THIS MONTH

WE’VE BEEN THERE. Now it’s time to go

TALK TO US

COMMENT OF THE MONTH

EMPIRE

Editor NICK DE SEMLYEN Creative Director CHRIS LUPTON

Stranger Things prepares its endgame

The Duffer Brothers tease the monumental season-capper of their fantasy behemoth

Baltasar Kormákur’s survival guide

With BEAST, the thrillseeking director continues to tackle the extreme

IS THIS THE WILDEST EVER SUPERHERO SHOW?

AS TIME-TRAVELLING DC SERIES LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

Facing up to a Face/Off sequel

Adam Wingard updates Empire on his follow-up to John Woo’s 1997 classic, being written with Nicolas Cage in mind

The secrets of becoming Al Pacino

In THE OFFER, Anthony Ippolito plays the actor who played Michael Corleone. He tells us why it wasn’t strictly business, but personal

How a Native-American story defied the odds

Riley Keough and Gina Gammell’s War Pony has gone from Pine Ridge reservation to the red carpet at Cannes

Development hell vs Predator

With new Predator movie Prey out soon, we look at series entries that never got made

Inside 2022’s sleeper smash

How eccentric, ideaspacked indie EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE proved that original stories can still hit big

The life aquatic with James Cameron

Avatar: The Way Of Water’s new sea creatures revealed

“The struggles are where you really learn something about yourself”

[THE Q & A] As CONSTANCE WU tackles high-octane action for the first time, the actor explains why she’ll never play the same role twice

Why Ncuti Gatwa will be the perfect Doctor

Boyd Hilton on why the Sex Education star and returning showrunner Russell T Davies are a perfect duo for Doctor Who

The romcom making history

Billy Eichner on BROS, the gay romantic comedy that’s pushing things forward in more than one way

“His score was the soul of Blade Runner ”

[ IN MEMORIAM]

How Hollywood is smashing sexual taboos

Pleasure is the latest in a wave of films aiming to change perceptions of sex work

Three Thousand Years Of Longing

Unfiltered, uncensored, uncompromising trailer reactions from team EMPIRE

Madeleine McGraw

Marco Vittur, Getty Images THE ACTOR STARS IN

BLACK IN FOCUS

AMON WARMANN chews over the main moment in Black film and TV this month

What will the MCU look like in 2032?

As Marvel brainstorms its next decade of movies and TV, we predict the future of superheroes

From outer space to a childhood place

Filmmaker James Gray ditches the spectacle for Armageddon Time, his most personal film yet

The champion of the psychological thriller returns

After six years, Park Chan-wook is back doing what he does best with DECISION TO LEAVE

NEXT IN THE SERIES

You fell in love with that incredible new

Still turning it up to 11

A brief history of Spinal Tap, the fake band that simply refuse to quit rocking

TIMOTHY SPALL

Gutter credit ILLUSTRATION ARN0 When were you most

THE BLACK PHONE

10 JUNE - 1 JULY BIG SCREEN. SMALL

TOP GUN: MAVERICK

He feels the need, the nee— oh,

NITRAM

Caleb Landry Jones as Martin Bryant —

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CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH

Distinctly fewer sequins in this Cha Cha than

EVERYTHING WENT FINE

★★★★ OUT 17 JUNE / CERT 15 /

GEORGE MICHAEL: FREEDOM UNCUT

★★★★ OUT 22 JUNE / CERT TBC /

BRIAN AND CHARLES

★★★★ OUT 8 JULY / CERT TBC /

THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE

★★★★ OUT NOW / CERT PG / 102

MOON, 66 QUESTIONS

★★ OUT 24 JUNE / CERT 12A /

THEO AND THE METAMORPHOSIS

★★★ OUT 24 JUNE / CERT TBC /

ELVIS

All shook up — Austin Butler as

GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE

“So, shall I start with a foot rub?”

