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This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt mark the release of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning by doing a non-spoiler, non-epic (less than 20 minutes!) chat with that film's director, the legendarily loquacious Christopher McQuarrie. [26:00 — 43:06 approx.] And that's not the only interview we've got for you on this week's veritable guestapalooza, nuh-uh. Chris also has a lovely natter with the stars of the new Wes Anderson film, The Phoenician Scheme, Benicio del Toro and Michael Cera. [1:01:37 — 1:15:35 approx.] And then, right at the end of the show, we also bring you an extended excerpt from our Andor Season 2 spoiler chat with showrunner, creator, and all round cool dude Tony Gilroy, who tells Ben Travis all about the fates of certain characters. Do not listen if you haven't seen the miracle that is Andor! [1:43:43 — 1:56:02 approx.]

Elsewhere, Chris is joined back in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and John Nugent for...

We’ve gotten our hands on an exclusive clip from the critically acclaimed anime drama, The Colors Within, which teases the dedication and level of detail that went into bringing this vibrant and uplifting story to life. Directed by Naoko Yamada (A Silent Voice: The Movie), written by Reiko Yoshida (The Cat Returns), and produced by the Japanese animation studio Science Saru, you can own The Colors Within on Blu-ray from May 27, courtesy of Gkids Films and Shout Factory.

The Colors Within features a voice cast led by Sayu Suzukawa as Totsuko Higurashi, a high school student who can see the 'colors' within others. The rest of the cast includes Akari Takaishi, Taisei Kido, Yasuko, Yui Aragaki, Aoi Yûki, Minako Kotobuki, and Keiko Toda. You can check out the official synopsis for The Colors Within alongside our exclusive clip below.

“Totsuko is a high school student with the ability to see the 'colors' of others.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is jam-packed, bumper-sized, stuffed to the gills, rammed etc. etc. and so on and so forth. But, perhaps this week more than any other, we really do mean it as we have a whopping five — yes, Five! — guests on the pod. For starters, Chris Hewitt sits down for chats with two pairs: first, there's Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, who reunite almost 30 years after The English Patient for this week's quite literally Odyssean drama The Return [24:05 — 38:32 approx]; then, he's back on the junket beat with Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburne, stars of the new spy thriller The Amateur, who reflect upon where they met, their working relationship, and the influence of Event Horizon upon modern cinema. [1:03:32 — 1:17:24 approx.] Finally, making a triumphant return to the Empire pod interviewing fray, Ben Travis has a lovely chat with Christopher Landon, the always affable director of this week's thriller Drop.

This week on the Pilot TV Podcast we've another trifecta of top notch telly offerings to dive into and review. Among the brilliant British shows we're covering on the latest episode of the pod are Chris Lang’s Unforgotten, which reunites Sanjeev Bhaskar's Di Sunny with his famous backpack as it enters its sixth series on ITV; then, over on Channel 4 Jack Rooke’s Big Boys gets a last hurrah as its third and final series finally reaches our screens; and finally, for the TV license fee payers among us, Lucy Punch starring Motherland spinoff Amandaland falls under our watchful eye as it makes its debut on BBC1 .

Elsewhere on this week's show, James Dyer, Boyd Hilton, and Kay Ribeiro start as they mean to go on — by getting sidetracked with pick'n'mix open bar discussions and The Traitors finale chat, the latter of which incurs the return of...

We've got Gods and crows on our minds on this week's jam-packed episode of the Empire Film Podcast folks — and we'll tell you for why. In a doozy of a double-guest week, first up we have a sizeable slab of the Empire VIP Club live Q&a Chris Hewitt did with Jeff Goldblum, star of Netflix's Greek myth riffing new show Kaos, to serve up for your audible delectation. And it is, as you'd expect, Goldblum at his most Goldblummy — Goldblummin' good stuff if you will [24:13 - 42:52 approx]. Then, flying in to your ears we've got an interview between Chris and Rupert Sanders, the director of the brand new version of cult classic The Crow. Together, they talk about grief, love, and wrestling with iconography [1:05:04 - 1:24:24 approx].

Either side of our guest interviews, Chris is joined in the podbooth this week by Helen O'Hara, Ben Travis and — in her final pod before she...

After a veritable drought of guests on last week's show, this week brings a figurative flood of filmmakers and stars to the Empire Podcast. First up, Ben Travis has a very hushed Zoom chat with Michael Sarnoski, director of A Quiet Place prequel/spin-off A Quiet Place: Day One [22:46 - 40:44 approx]. Then, Sophie Butcher talks all things Kinds Of Kindness with director and star duo Yorgos Lanthimos and Jesse Plemons [1:00:42 - 1:15:24 approx]. And finally, just for good measure, we also bring you an excerpt from Chris Hewitt's Bad Boys: Ride Or Die spoiler special interview with directorial dynamic duo Adil & Bilall [1:37:28 - 1:53:14 approx]. The full thing is available to subscribers, and you can subscribe at supportingcast.empire.fm. (True story.)

