The Contractor

THIS MONTH

WELCOME TO ISSUE 400 of Empire. Yep, 400.

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO THIS MONTH

PODCASTING WITH THE STARS OF FRESH Empire’s Sophie

TALK TO US

COMMENT OF THE MONTH

Keeping cool in the face of danger

THIS MONTH’S FILM MOMENTS THAT MATTER

Why Pinocchio is pulling everyone’s strings

With three films due this year, we explore Hollywood’s ongoing obsession with a small wooden puppet

NEXT IN THE SERIES

You fell in love with that incredible new TV show. And then it ended! Don’t despair — Boyd Hilton recommends the sibling shows to watch next

The DCEU fights back

Batmen and eagles and pigs, oh my! We assess the key players in DC’s Marvel-challenging new phase

Saddle up for Jordan Peele’s bad miracle

[FIRST LOOK] An exclusive fresh peek at the director's much-anticipated new ranch-set horror

THE OSCAR FIRST-TIMERS

Here are the historymakers that emerged from this year’s nominations

“The Oscars is not a light day. There will be a lot of eyes on me”

[THE Q&A] With a career of raucous hits, from Scary Movie to Girls Trip, under her belt, REGINA HALL is embracing a new direction

How do you requel a requel?

The filmmaking duo behind the Scream reboot on ripping up the horror rulebook. Again

MOUSTACHE ORIGINS

These bristling facial features have a story to tell

Inside the ads that look just like movies

We investigate the pumpedup Super Bowl commercials with A-list clout

How do you top Normal People?

Lenny Abrahamson returns to the Sally Rooney-verse with CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS

What the Non-Fungible Token?

Empire delves into Hollywood’s intensifying flirtation with NFTs

Suzanna Son

THE 26-YEAR-OLD WAS STREET-CAST FOR SEAN BAKER’S RED ROCKET

BLACK IN FOCUS

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

Hollywood’s anime boom explained

From The Lord Of The Rings to Blade Runner, the animation style is re-energising familiar worlds

LOCAL HEROES

WE BREAK DOWN THE UNLIKELY UK HOTSPOTS THAT HAVE DRAWN A RECENT WAVE OF A-LISTERS

Shaking up the Disney princess

Rachel Zegler on her fresh, live-action spin on Snow White

Chip ’N Dale: Rescue Rangers

Unfiltered, uncensored, uncompromising trailer reactions from team EMPIRE

Paapa Essiedu is stepping up

With a buzzy new sci-fi TV show, the actor takes his place in the spotlight

What’s in Bob’s Burgers’ special sauce?

As the cult animation goes feature-length, co-director Bernard Derriman breaks down the ingredients of its success

The man who took us to other worlds

[IN MEMORIAM]

DAVE GROHL

SMALL TA LK Alamy, Getty Images Hi Dave.

Madame Web is about to spin

Here’s what you need to know about Dakota Johnson’s superhero

PETER CAPALDI

ILLUSTRATION ARN0 Do you have a signature dish?

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

BIG SCREEN. SMALL SCREEN. YOUR REVIEWS BIBLE STARTS

THE BATMAN

Zoë Kravitz as cat burglar Selina with Robert

FRESH

Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) always made sure to get

THE SPINE OF NIGHT

★★★★ OUT 24 MARCH (SHUDDER) / CERT TBC

EUROPA

★★★★ OUT 18 MARCH/ CERT TBC / 72

TURNING RED

So this is why being a teenager is

DEEP WATER

Vic (Ben Affleck) and Melinda (Ana de Armas).

