Masthead

Creative Director Associate Editor CHRIS LUPTON

DISPATCHES

TEAM EMPIRE ON A FEW OF OUR HIGH POINTS THIS MONTH

COMMENT

LETTING OFF SOME STEAM My brother and I

What Hollywood lost in the fire

THE BLAZING DESTRUCTION THAT RAVAGED LOS ANGELES LAST MONTH CAUSED HUGE LOSS BUT ALSO GREAT UNITY WITHIN THE FILM INDUSTRY

WELCOME

ON 15 JANUARY, Earth lost its most unearthly

’Til death do they part

BLACK BAG ’S MICHAEL FASSBENDER AND CATE BLANCHETT ON PLAYING MARRIED SPIES INVOLVED IN A DEADLY CHASE

Danny Ramirez

THE CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD ACTOR PLAYS BY HIS OWN RULES

HOW A SERIAL-KILLER MOVIE EMERGED FROM THE SHADOWS

OVER DECADES, THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY HAS STALKED SOME OF HOLLYWOOD’S BIGGEST NAMES

A thriller redefining ‘cult status’

MARK ANTHONY GREEN ON GOING THE EXTRA MILE TO MAKE HIS DEBUT FILM, OPUS

THE MONTHLY MIXTAPE

EMPIRE MIXMASTER AMON WARMANN SELECTS THIS MONTH'S ESSENTIAL TUNES

MEET HOLLYWOOD’S GO-TO JFK

IN MARIA , CASPAR PHILLIPSON PLAYS THE FORMER POTUS FOR THE SIXTH TIME

Asterisky business

TEAM THUNDERBOLTS* ON HOW THEY’RE TRIGGERING A NEW CHAPTER OF MARVEL MAYHEM

THE D AY OF THE CHUCKLE

A FORMER CHILDREN’S TV STAR TURNS ASSASSIN IN DARK NEW THRILLER FALL TO THE TOP

DAN STEVENS IS EVAN GREEN

THE ACTOR PLAYS A POLARISING TV PRESENTER IN THRILLER SERIES ZERO DAY

THE SUPERFAN WHO WILL NEVER LET GO

EMPIRE CATCHES UP WITH THE TITANIC COLLECTOR WHOSE ANALOGUE OBSESSION KNOWS NO BOUNDS

ROCK ROCK ROCKIN’ THIS PROMO TOUR

HOW TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET TOOK VIRAL STUNTS TO A NEW LEVEL FOR A COMPLETE UNKNOWN

This time it’s war

A NEW THREAT. RETURNING FOES. AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH PROMISES INTERSTELLAR PERILS ON AN EYE-WIDENING SCALE

THE SKY CAPTAIN WITH STYLE TO BURN

MEET PEYLAK. HE’S KIND OF A BIG DEAL

Outreaching Jack Reacher

OLIVIER RICHTERS TAKES ON THE FAMOUSLY HUGE HERO IN THE RETURN OF THE HIT SHOW

FROM THE BLOCK TO THE OSCARS?

