The Empire Film Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Bobby Omelettes And The Dolby Rumbler (ft. guests Alex Cox and Ralph Ineson) Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

Do not adjust your speakers, or your headphones. Yes, Ralph Ineson's voice really is that deep and sonorous. And in this week's Empire Podcast, Chris Hewitt sits down with the actor who plays the planet-eating entity, Galactus, in next week's The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and talks about how his voice is his passport. [1:04:38 - 1:20:16 approx] Elsewhere, Chris also has an engrossing chat with Repo Man and Walker director Alex Cox about his days hosting BBC 2's much-missed cinematic gateway, Moviedrome. [30:44 - 44:01 approx] And then Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and John Nugent to discuss Rachel Zegler in Evita at the London Palladium, chat about the week's movie news, review Friendship, Smurfs, and Four Letters Of Love and, in a lengthier than usual listener question section, programme their ultimate music festival of fictional movie bands. Oh, and Chris coins a nickname for a highly-respected and beloved director. Enjoy.

The Shameless Plug #5: Tron Ares, Light-Up Covers, And More Jul 17, 2025

Show notes

This month's episode of The Shameless Plug sees Chris Hewitt sit down with Empire editor, Nick de Semlyen, for a deep dive into the latest issue of Empire magazine, which just happens to have a limited edition light-up cover to commemorate our latest cover movie, Tron Ares. Together, our dynamic duo discuss the art of the cover line, their favourite envelope-pushing covers from Empires past, and the contents of the issue. Nick talks about writing a feature on The Naked Gun, Chris discusses his experiences of writing about Nobody 2, and they both chat about whether 'Shazza' is a good nickname for anyone called Sharon. As Chris Evans (who's in one of the features, fact fans) once said, there's a lot of great stuff inside the issue. Enjoy!

Where's The Cueball Going? (ft. guests, David Corenswet and Joseph Kosinski) Jul 11, 2025

Show notes

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is dominated by bald baddies. Namely, a group discussion of the hairless horrors who have been tormenting do-gooders in all kinds of movies throughout the years. But also, our very own James Dyer, whose unexplained absence from the podbooth has Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and Alex Godfrey speculating wildly, and threatening to send out search parties. Will James turn up? And if he does, how will he react to a conversation about bald villains? What will he have to say about the week's movie news? And what are his thoughts on James Gunn's Superman, which is the main topic of conversation in the reviews section. And speaking of Superman, Chris Hewitt sits down with the new Man Of Steel, David Corenswet, for a fun and fascinating chat. [23:41 - 42:04 approx] But that's not all — ahead of the full debut of our F1 spoiler special next week, we whet your whistle with an excerpt from our interview with that film's director, Joseph Kosinski. [56:39 - 1:07:27 approx] Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a Formula 1 car going at roughly 200 miles per hour. Easy mistake to make.

Are We The Baddies? (ft. guests Mahershala Ali & Rupert Friend, David Cronenberg, Gerard Johnstone) Jul 04, 2025

Show notes

This week's Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down for a pre-lunch chat about dinosaurs and sandwiches with Jurassic World Rebirth stars, Mahershala Ali and Rupert Friend, [25:28 - 36:36 approx] while Mike Muncer goes deep with the legendary David Cronenberg, as the Canadian director marks the release of one of his most personal films yet, The Shrouds. [1:02:07 - 1:18:07 approx] Oh, and there's an excerpt from our epic spoiler special chat with M3GAN 2.0 director, Gerard Johnstone (the full thing will be available to spoiler special subscribers next week). [1:44:33 - 1:56:03] Either side of that little lot, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Dan Jolin as they celebrate Independence Day by talking about the most evil British movie villains. Plus, they chat about the week's movie news, including The Running Man and Project Hail Mary trailers (this episode was recorded before the sad news broke of Michael Madsen's death), and review The Shrouds, Jurassic World Rebirth, and Heads Of State. Enjoy!

