The Empire Film Podcast

That's right, woodchuck-checkers, it's Groundhog Day Day! The sensational musical adaptation of the beloved Harold Ramis-Bill Murray comedy is now back on the London stage at The Old Vic, and in this interview special Chris Hewitt sits down with Danny Rubin, writer of the original movie and the book for the musical, Tim Minchin, the mastermind behind the music and lyrics, and director Matthew Warchus, to talk about taking another bite of the cherry, the songs of the musical, its ill-fated Broadway stint, and much, much more. Enjoy.

Greetings, Spidey fans! This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt point at Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse stars, Shameik Moore (aka Miles Morales), Hailee Steinfeld (aka Gwen Stacy), and Daniel Kaluuya (aka Spider-Punk). They also have a fun chat once the fingers are holstered. Speaking of fingers, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, who has her full complement, and James Dyer, who... well, you'll see. Together, the three of them chat about the week's movie news, review Across The Spider-Verse, Rob Savage's The Boogeyman, and Tina Satter's Reality, while they tackle a listener question that asks which director won the 1980s. Whoever it is, we hope they keep it on their mantelpiece. But that's not all! Ian Freer also has a chat with the most excellent Melissa Barrera, star of the recent Scream series and now this week's adaptation of Carmen. OK, let's do this one more time... enjoy!

Since he burst onto the scene in the late Eighties, Spike Lee has been one of the most inventive and vital voices in American cinema. The great director came to London in February to receive a BFI Fellowship, the highest honour the British Film Institute can bestow, and as part of that received the highest honour the Empire Podcast can bestow: an interview special, in which he sits down with Chris Hewitt for a fascinating chat, in which they talk primarily about Malcolm X, his epic biopic of the great African-American civil rights leader and activist, and a few other things besides. A remastered print of Malcolm X is playing at the BFI Southbank as part of the BFI's excellent Film On Film season, which runs from June 8-11. For tickets and info, go to whatson.bfi.org.uk

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is better, down where it's wetter. Although we wouldn't recommend listening to this under the sea, in case you get your phone all soggy. Anyway, this is our way of saying that we're joined this week by Javier Bardem and Daveed Diggs, two of the stars of the latest Disney live-action animation adaptation (try saying that when you're the worse for wear), The Little Mermaid. They talk to Helen O'Hara and Ben Travis, respectively, and both are tons of fun. Then, in the podbooth, Chris Hewitt hosts and is joined by Helen, James Dyer and, in the fourth chair, Kobi Omenaka, co-host of the Flixwatcher podcast, who tells us all about his brush with fame on Gladiators. Then, the four of them pay tribute to Tina Turner, talk about their favourite musicians-turned-actors, discuss the week's movie news (including the sad death of Ray Stevenson), and review The Little Mermaid, Sisu, Master Gardener, and Hypnotic. Listeners, ready! Colleagues of such lethal cunning, ready! Enjoy!

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast lives its life a quarter of a mile at a time, with some hot peri-peri sauce on the side, as Sung Kang — aka Han from Fast X — Zooms in for an extended chat with Chris Hewitt, in which mind-blowing revelations are, um, revealed about Sung's predilection for Nando's, Tesco, and Liverpool FC. Did he and Chris just become best friends? YEP! Elsewhere, in the studio, Chris is joined by James Dyer and Alex Godfrey and, remotely from her Covid-cave, Helen O'Hara for a fun episode in which they tackle another Mount Rushmore question; discuss the 298 trailers that were released this week, including Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One and Gareth Edwards' comeback movie, The Creator; and review Fast X, Beau Is Afraid, and Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. Oh, and Chris gives a four-hour lecture on the Pink Panther movies and goes quite insane after discovering a massive conspiracy. And hey, you can't spell 'conspiracy' without... no, we'll let you discover that on

It's been 30 years since Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers and Chris Hewitt, in a special preview of a bigger interview to come, sat down with Nick Park to talk all things Aardman. And Aml Ameen joins Amon Warmann to discuss hunting down paramilitaries in '70s London with Sky original Dead Shot. Plus, with Chris in LA, James Dyer, Helen O'Hara and John Nugent converge upon the studio to chat about the movie location landmarks that take them to their respective happy places, whether The Meg 2 will be the greatest film ever made and quite who Jenna Ortega plays in the new Beetlejuice sequel.