WITH KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, JENNIFER LOPEZ M AY FINALLY CATCH THE ACADEMY’S EYE

ON OUR MINDS

DAFT MUSINGS FROM THE WARPED MINDS OF TEAM EMPIRE

Taking action to biblical new heights

EMPIRE HEADS TO CHURCH TO SEE HOW GANGS OF LONDON SEASON 3 IS UPPING THE STAKES

NEED TO KNOW

GET UP TO SPEED ON… CLAYFACE

Christina Hendricks

THE SMALL TOWN, BIG STORY STAR PONDERS THE PRICE OF DAIRY AND PERILS OF THE OCEAN

MEMOIR OF A SNAIL

DON’T POUR SA LT ON THIS STOP-MOTION TRAGICOMEDY

THE MONKEY

THE ULTIMATE IN SIMIAN TERROR

STA R TREK: SECTION 31

MICHELLE YEOH’S FINAL FRONTIER

THE LAST SHOWGIRL

PAMELA ANDERSON MAKES A SPARKLING COMEBACK

BANK OF DAVE 2: THE LOAN RANGER

★★★ OUT NOW (NETFLIX) / CERT 12 /

WILLIAM TELL

★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 133

COMPANION

HEY SIRI, MAKE ME A NEW AI HORROR-THRILLER

HOLLYWOOD ON THE TIBER

UPSIDE, INSIDE OUT, LIVIN’ LA DOLCE VITA

IN GAD WE TRUST

★★★ This debut from Frozen star Josh Gad

THE ART AND MAKING OF ARCANE

★★★★ This exhaustive, neon-jacketed book lays bare the

ASTEROID CITY

Imago ★★★★ The sixth edition of Matt

SEVERANCE: SEASON 2

INNIE, OUTIE, SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT-IE

ALIEN: ROGUE INCURSION

THIS TIME IT’S VR

THE THING REMASTERED

★★★ NINTENDO SWITCH, PC, PS5, PS4, XBOX ONE,

MONUMENT VALLEY 3

★★★★ ANDROID/iOS (NETFLIX) This third entry in

ROBODUNK

★★★★ NINTENDO SWITCH, PC, PS4, PS5, XBOX ONE,

LOVE HURTS

AN ACTION COMEDY CAUGHT IN A BAD ROMANCE

BACK IN ACTION

DON’T CALL IT A CAM-BACK

WOLF MAN

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN AMERICA

also out

HEAD TO EMPIREONLINE.COM TO READ THESE REVIEWS IN FULL

FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS

FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS, IT’S BEEN THE ACTION FRANCHISE TO END ALL ACTION FRANCHISES. AS TOM CRUISE AND THE TEAM OUTDO THEMSELVES ONCE MORE, IS MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE —THE F INAL R ECKONING THE END OF ETHAN HUNT?

CRUISE CONTROL

MOST HUMAN BEINGS WOULD FIND THE FRANCHISE’S REAL-LIFE MISSIONS IMPOSSIBLE. BUT TOM CRUISE ISN’T MOST HUMAN BEINGS. HE TELLS US HOW HE PULLED OFF THE MOST DEATH-DEFYING SEQUENCES

THE DEFIANT ONE

OF LATE , JAMIE LEE CURTIS HAS RADICALLY SHAKEN UP HER CAREER. AND WITH A POWERFUL PERFORMANCE IN THE LAST SHOWGIRL , SHE TELLS US WHY SHE’S DONE WITH COMPROMISING

TO HELL AND BACK

AFTER THE BLIND CRIMEFIGHTER’S TV SERIES WAS ABRUPTLY CANCELLED IN 2018, HIS FUTURE LOOKED DARK. BUT NOW, WITH DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN , HE HAS RETURNED — AND DARKNESS IS VERY MUCH ON THE CARDS…

NINE LIVES

In Gints Zilbalodis’ FLOW, a cat travels through a flooded, hazardous, post-human landscape, putting those feline survival skills to good use. Here, the Latvian director recounts the nine stages of his own unique filmmaking journey

WISE GUYS

FOR DECADES, ROBERT DE NIRO AND THE MEN BEHIND MAFIA DRAMA THE A LTO KNIGHTS HAVE MADE LEGENDARY FILMS TOGETHER. NOW, WITH THE ACTOR TAKING BOTH LEAD ROLES, HE AND THE TEAM DISCUSS HISTORY AND LEGACY

David Lynch

1946 2025

"He had other worlds inside of him"

Nicolas Cage ON Wild At Heart

"He made films on his own terms"

Dexter Fletcher on The Elephant Man

Creating Snootworld Screenwriter

Caroline Thompson a Lynch project that got away

"If there was anything weird, it was how normal he was"

Chris Isaak on Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Dreamweaving

As novelist and Lost Highway co-screenwriter Barry Gifford remembers, working with Lynch was a continual joy

Fire Starters

Four Empire writers discuss Lynch's indelible female powerhouses

"His work emboldened the strangeness in me"

writing for Empire, Censor filmmaker Prano Bailey-Bond describes how Lynch changed her life

Out of the Park

NICK PARK , CREATOR OF WALLACE &GROMIT , ON LIFE WITH THE BELOVED DUO

Smile 2

DIRECTOR PARKER FINN ON THE SHOCKS OF HIS STUNNING SEQUEL

Whiplash

THE DRUMMER EPIC THAT NEITHER RUSHES NOR DRAGS

PICKS OF THE MONTH

1 DRESSED TO KILL (OUT 3 MARCH,

Back in the hunt

AS HAMMER HIDDEN GEM CAPTAIN KRONOS: VAMPIRE HUNTER GETS A RE-RELEASE, EMPIRE TALKS TO STAR CAROLINE MUNRO

End of the voyage

AS THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER FINALLY ARRIVES, EMPIRE TALKS DRACULA AND DELAYS WITH DIRECTOR ANDRÉ ØVREDAL

The Transformers movies

FOUR EMPIRE WRITERS TACKLE ONE TITANIC FRANCHISE. GOOD FILMS IN DISGUISE?

TALES FROM KIM'S CRYPT

LEGENDARY AUTHOR AND CRITIC KIM NEWMAN BRINGS US HIS UNIQUE TAKES ON CULT CINEMA

Black Narcissus

CINEMA’S GREATEST MATTE PAINTING…?

ALEXANDER MACKENDRICK AND MILOS FORMAN

JAMES MANGOLD ON THE DEBT HE OWES TO THE TWO LEGENDARY DIRECTORS

The Ultimate Empire Quiz

THIS MONTH

WIN!

THREE CRITERION TITLES

COMPETITION ENDS 10 MARCH

HOW TO ENTER Take the letters from each

Nil By Mouth

THE STAIRWELL SCENE