CHIP’N DALE: RESCUE RANGERS

Double trouble: chipmunk crime-fighters Chip ’N Dale make

MAD GOD

★★★★ OUT 16 JUNE (SHUDDER) / CERT TBC

FIRESTARTER

★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 94

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

Benedict Cumberbatch returns as Doctor Strange. Karl Mordo

PLEASURE

★★★★ OUT 17 JUNE / CERT TBC /

TIGERS

★★★★ OUT 1 JULY / CERT TBC /

MEN

Harper (Jessie Buckley) watches her back. ★★★ OUT

STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 4, VOLUME 1

Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven; David Harbour as

HALO: SEASON 1

Frankly, they’d skimped on body armour. ★★★ EPISODES

THE BOYS: SEASON 3

Bad-boy superhero Homelander (Antony Starr), stilll full in

CHECKLIST

Your at-a-glance view of this month’s reviews

THE WORLD IS CHANGED

So said once a wise Elf named Galadriel. And she was right — because with the arrival of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, the biggest TV show of all time, Middle-earth is getting a radical reboot. From new lands to new dangers, its creators tell us why we should hold on tight

OFF THE RAILS

DAVID LEITCH’S ACTION EXTRAVAGANZA SEES SOME GRISLY ASSASSINS RIPPING THROUGH JAPAN — ON WHEELS. THE DIRECTOR, STAR BRAD PITT AND MORE TELL US HOW THEY CLUNG ON FOR THEIR LIVES

Between them, these people's movies have grossed over $4 billion.

WELCOME TO THE CURIOUS, HIGH-FLYING WORLD OF STAND-INS, WHERE YOU CAN BECOME MERYL STREEP OR SPIDER-MAN FOR A DAY, THEN GO HOME WITHOUT DRAWING A SECOND LOOK

IT'S ALIVE

HE’S THE STOP-MOTION GENIUS BEHIND SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE CINEMATIC CREATURES — BUT FOR PHIL TIPPETT, IT’S ALL BEEN LEADING TO MAD GOD, A PASSION-PROJECT DECADES IN THE MAKING. EXCLUSIVELY FOR EMPIRE, HE EXPLAINS WHY THIS IS HIS GREATEST CREATION

BURTON RETURNS

WITH BATMAN RETURNS, TIM BURTON GAVE THE WORLD A SEQUEL THAT ASTONISHED, DELIGHTED AND SHOCKED IN EQUAL MEASURE. NOW, 30 YEARS LATER, THE DIRECTOR SITS DOWN WITH EMPIRE TO REVISIT A TRULY SINGULAR SUPERHERO OUTING

THE ODD COUPLE

IN BRITISH COMEDY BRIAN AND CHARLES, A LONELY INVENTOR BUILDS HIMSELF A PECULIAR ROBOT FRIEND. WE TALK TO THE CAST AND CREW ABOUT 2022’S MOST ECCENTRIC BUDDY MOVIE

COP LAND

IN 1997, JAMES MANGOLD BURST INTO HOLLYWOOD WITH AN A-LIST EPIC ABOUT A SHERIFF BATTLING HIS OWN TOWN. AS COP LAND  HITS 25, WE TALK TO THE DIRECTOR ABOUT THE MASTERPIECE HE MADE THROUGH SHEER FORCE OF WILL

Siren call

INDISPENSABLE HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

THE MASTERPIECE

INVASION OF THE INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS

KAUFMAN’S IS ONE OF FOUR OFFICIAL BODY SNATCHERS MOVIES. HERE ARE THE OTHERS

Judd Apatow’s comedy heroes

As his new George Carlin documentary arrives, the writer/director reveals the funnymen and women who inspired him

Casablanca

THE STORY OF THE SHOT

Steady Eddie

For two decades, EDDIE MARSAN has been one of the most dependable character actors around. Here are eight reasons why

MOVIE PLAYLIST

THE CRITIC AND SCALA RADIO PRESENTER CHOOSES SCORES HE’S BEEN PLAYING ON HIS WEEKLY SHOW

Bruce Willis movies

THE RANKING

THE TOP TEN

1 DIE HARD (1988) Chris: “John McTiernan’s classic

The Worst Person In The World

THE VIEWING GUIDE

THE CULT OF KIM NEWMAN

The critic and novelist on this month’s weirdest straight-to-video picks

6 OF THE BEST

Team Empire on the month’s essential movies

Waiting For Guffman

Standout sequences from the great movies