The Guardians Of The Galaxy — or, at least, James Gunn's Guardians Of The Galaxy — are about to make their last stand with this week's long-awaited Vol. 3, and in this week's episode of the Empire Podcast, Chris Hewitt Zooms with Nebula herself, Karen Gillan, for a fun chat taking in everything from conspiracy theories to James Gunn's initial firing from the project, and everything in-between. Chris also has a chat with another regular pod-guest, Joe Russo, who tells Chris about the second year of the St. Andrews International Film Festival, why he never keeps track of his score at golf, and more. That 'more' includes an in-depth chat about the state of the filmmaking union and the rise of A.I. and its impact upon movies, and while this was recorded a couple of weeks ago, it feels very timely now given this week's decision, by the WGA, to call a strike, with the rise of A.I. just one of the issues at stake. Discussion of that decision forms a big old chunk of this week's movie news section, as Chris and Helen

Yub nub, motherfubbers! To celebrate Return Of The Jedi's 40th anniversary (no, of course that doesn't make us feel old), and re-release in cinemas around the world, we bring you a gift that would have impressed even the mighty Jabba the Hutt: the live podcast we recorded a few weeks ago when Star Wars Celebration came to London. So join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, Nick de Semlyen, and Ben Travis for a fun-filled hour of bad impressions, even worse opinions, audience questions, and Ewok recipes. Oh, and it's a family show, so no swearies! Enjoy.

If this week's episode of the Empire Podcast seems even more incoherent than usual, that's because it was recorded very early in the morning. Mind you, that doesn't explain why Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara and James Dyer are incoherent at the best of times, but we digress. In this episode, our intrepid trio tackle a listener question about Dodgeball 2 and end up answering a completely different Q; discuss the week's movie news, including almost everything that emerged from CinemaCon; and review Peter Pan And Wendy, Polite Society, and The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry. Chris also has lovely chats (but, crucially, not booty call texts) with the stars of that movie, Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton, and David Lowery, director of Peter Pan And Wendy, who reveals his love of Event Horizon. Do you see? Yes, we see. Enjoy.

Hail to the King, baby! No, we haven't gone all Coronation crazy, folks. Instead, this week's Empire Podcast sees the return of Chris Hewitt's beloved possessed GOAT boy, and all-time favourite filmmaker, Sam Raimi, who rocks up on Zoom to talk about the return of the Evil Dead in Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise. Plus, they talk about -- you'll never guess -- a little film called Evil Dead II, that Chris might have mentioned once or twice on the podcast. But also, hail to the Queen, baby! Chris also has a fun chat, about Deadites, dreams and snakes, with the star of Evil Dead Rise, Australian actress Alyssa Sutherland. Perhaps best listen to that once you've seen the movie. Then, afflicted by the lurgy and dodgy air con, this week's pod was recorded in the virtual podbooth, with Chris joined by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer for a fun chat about the best movie character names for babies, a trawl through what passes for the week's movie news, and reviews of Evil Dead Rise, Ghosted, Missing, and The Three Musketeers:

It's an all-British affair on the Empire Podcast this week, as we finally get a chance to bring you the interview Chris Hewitt did with Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre director/star combo, Guy Ritchie and The 'Jason Statham' Stath over a year ago, before the film's release was delayed. Now it's out on Prime Video, here's the perfect chance to hear the duo talk about working together over the years, and Ritchie's unique approach to choreographing action sequences. Then, in an interview that hasn't been locked away in a vault for over a year, Chris sits down with Nicholas Hoult, returning to the pod after a four year break (damn you, Covid!) to talk about playing the title role in Renfield, fizzy water, his approach to choosing roles, and whether or not he has a Draclier in him. Ooer missus and no mistake. Then, in an epic pod either side of those, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, Ben Travis, and James Dyer to talk about (some of) the greatest arrest scenes in movies (yes, we know we haven't b

This week's Empire Podcast has more stars than Frank Lampard has had managerial jobs at Chelsea, folks. First up, Amon Warmann is The Pope's Exorcist's star's interviewer, as he talks to the great Russell Crowe about accents, Gladiator 2 and more. Then Amon gives Air stars Matt Damon and Marlon Wayans the big old Nike tick of approval in another fun chat. And finally Chris Hewitt rounds things off with a fun if chaotic chat with Chris Pratt and Charlie Day, the stars of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Then Chris and Amon are joined in the podbooth by James Dyer for an episode in which they talk about great movie scenes featuring eggs, discuss a ton of movie news, and review all of the above movies, along with Guy Ritchie's Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. Enjoy.

It's Star Wars Celebration week, folks! The annual Jabba-and-Jawas jamboree is coming to London this year, and that is all the excuse that Connor Ratliff, Griffin Newman and Patrick Cotnoir needed to bring their runaway hit, The George Lucas Talk Show, to the Soho Theatre for a couple of shows on Friday April 7th and Saturday April 8th. If you're unfamiliar, it's an improvised spoof chat show in which Ratliff plays Retired Filmmaker George Lucas (yes, that George Lucas) and Newman plays his sidekick Watto (yes, that Watto), interviewing real guests about Star Wars and other animals. Our Chris Hewitt is a huge fan, and he jumped at the chance to talk to the trio about the show's origins, how it transformed during the pandemic, and what they have in store for London audiences. Enjoy.

OK, we're not going to lie. This week's episode of the (freshly award-nominated) Empire Podcast is even more bumper-sized than usual, folks. But that's what happens when the legendary action star, Scott Adkins, strolls into the podbooth and joins Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara and James Dyer for the first third of the show, talking about his time as Killa Harkan in John Wick: Chapter 4. Scott also sticks around for the listener question section, which is nice. Oh, and there's a big John Wick Chapter 4 spoiler from 08:06.000 to 09:25.438. Elsewhere, Chris has three incredibly fun chats with what seems like the entire cast of Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves — Chris Pine and Hugh Grant talk about what they look for in a director, Michelle Rodriguez and Regé-Jean Page wax lyrical about Northern Ireland and seals, and Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis help Chris rediscover his love of the podcast form. It'll all make sense once you hear them. And then, either side of that, it's a fun episode as Chris, Helen

Another Empire Podcast episode, another bumper selection of guests this week, as Chris Hewitt sits down (in person) with Ian McShane, star of John Wick Chapter 4, and they chat about hotels, Lovejoy, McShane's start in acting, and (of course) Columbo. (Note: this interview was conducted before the news broke of the death of McShane's John Wick co-star, Lance Reddick) Chris also has a fantastic chat with John Boyega, star of Breaking, which is released on PVOD on Monday (March 27th), in which they talk about the film's social conscience, how Boyega navigated his career post-Attack The Block and Star Wars, and how he celebrates his birthdays. And then there's a clash of the Alexes, as our Mr Godfrey chats with Infinity Pool star Alexander Skarsgard about his crazy and intense new movie. Be warned: there's talk galore of dog collars and giant penises. The usual. Then, in the podbooth, Helen O'Hara hosts and is joined by James Dyer and Sophie Butcher for a fun episode in which they discuss unusual movie murder we