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN

Crazy golf: Mark Rylance (far right) becomes an

LUCY AND DESI

★★★ OUT NOW / CERT TBC / 103

ONE OF THESE DAYS

★★ OUT 18 MARCH / CERT TBC /

RIVER

★★★★ OUT 18 MARCH / CERT U /

STUDIO 666

★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 18 / 106

THE NOVICE

★★★ OUT 1 APRIL / CERT TBC /

THE DESPERATE HOUR

★★ OUT NOW (SKY CINEMA) / CERT TBC

TRUE THINGS

Blond (Tom Burke) — how did he get

COMPARTMENT NO. 6

★★★★ OUT 8 APRIL / CERT TBC /

THE OUTFIT

★★★★ OUT 8 APRIL / CERT TBC /

DOG

It’s a dog’s life for Jackson (Channing Tatum)

UNCHARTED

An original plot-twist hoves into view. ★★ OUT

KIMI

★★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 87

MARRY ME

★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 12A / 112

THE ADAM PROJECT

Would you Adam and Adam it — Ryan

PEAKY BLINDERS: SERIES 6

Top gun: Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) is back.

THE DROPOUT

★★★★ OUT NOW (DISNEY+) / EPISODES VIEWED: 3

STAR TREK: PICARD: SEASON 2

★★★ OUT NOW (PRIME VIDEO) / EPISODES SEEN:

THE LAST DAYS OF PTOLEMY GREY

Samuel L. Jackson as Ptolemy Grey — “a

CHECKLIST

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

DARKER MAGIC

SAM RAIMI IS BACK, AND HE WANTS TO SCARE US TO DEATH AND SCRAMBLE OUR MINDS. WE SPEAK TO THE DIRECTOR, PLUS STAR BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AND MORE, ABOUT THE SECRETS OF DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

SEEING DOUBLE

AS DOCTOR STRANGE COMES FACE-TO-FACE WITH HIS BAD SELF, WE REVISIT MORE EVIL DOPPELGÄNGERS

400 THINGS WE’VE LEARNED

WE’RE HERE! 400ISSOES! STRADDLING FIVE DECADES OF FILMMAKING, WE’VE COVERED II ALL - INCLUDING THOSE FEW YEARS WHEN FOR SOME REASON EVERYTHING WAS IN 3D. HERE’S THE KNOWLEDGE WE’VE PICKED ÜP ALONG THE WAY, FOR GETTER OR WORSE

GOING BERSERK

ROBERT EGGERS’ WILD, MAD, BRUTAL VIKING EPIC THE NORTHMAN IS THE DIRECTOR’S BIGGEST, MOST AMBITIOUS FILM YET. AND, AS EMPIRE DISCOVERS, SOME OF THE BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS WERE FOR REAL

THE KEYMASTER

IVAN REITMAN UNLOCKED A NEW BREED OF COMEDY FILM: HEARTWARMING, WITTY AND TOTALLY OFF THE CHAIN. HERE, COLLABORATORS AND FAMOUS FANS WRITE EXCLUSIVE TRIBUTES TO A GIANT OF JOY

OPEN YOUR EYES

In multidimensional mindbender EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, Michelle Yeoh’s laundrette owner takes a trip into a world of infinite possibilities… and googly eyes. As she and the film’s cast and crew tell us, it was all or nothing

GODS AMONG US

The dedicated zen wizard who makes effortlessness look easy JEFF BRIDGES

THE MOMENT

Duane attacks Sonny

MIA

The Bridges roles that never were

Second life

Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao reflects on the divisive impact and evolving reputation of her ambitious Marvel epic, ETERNALS

Miller’s Crossing

We reassess the greatest films of all time, one film at a time

THE COENS IN NUMBERS

29/11/54 JOEL COEN IS BORN 21/9/57 ETHAN COEN

How to build a hero

Kimi writer DAVID KOEPP on creating a comp elling protagonist

MOVIE PLAYLIST

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

Nicolas Cage Movies

Five Empire writers. Ten movies. Ordered definitively

THE TOP TEN

1 THE ROCK (1996) Amon: “It’s widely known

I’d quote that for a dollar

Writer Ed Neumeier talks us through ROBOCOP’s most memorable lines

THE CULT OF KIM NEWMAN

The critic and novelist on this month’s weirdest home-entertainment picks

THE VIEWING GUIDE

The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain

THE STORY OF THE SHOT

Citizen Kane

6 OF THE BEST

Team Empire on the month’s essential movies

CROSSWORD AND COMPETITION

ACROSS 1 Frank, director of It Happened One

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

CLASSIC SCENE Standout sequences from the great movies