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The Empire Film Podcast

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The Empire Film Podcast is the official podcast of Empire, the world's biggest and best movie magazine. We bring you all the latest movie news and nonsense, as well as reviews of the week's new films, an assortment of irreverent, film-related chat and interviews with some of Hollywood's best and brightest. New episodes every Friday.

For our famous deep dives into specific movies, subscribe to the Empire Spoiler Special Podcast at https://empire.supportingcast.fm/

Love TV? Subscribe to our sister show, The Pilot TV Podcast, which covers every quality show landing on the small screen — because you can't watch *everything*. https://podfollow.com/pilot-tv-podcast/
958 Episodes
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This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down with two wonderful guests — first, we strap Chris Pratt to a chair (metaphorically speaking, that is) and ask him about his new thriller, Mercy, in which he does battle with an A.I. judge played by Rebecca Ferguson; [25:50 - 40:14 approx] and then Claire Foy, star of this week's moving drama, H Is For Hawk, drops by the office to talk about working with goshawks and Gleeson, Brendan. [1:13:07 - 1:32:55 approx] Both are delights, we're sure you'll agree. Either side of those, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer and, briefly, Beth Webb for a fun episode in which they reveal their specialist subject on Mastermind, discuss great movie doctors, review No Other Choice, Saipan, Mercy, The History Of Sound, and H Is For Hawk, and go all-in on Oscar nominations discussion in a bumper-sized movie news section. It's all here, apart from the bits we cut out. Enjoy!
In the first episode of a new regular, the Empire Podcast brings you the interviews that matter about the movies of the moment. So that means a lovely chat with the legendary South Korean director, Park Chan-wook, and actor Lee Byung-hun, as they (with the help of translators) tell Amon Warmann about their new movie, and first collaboration in over 20 years, No Other Choice. And things get very Irish as Chris Hewitt sits down with Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke to talk about their new movie, Saipan, which tells the story of the real-life falling out between Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy (Coogan) and captain Roy Keane (Hardwicke)just before the World Cup in 2002. Enjoy.
We haven't done a trailer breakdown podcast for a while, folks, but when not one, not two, not three, but FOUR oblique teasers dropped recently for Avengers: Doomsday, which heralds the return to the MCU of Robert Downey Jr., the Russo Brothers, Chris Evans, and who knows who else, we felt the need to pop into the podbooth and natter about the teasers until, well, doomsday. So join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and Amon Warmann for an in-depth look at the four teasers and what they mean for the movie that might just be the biggest film of 2026. Enjoy.
The first in-studio Empire Podcast of the year, following hot on the heels of our triumphant live episode at Kings Place, sees Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and John Nugent get together to discuss their New Year's resolutions and define what 'cinema' means for them in 2026; review 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, The Rip, and Rental Family, and discuss the week's movie news. Guest-wise, Chris has lovely chats with two twosomes — Ralph Fiennes and Chi Lewis-Parry (yes, back for more after the live show, even if this was recorded months before the live show) from 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, and Rental Family's star/director duo, Brendan Fraser and Hikari. Oh, and James tells a joke. Enjoy!
It's been delayed by lurgy, but at last it's here, folks: the latest landmark in the Empire Podcast's epic journey, as we reach our 700th episode (not counting all the interview specials, spoiler specials, and sundry other specials). Recorded live, as is tradition, at Kings Place, London, on Friday January 9, it's a near three-hour odyssey of film-related fun, as Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Ben Travis talk about movie news (Avengers Doomsday trailers! Avatar box office! Tangled casting!), review Hamnet, Giant, and Song Sung Blue, and then take questions from our capacity crowd. And we have more guests than you could shake an Infinity Stone at, as Corin Hardy and Dafne Keen, director and star of new horror movie Whistle, drop by and try to kill our audience; director Bart Layton tells Alex Godfrey all about his new movie, Crime 101; Ben Wheatley returns to the live pod to chat with Beth Webb about his new mind-melting movie, Bulk; 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple stars Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, and Chi Lewis-Parry drop by to talk with Ben Travis about their infected follow-up; and the Russo Brothers themselves, Joe and Anthony, stop by (Joe on Zoom from Los Angeles) to say as much as they can about Avengers Doomsday without giving anything away. The guest interviews section runs from 50:22 - 2:22:36 [approx]. Thanks, as ever, to our guests for being so gracious with their time, everyone who made it happen, Kings Place, DNA for the great spot prizes, and you guys for supporting us through 700 episodes. We're only just getting warmed up. Enjoy!
Don't worry, folks — the Empire Podteam may be engaged elsewhere today (Friday, January 9), preparing to do the live show at Kings Place, London, that marks our 700th episode. But we'd never let you down, and let a Friday go without a dose of Empire Podcast goodness. Which brings us to this interview special, in which Helen O'Hara sits down on Zoom with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, the stars of Chloe Zhao's emotionally devastating drama, Hamnet (in cinemas from today), about the tragedy that befell William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes; and then, as James Vanderbilt's WWII (well, post-WWII) drama, Nuremberg, hits Sky Cinema, we have a chat between Vanderbilt and Chris Hewitt about the former's determination to make the movie, and much, much more. Episode 700 will be in your feeds by the end of the weekend, but we hope this tides you over until then. Enjoy.