The Empire Podcast: The Movie (with guests Damson Idris, and Ivanna Sakhno) Jun 27, 2025

Show notes

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt break out the bleep machine for a particularly sweary chat with M3GAN 2.0 star, the delightful Ivanna Sakhno, [1:10:44 - 1:23:01 approx] and quietly judge the football team of Damson Idris, star of F1. [24:51 - 37:46 approx] Or F1: The Movie, to give it its full marketing moniker, which inspires this week's listener question as Chris, James Dyer, Sophie Butcher and our Australian chum, Jeremy Dylan, discuss the best movies that have 'The Movie' in the title. Our fantastic four also discuss the week's movie news, including a lengthy chat about the news that the great Denis Villeneuve is going to direct the first James Bond film of the Amazon era. That can be found from around 37:46 - 56:01, should you not be into Bond blather. Oh, and the team also put their heads together to review F1 and M3GAN 2.0 as well, while Jeremy shows he's the man of two voices. Enjoy.

Mona Lisa Episode IV: A New Hope (ft. guests Julianne Moore & Michael Pearce, Ralph Fiennes & Jodie Comer) Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

It's another packed episode of the Empire Podcast, the show that dares to ask the big questions: isn't the Mona Lisa just a woman sitting down? Who's the richest Northern Irish person? Can you buy stocks in Glen Powell? Join the pod team — Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Amon Warmann — as they tackle those questions, discuss the original 1977 print of Star Wars that Chris and James saw last week at the BFI, look at the week's movie news (Dune! Saw! Clayface! Naked Gun!), and review Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later, and the new Pixar joint, Elio. And guest-wise we've also got you covered as Chris sits down with Echo Valley's star-director duo, Julianne Moore and Michael Pearce, [26:05 - 40:09 approx] and the stars of 28 Years Later, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes. [1:06:45 - 1:22:26 approx] Will Ralph commit to starring in Chris' new play? Give it a listen and find out. Enjoy!

Going Deep With Colin Trevorrow: An Empire Podcast Interview Special Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

In our latest Empire Podcast interview special, Chris Hewitt sits down (in a swanky London hotel room) with Colin Trevorrow, the director of Jurassic World and Safety Not Guaranteed, to talk about Trevorrow's latest movie, the Prime Video comedy Deep Cover, which he produced and co-wrote. But that's not all — Trevorrow also talks about his choices as a director in the wake of his last movie, Jurassic World Dominion, his experiences interning on SNL, and his idea for a new podcast. We're in! Enjoy.

The Shameless Plug #4 Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

The Shameless Plug — the show in which Chris Hewitt and Empire editor Nick de Semlyen sit down and do a deep dive into the contents of the latest issue of Empire — is back, folks, and this one really is fantastic. That's because this month's cover story is The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which inspires Chris and Nick to talk about some of their set visit experiences (including one on the set of the 2005 Fantastic Four), among other things. They also talk about the other features and great standouts in the issue, and the thinking behind them, in another fun episode. Enjoy.

Yes, And/Yes, Andor (with guests Jack Lowden, Bryce Dallas Howard, Nick Mohammed & Orlando Bloom) Jun 13, 2025

Show notes

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down in person with Deep Cover stars, Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, and Nick Mohammed, to talk about their experiences playing improvisers who go undercover as fake cops;[1:00:00 - 1:15:52 approx] and on Zoom with Tornado and Slow Horses star, Jack Lowden. [26:15 - 39:20 approx] Either side of those, Chris is joined in the podbooth by James Dyer, Alex Godfrey and Empire Podcast debutant, Harry Stainer, to discuss the best and worst retcons, run their eye over the week's movie news, review Deep Cover, Echo Valley, Tornado, and How To Train Your Dragon. Oh, and there's some extreme improv, so be warned. Enjoy.

Kyle MacLachlan And Mark Frost On Twin Peaks And David Lynch: An Empire Podcast Interview Special Jun 12, 2025

Show notes

Here's a damn fine special episode of the Empire Podcast for you to enjoy. We're in the grip of Twin Peaks fever all over again — the seminal David Lynch/Mark Frost TV show is being celebrated this Sunday (June 15th) at the BFI Southbank in London with a special 35mm print screening of the show's pilot, and if that weren't enough, every single episode of Twin Peaks, including 2017's The Return, will be available to watch on MUBI as of Friday June 13th. So, naturally, we decided to mark the occasion by sitting down on Zoom with two of the show's legends. First, co-creator Mark Frost talks to Mike Muncer, then Kyle MacLachlan — Agent Dale Cooper himself — has an in-depth chat with Chris Hewitt about Twin Peaks, and his incredible friendship and working relationship with David Lynch. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, carve yourself a slice of cherry pie, and enjoy.

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