Rob Reiner, who was so senselessly and shockingly slain, along with his wife Michelle Singer Reiner, this week. Guest-wise, our stocking is truly stuffed, as Chris has lovely chats with Wake Up Dead Man star, and all-round legend, Glenn Close, and Avatar antagonist, Colonel Miles Quaritch himself, Stephen Lang; while Beth has a joyous sit-down with Marty Supreme director, Josh Safdie. We hope you enjoy it. Thanks so much for listening to and supporting the pod this year — Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and we'll see you in 2026.

They all float down here. Now that It: Welcome To Derry, the prequel to Andy Muschietti's It Chapter One and It Chapter Two, has finished its eight-episode run, the Empire Podcast has teamed up with Warner Bros. to bring you a special episode in which Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer conquer their fears of clowns, spiders, and spider-clowns just long enough to talk about the Andy Muschietti/Barbara Muschietti/Jason Fuchs-created show, its Stephen King connections, its brand new characters, its setting (1962 Derry, Maine), and, of course, Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise, The Dancing Clown, who's back for another bout of bloody mayhem. While not a spoiler special, our very own Losers Club do delve into the show's major twists and turns, so if you haven't seen all eight episodes, they're available to buy now on digital platforms, or you can pre-order them on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD or steelbook from warnerbros.co.uk