It's finally here! A little later than usual due to some technical mishaps, the latest episode of The Shameless Plug sees Chris Hewitt and Nick de Semlyen sit down on Teams (yes, Teams!) to have a chat about the latest issue of Empire magazine, which is still on sale in all good, evil, and virtual newsagents. In it, our dynamic duo talk about the cover movie, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, Chris' epic sit-down with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and the magazine's Review Of The Year. And what, we hear you cry, is the Truffaut Shuffaut? Find out within. Enjoy!
With the Empire Podcast team still in hibernation until the first show of 2026 (our live show at Kings Place, London, on Jan 9 — check kingsplace.co.uk for last-minute tickets), we're plugging the gap where the regular podcast would usually be with something a little different: a look ahead to the films of 2026, in which Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer sit down in the podbooth and, armed with nothing but a calendar, scant research, and some terrible opinions, talk about the films they're excited to see in the year ahead. It's all here, from the unexpected proliferation of sheep-based movies to the biggest box office double date since Barbenheimer: Dunesday. Enjoy — and Happy New Year to all our listeners!
And so, as 2025 disappears off into the distance, it's the most wonderful time of what's left of the year, as the Empire Podcast team get together in the podbooth for their marathon deep dive/look back at the cinematic year that was. Join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer for this near-three-hour behemoth in which they go through the year month by month, tackle a couple of listener questions, run their eye over Empire's top 20 films of the year, and trot out enough film-related fun, absolute nonsense, and hot takes to keep you warm throughout January and beyond. Oh, and even though they were all very tired when recording this podcast, they barely mention it. Happy New Year to all our listeners, except that one guy. He knows what he did. Enjoy!
The final Empire Podcast of the year is here, folks, and it's a bumper-sized jamboree, longer than usual and hopefully fit to tide you over until we return with Episode 700 (live from Kings Place) on January 11th. For the first time ever, the revolving fourth chair revolves wildly during the pod itself, so Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer are joined by John Nugent, to answer listeners' questions; Beth Webb, to review Avatar: Fire And Ash, Sentimental Value, Marty Supreme, and The Housemaid; and Alex Godfrey, who joins the team for the News section to pay an extended tribute to the great Rob Reiner, who was so senselessly and shockingly slain, along with his wife Michelle Singer Reiner, this week. Guest-wise, our stocking is truly stuffed, as Chris has lovely chats with Wake Up Dead Man star, and all-round legend, Glenn Close, and Avatar antagonist, Colonel Miles Quaritch himself, Stephen Lang; while Beth has a joyous sit-down with Marty Supreme director, Josh Safdie. We hope you enjoy it. Thanks so much for listening to and supporting the pod this year — Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and we'll see you in 2026.
They all float down here. Now that It: Welcome To Derry, the prequel to Andy Muschietti's It Chapter One and It Chapter Two, has finished its eight-episode run, the Empire Podcast has teamed up with Warner Bros. to bring you a special episode in which Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer conquer their fears of clowns, spiders, and spider-clowns just long enough to talk about the Andy Muschietti/Barbara Muschietti/Jason Fuchs-created show, its Stephen King connections, its brand new characters, its setting (1962 Derry, Maine), and, of course, Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise, The Dancing Clown, who's back for another bout of bloody mayhem. While not a spoiler special, our very own Losers Club do delve into the show's major twists and turns, so if you haven't seen all eight episodes, they're available to buy now on digital platforms, or you can pre-order them on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD or steelbook from warnerbros.co.uk
Boogie Nights wasn't Paul Thomas Anderson's first movie (that was Hard Eight), but it's the film that put him firmly on the map, and served notice that here was a serious filmmaking force. And with the release of a remastered 4K UHD version of Boogie Nights on Monday, December 15, it's the perfect time for the Empire Podcast team — Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Alex Godfrey — to sit down, in association with Warner Bros., and discuss Boogie Nights and PTA's career in general. It's a real podcast, Jack. Enjoy.
The penultimate regular Empire Podcast of the year is here, folks (don't worry, there are specials galore on the way), and it's a belter. Guest-wise, we have more goodies under the tree, as Jamie Graham talks to longtime collaborators Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker (the director of Anora) about Tsou's directorial debut, Left-Handed Girl, which can be seen on Netflix; [25:27 - 41:51 approx] and Chris Hewitt has lovely chats with Wake Up Dead Man suspects, Daryl McCormack and Cailee Spaeny, [1:04:42 - 1:19:44 approx] and the legendary James L. Brooks, who returns to directing this week with Ella McCay. [1:40:42 - 1:54:01 approx] Either side of that little lot, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Beth Webb for more Christmas movie shenanigans, including a discussion of their favourite Christmas movie songs, and where they'd like to spend Christmas if they were in a movie. You'll be staggered to know that a certain plaza in LA gets a mention. The team also talk about the Golden Globe nominations and the potential Netflix acquisition of Warner Bros. (this episode was recorded before the Supergirl trailer launched, sadly), and they review Wake Up Dead Man (again), Eleanor The Great, Goodbye June, and Fackham Hall, which sees an Empire Podcast first. You'll have to listen to find out what that is. Enjoy!
"Yer man's in the pits, boss!" Joseph Kosinski's crowd-pleasingly kinetic F1 was one of the success stories of the year at the box office, displaying impressive legs (or wheels) to take the chequered flag with over $600 million in the global bank, making it the biggest hit of Brad Pitt's career. And now that the film is making its debut on Apple TV, our Chris Hewitt sat down with the film's producer, the legendary Jerry Bruckheimer, and stars Damson Idris and Kerry Condon for a fun, frank and fascinating look back at the movie. It's not a spoiler special, per se, but familiarity with F1 (the movie, not the sport, although that might help too) couldn't hurt. However you're listening to this, we hope you enjoy.