Back in the podbooth, Chris is joined by Sophie and James Dyer to tackle a listener question that combines two of Chris' obsessions, the MCU and Taskmaster, the latter of which he has only just started watching (for shame!

At the time of this writing, A Quiet Place: Day One registers 86% on the Tomatometer against 88 reviews. Both A Quiet Place (96%) and A Quiet Place Part II (91%) fared better with critics on Rotten Tomatoes than the new prequel has initially, but Day Ones score could still go up. Day One is eyeing a $40+ million opening weekend domestically, but Inside Out 2 will likely be the No. 1 movie at the box office for the third week in a row.

Day One has arrived A Quiet Place: Day One that is. The highly anticipated third installment in creator John Krasinskis silent but spectacular horror franchise is set to start its preview screenings this afternoon before officially opening in theaters tomorrow. And screenwriter and director Michael Sarnoskis contribution to the film saga is finding favor with the majority of critics as its Rotten Tomatoes score drops online: Day One currently registers 86% on the Tomatometer against 88 reviews.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast invites you to settle into a pair of cracking interviews. First up, Ben Travis has a sit-down with Richard Linklater [22:48 - 42:49 approx], director of the excellent Hit Man, which is out now and available to stream over on Netflix. Then, Chris Hewitt has a bonny time with the wonderfully loquacious Stephen Fry [1:06:39 - 1:26:31 approx], whose father-daughter road-trip dramedy Treasure, based on Lily Brett's 1999 autofictive tome Too Many Men, arrives in cinemas this week.

Between the interviews then, you'll find Chris — now mercifully free of his gammy leg — back in the pod booth, running rings around Helen O'Hara and James Dyer as the team discuss the best sunglasses in the movies. There's also a tonne of movie news to digest, including the new Paddington In Peru trailer and the potentially perilous state of being for the McU's Blade after another director of the ill-fated project bit the dust this week.

The greater the spy movie, the bigger the guests. That's the motto of this week's Empire Podcast, as Chris Hewitt sits down with Henry Cavill and Sam Rockwell, stars of Matthew Vaughn's new spy caper Argylle, for a fun chat about dancing, fighting, and novelists. (23:46 - 40:04) Chris is also joined by the wonderful Kumail Nanjiani, who returns to the pod to talk about his strange year of strikes, and becoming a duck for the new Illumination movie, Migration (1:02:52 - 1:17:16).

Then, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, Ben Travis, and James Dyer as they right more Oscar wrongs (this time in the Best Actress category), discuss the week's movie news, including Duncan Jones directing Rogue Trooper, and review Argylle, Migration, Cord Jefferson's fantastic American Fiction, and Jonathan Glazer's The Zone Of Interest. And Chris doesn't mention Jürgen Klopp once,...

On this week's Empire Podcast, Timmy Two Meats returns, only this time he's… Timmy Two Sweets? Yes, Timothée Chalamet, the star of Paul King's wonderful :a[Wonka]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/wonka/' }, is back on the pod, and this time he's brought his co-star, the wickedly talented Keegan-Michael Key, with him. Together, they talk to Chris Hewitt about musicals, sketches, and their friendship. Then, with the release of :a[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem/' } on shiny disc, Ben Travis has a nice natter with that film's director, Jeff Rowe.

Either side of those, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer, as they talk about Tom Cruise cake, resurrecting dead stars for audiobooks and sleep tapes, a host of new trailers, and review Wonka, :a[Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget]{href='https://www.

The latest stunning new image from the Ahsoka Disney+ recreates the epilogue of Star Wars Rebels. The Star Wars Rebels animated series ended in 2018, in an epic finale set some months before the events of the first Star Wars movie. Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger sacrificed himself to defeat the ruthless Imperial strategist Grand Admiral Thrawn, summoning a flock of purrgil - Star Wars' space whales - to spirit Thrawn's flagship into hyperspace. An intriguing epilogue scene promised this story was far from over, though; it fast-forwarded to after the end of the Galactic Civil War, promising that former Jedi Ahsoka Tano and Mandalorian artist Sabine Wren would team up on a quest to find Ezra at last.

Related: Star Wars Rebels Series Finale And Ghost Crew Fate Explained

Empire has released a new image from the upcoming Ahsoka Disney+ TV show, promising that this tantalizing epilogue will finally be addressed in live-action.

Lucasfilm's Dave Filoni has confirmed that Anakin Skywalker's former Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, still doesn't consider herself a Jedi by the time of the upcoming Ahsoka Disney+ TV show. Introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars as Anakin Skywalker's apprentice, Ahsoka Tano has blazed her own unique trail. She's outlived her former master, with her story now continuing in live-action - with the main part played by Rosario Dawson.

