EMPIRE
WELCOME
“WE’RE BACK.”
Not just the name of a song from Ghostbusters II, a film I’m told I refer to way too often, but the general sentiment as the SAG strike ends and Hollywood cranks back up for business. After 118 tense, gruelling days for everyone in the industry (as well as those wondering when we’re going to get to see Deadpool taking the piss out of Wolverine’s hair on a big screen), the studios and the actors’ guild finally came to an agreement on 8 November, the news reaching Empire Towers just before we sent this issue off to the printers. From safeguards around the use of AI to pay increases for background actors, it’s great news all round, and well worth the temporary shutdown. And now, with cameras having the dust blown off them and movie stars rehearsing their answers to, “What drew you to this project?”, show business is, well, back in business.