This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Christmas on our mind as we enter December, and accordingly we deliver a sackful of great guests to you, our loyal and loving listeners. First off, Chris Hewitt goes to Taron Egerton's actual flat (smells divine... and the flat wasn't bad either) to sit down with him for a candid chat about his career, his new film She Rides Shotgun, and whether or not he knows his lines. [21:05 - 38:44 approx] Then, Chris sits down with two of his absolute faves, George Clooney and Adam Sandler, for a riotous conversation about their new movie, Jay Kelly, basketball, and accents. [1:03:17 - 1:22:31 approx] And finally Chris talks to Wicked: For Good director, Jon M. Chu, in an excerpt from our upcoming spoiler special for that movie. [1:43:57 - 1:55:17 approx] Either side of those, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to review Jay Kelly, She Rides Shotgun, It Was Just An Accident, and Eternity; discuss the week's movie news (a ton of which broke after we had finished recording, as ever); and answer the first Christmas-related questions of the year, which leads to an unexpected Die Hard/Love Actually mash-up, and the team trying to figure out how to take down an Infinity Gauntlet-wielding Santa Claus. Oh, and our intrepid trio also dig into Quentin Tarantino's recently revealed list of his 20 favourite films of the 21st Century, and his accompanying comments about Paul Dano. Enjoy!
The new episode of The Shameless Plug is here, folks, and this month sees Chris Hewitt sit down with freshly-minted award winner, Empire editor Nick de Semlyen, to delve into one of the most special issues of Empire magazine in many a moon: our world exclusive first look at Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, for which Nick went on something of an odyssey of his own, as he explains here. They also talk about what's in the rest of the January 2026 issue (on sale now in all good, evil, and virtual newsagents), including the 2026 Preview, James Cameron tackling reader questions, and the wild origins of Chris' hilarious interview with Anaconda stars, Jack Black and Paul Rudd. Oh, and Corin Hardy, director of the upcoming horror film Whistle, drops in for a chilling cameo. Your ears aren't ready for it. Enjoy.
This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down with two actors who star in animated movies (and ask them both about their favourite things to do in London). First, Simu Liu Zooms in to talk about new Netflix family flick, In Your Dreams, plus his own dreams, and the return of Shang-Chi to the MCU. [21:38 - 38:30 approx] Then, Ke Huy Quan, star of Zootropolis 2, drops by to share his memories of working on Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, and his theories about snakes. [57:06 - 1:10:54 approx] And, finally, Ben Travis has a lovely natter with Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke, who have teamed up once again on Blue Moon. [1:36:55 - 1:49:54 approx] Either side of that little lot, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Alex Godfrey to chat about what passes for movie news in a week featuring the Thanksgiving break; review Zootropolis 2, Wake Up Dead Man, Pillion, Christy, and Blue Moon; and discuss the best movies set in Scotland. Does that mean Scottish accents abound? Jings! As ever, our apologies to the people of Scotland. Oh, and a famous detective drops by for a cameo. Enjoy!
This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees the podteam — Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer — play themselves as they discuss great 'as themselves' performances in the movies. They also run their collective eye over the week's movie news, including heartening Star Trek developments, review Train Dreams, Wicked: For Good, Playdate, and Sisu: Road To Revenge, and talk about Black Friday bargains into the bargain. Interview-wise, our cup runneth over as ever, as Chris has interesting chats with The Thing With Feathers star/director, Benedict Cumberbatch and Dylan Southern; [20:57 - 36:22 approx] Train Dreams star/director, Joel Edgerton and Clint Bentley; [59:10 - 1:15:34 approx] and Now You See Me: Now You Don't star/not director, Ariana Greenblatt. [1:39:14 - 1:53:45 approx] And if anyone wants the Empire Podcast made available as a sleep story, please do get in touch. Enjoy!
This week's episode of the Empire Podcast would surely deserve to get a full fat five points from Greg Davies, the Taskmaster himself, as Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and John Nugent apply themselves wholeheartedly (some more wholeheartedly than others, it must be said) to deciding which Taskmaster contestant has appeared in the best film. Then, the podteam take a look at the week's movie news and, in a bumper reviews section, cast their eyes over Edgar Wright's The Running Man, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, Ruben Fleischer's Now You See Me: Now You Don't, Julia Ducournau's Alpha, Gurinder Chadha's Christmas Karma, and James Vanderbilt's Nuremberg. Three of those movies provide this week's guests, as Edgar Wright drops by the podbooth to natter with Chris about The Running Man, and meeting Stephen King; [21:43 - 33:05 approx] Now You Three Me's Isla Fisher and Rosamund Pike talk magic and manky accents, again with Chris; [56:16 - 1:09:05 approx] and Michael Shannon talks Nuremberg and (mostly) R.E.M., also with Chris. [1:42:53 - 1:55:38 approx] Oh, and there's a huge revelation about the pod itself lurking within there somewhere. Forget what you think you know... and enjoy.
Alpha is the third film from the brilliant French filmmaker, Julia Ducournau, following on from her titanic debut, Raw, and her raw follow-up, Titane (which won the Palme D'Or, no less!). A tale of an unusual epidemic and generational trauma, there's much going on above and below the surface, which we get into in this interview special, as Jamie Graham sits down on Zoom with Ducournau and the actor Tahar Rahim, who plays the title character's drug-addicted uncle. It's a great interview, and if you fancy going to see Alpha after listening to this, it's out now in cinemas across the UK. Enjoy.
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Comments (36)