Another bumper episode of the Empire Podcast this week, folks, as Chris Hewitt chats with Raine Allen-Miller and Vivian Oparah, director and star respectively of the effervescent new rom-com, Rye Lane. This may actually be the first pod interview where one of us is on a boat. Which one? Find out by listening! Then Chris sits down for a chat about movies and movie history with Marlowe star, Liam Neeson, and there's a taster of our Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania spoiler special interviews with that film's director, Peyton Reed, and writer Jeff Loveness. The spoiler special itself will be up on Monday. Then, in the virtual podbooth today, Chris is joined by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer for a fun episode that celebrates all things St. Patrick, discusses the greatest living Irish actors (and probably leaves out someone incredible), talks about the Oscars, James Gunn directing Superman Legacy, Quentin Tarantino's final film, and more, and reviews Rye Lane, Shazam! Fury Of The Gods, 65, Boston Strangler and Ti Wes

A mere 55 episodes after her triumphant appearance at our live show to mark episode 500, the wonderful Rachel Zegler returns to the Empire Podcast to talk Shazam! Fury Of The Gods, poster spoilers, cheap mic stands, George Lucas, and much, much more in a fun chat with Chris Hewitt. Guest-wise this week there's also an excerpt from James Dyer's forthcoming Andor s1 spoiler special interview with Tony Gilroy and Diego Luna, the creator and star of that most excellent Star Wars show respectively. Either side of those, Chris and James are joined in the podbooths (yes, plural) this week by Helen O'Hara to discuss the best seventh instalment in franchises, review Scream VI, Winnie the Pooh: Blood And Honey, Dead For A Dollar, and more, and, in a bumper movie news section, give their Oscar predictions, including speculation on which Best Picture nominees would be improved with a dildo fight. Answer: all of them. Enjoy!

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees another onslaught of incredible guests, as Ian Freer chats with Babylon's director-composer duo of Damien Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz about their working relationship and long friendship, and Chris Hewitt talks scary VHS covers with We Have A Ghost director Christopher Landon, and stepping into the directorial breach with Creed III star (and shot caller), Michael B. Jordan. Then, in the podbooth, Helen O'Hara hosts this week, and she's joined by James Dyer and Amon Warmann to discuss movies with small casts, the week's movie news (such as it is), and review Creed III, Close, The Strays, and The Independent. Enjoy.

As a great lady once sang, what's love got to do with it? Everything, is usually the answer, and that certainly drives this week's episode of the Empire Podcast and, indeed, the new rom-com What's Love Got To Do With It, whose stars, Lily James and Shazad Latif, pop onto a laptop and have a Zoom chat with Chris Hewitt in which he makes a desperate pitch to become their agent, and leaves the Working Title screening room in a frightful state. And love — namely of a little green guy with big ears — drives The Mandalorian, which is gearing up to return to Disney+ on March 1, and Chris also sits down with Jon 'Favs' Favreau for an interview about the show, how to find a director for Star Wars, and working with Peter Falk. Then, in the podbooth, Chris is joined by Ben Travis, Alex Godfrey and James Dyer for a fun episode in which they discuss (some of) the best movie bridges, (some of) the week's movie news, and (some of) the week's big releases, including Cocaine Bear, Asif Kapadia's Creature, We Have A Ghost, and

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is bursting at the seams with Quantumania, as Chris Hewitt sits down with Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania stars, Jonathan Majors (aka Kang The Conqueror) and Paul Rudd (aka Lang The Possibly Conquered). One of the interviews is thoughtful and considered and introspective, the other is pure chaos. Have fun finding out which is which! Then Ben Travis Zooms with Jenny Slate, star and co-writer of the delightful Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, and finds out about how the character came about, and Slate's karaoke game. Very important. And in the podbooth, Chris and Ben are joined by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer for an episode that delves deep into the cinematic treasures of 1998, discusses the week's movie news including all those lovely Super Bowl trailers, and reviews Quantumania, Marcel, and Florian Zeller's The Son. Oh, and time moves in mysterious ways this week. Enjoy.