Speaking exclusively to Empire, Lucasfilm's Dave Filoni confirmed Ahsoka still doesn't consider herself to be a Jedi. "She’s a wanderer at this point," he observed, "and is in a lot of ways wary of any organization as such because of the power that comes with it as a group. She walks a path that basically died out a long time ago, and there aren’t many like her left, if any. So that’s a lonely thing. What is that life like?...

The reviews for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are now in, and things are looking very good for the continuing adventures of Miles Morales’ web-slinger. The animated sequel, which is the second part in a planned trilogy, has debuted at a hugely promising 97% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with critics heaping praise on our latest foray into the multiverse.

MovieWeb’s own Julian Roman declared Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to be even better than its Academy Award-winning predecessor, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and could not get enough of the breathtaking animation on display.

"Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy return in a spectacular coming of age adventure that will have your Spider-Sense tingling. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the rare sequel that improves on the Oscar-winning original in every aspect. Our valiant heroes find web-slinging fellowship but learn that problems on the home front aren't easily left behind. A...

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is better, down where it's wetter. Although we wouldn't recommend listening to this under the sea, in case you get your phone all soggy. Anyway, this is our way of saying that we're joined this week by Javier Bardem and Daveed Diggs, two of the stars of the latest Disney live-action animation adaptation (try saying that when you're the worse for wear), The Little Mermaid. They talk to Helen O'Hara and Ben Travis, respectively, and both are tons of fun.

Then, in the podbooth, Chris Hewitt hosts and is joined by Helen, James Dyer and, in the fourth chair, Kobi Omenaka, co-host of the Flixwatcher podcast, who tells us all about his brush with fame on Gladiators. Then, the four of them pay tribute to Tina Turner, talk about their favourite musicians-turned-actors, discuss the week's movie news (including the sad death of Ray Stevenson...

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has revealed the studio's new approach to Star Wars, signifying major lessons have been learned from Disney's previous mistakes. When Disney acquired Lucasfilm back in 2012, the House of Mouse hoped to get a consistent return on its $4 billion deal with George Lucas by releasing a constant stream of Star Wars movies. That approach came to an end after Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, however, and the franchise has been on pause since 2019 as far as the big screen is concerned. All that is beginning to change at last, with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announcing the next three movies at Star Wars Celebration 2023.

Related: Every Upcoming Star Wars Movie & Release Date

Speaking to Empire, Kennedy has explained the strategy behind Lucasfilm's new approach to Star Wars. "I’ve often brought up [James] Bond," she observed. "That’s every three or four...

Yub nub, motherfubbers! To celebrate Return Of The Jedi's 40th anniversary, and re-release in cinemas around the world, we bring you a gift that would have impressed even the mighty Jabba the Hutt: the live podcast we recorded a few weeks ago when Star Wars Celebration came to London.

So join Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, Nick de Semlyen, and Ben Travis for a fun-filled hour of bad impressions, even worse opinions, audience questions, and Ewok recipes. Oh, and it's a family show, so no swearies! Enjoy.

Listen to the episode on the pod app of your choice — or via the PlanetRadio player above.

On the heels of Barbie's latest series of posters, revealing multiple versions of the titular doll and Ken, fans react with their wild pitches. Based on the classic Mattel toy series of the same name, the upcoming Barbie film is co-written and directed by Oscar-nominated Lady Bird and Little Women writer-director Greta Gerwig. Margot Robbie stars as the main Barbie and finds herself expelled from Barbie Land for being less-than-perfect. She must venture into the human world in hopes to truly be happy. Ryan Gosling costars as the main version of her trusty friend Ken.

Social media users have begun creating wild pitches in reaction to Barbie's latest series of posters revealing a variety of Barbies and Kens in Gerwig's highly-anticipated upcoming film. From Russell Crowe to Nicki Minaj, Twitter is flooded with over-the-top casting ideas. Check out what they shared below:

This Ken is Jarnathan #Barbie pic.twitter.com...

Pixar continued its Oscars dominance by winning Best Animated Feature for the 10th time for “Toy Story 4,” and 2020 could continue the studio’s reign as the company has two original films — not sequels or spinoffs — on tap. “Soul” is due in June, but “Onward” opened on March 6. So what are critics saying about the fantasy film?

As of this writing “Onward” has a MetaCritic score of 61 based on 49 reviews counted thus far: 29 positive, 18 somewhat mixed, only 2 classified as outright negative. Over on Rotten Tomatoes, which rates reviews as simply positive or negative and not on the sliding scale that MetaCritic uses, the film currently has a freshness rating of 86% based on 178 reviews, only 25 of which are counted as negative. The Rt critics’ consensus says, “It may suffer in comparison to Pixar’s classics, but ‘Onward’ makes effective use of the studio’s formula — and stands on its own merits as a funny,...