Mevish Jabeen

The Empire Film Podcast is a vibranthttps://superfilmeshd.me/filmes/ hub for movie enthusiasts, offering a blend of the latest film news, reviews, and engaging discussions. As the official podcast of Empire magazine, known for its comprehensive coverage of cinema, it features new episodes every Friday that include reviews of recent releases, interviews with industry talent, and lighthearted film-related banter.

Oct 12th
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Iván Malcolm Chessa

Maestro

Jan 8th
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SimplySpike

Awesome episode, Maria was a great addition and the guys are bouncing off each other like rubber 😁

Sep 11th
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faXtemeh

thank you for this episode.🫶🏼

Mar 28th
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leighton wilby

time stamps would be good so people know what time in the pod the bits they like are.

Jan 28th
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Jeff

RIP Seb YNWA

Aug 8th
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Alice Rosso

Where's 5th June podcast?

Jun 6th
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Pilbo2gp

boring as hell

May 10th
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Samuel Fisher

So disappointed with Empire right now! Removing content without any pre-warning and then moving it to an subscription only service that you have to pay for to access is a slap in the face of Empire supporters. I understand why they have the need to charge for it but at least have the decency to pre-warn (ex)loyal subscribers or only charge for new material. Ironically, if they hadn't been so underhanded and sneaky about it, I would happily have paid to listen to future spoiler specials but instead I feel like I have been slapped in the face and I will never buy a copy of Empire Magazine again.

Feb 7th
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Iván Malcolm Chessa

01:13:13 - 01:17:07 to skip Helen's anti-Joker rant

Jan 7th
Reply (1)

Luis Costa

how to completely miss the point.... Joker is about human condition, not about monsters.

Nov 7th
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Will Belfield

Simply my go to podcast.

Oct 22nd
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brian murray

did we know that tony mentions the endgame in Age of Ultron? am I just slow?

Sep 10th
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Paul Huyter

Unfortunately, this podcast becomes a lecture from the Left more often than not.... it is "problematic".

Sep 5th
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Henry Edwards

Over 50 minutes of random, unrelated dialogue? Not only is that unprofessional, it's pathetic

Jul 28th
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DocRobotnik

Gotta love Kevin. The guy is a fantastic storyteller, regardless of what you think of his work.

Jun 17th
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Stephen Coils

love the podcast these guys should have a TV show

May 30th
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B G

Anyone else having trouble downloading this episode?

May 6th
Reply (3)

Thomas Tang

This podcast is somehow longer than the movie and I am just as excited!

May 6th
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Igor No

no in

May 4th
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