Empire April 2021

this month

LET ME START, somewhat unusually, by talking about the last issue of Empire. Our celebration of the very best audience moments in the cinema, featuring contributions from 40 filmmakers and actors, all pulled together by Edgar Wright. It was, without a doubt, one of our most responded-to issues in Empire history: we saw a collective outpouring of love for the place that we all miss the most (the pictures). When cinemas reopened briefly last summer, they didn’t just play the odd new film; they dug into the archive. For films that have a long legacy, a long line of love. Films that have always brought people together in tough times. In amongst them was the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, which even returned to the UK box-office chart. Both LOTR and its…

talk to us

THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE Just finished reading the latest issue and got a bit emotional. It brought me back to watching Lincoln in the cinema with my dear nan. She fell asleep with boredom, whilst I adored it – even though she’s always been my biggest inspiration when it comes to anything art-related. It made me think about how we don’t have to always be united or even get on to be inspired by each other. Maybe a prudent thought in these trying times. JAMIE DYOS, VIA EMAIL Thanks, Jamie. When everything opens again, you and your nan can enjoy this Picturehouse membership on us. (And hopefully, she can stay awake this time.) Picture house Empire’s star letter wins a Picturehouse Membership, plus one for a friend! Valid for one year at Picturehouse…

no./1 zaack snyder’s zombie homecoming

After years spent toiling in the superhero world, the filmmaker returns to the bloody territory of his debut for insane genre mash-up ARMY OF THE DEAD IN RECENT YEARS, Zack Snyder has become more famous for his association with the slick comic-book visuals of movies like 300, Watchmen and what will be – with the imminent release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League — his Superman trilogy. But that’s not where he started. He earned his bones in the film business by directing 2004’s amped-up, James Gunn-penned remake of George A. Romero’s classic zombie flick, Dawn Of The Dead, which perhaps lacked Romero’s satirical bite, but more than made up for it with heavy-metal splatter and an opening sequence for the ages. And that zombie itch hadn’t been fully scratched. Hence Army…

no./2 how do you follow up the biggest film of all time?

STRANGE AS IT may seem, directing the biggest film of all time can have its drawbacks. For example, it opens so many doors that you don’t know which one to go through first. Paralysis of choice can result. George Lucas didn’t direct a movie for 22 years after the original Star Wars. “We were acutely aware of that calcification,” says Joe Russo. “But we have a very existential point of view, which is that the value is in the work, not necessarily in the response to it. We like to throw ourselves into the things that excite us. And we didn’t want to take too much time, where we started overthinking our next move.” And so, less than two years after Joe Russo and his brother, Anthony, directed the biggest movie…

martins imhangbe

INTRODUCING... ON BEING IN A NETFLIX SMASH “We were blown away. To play the part of Will [Mondrich] — based on a real figure, a boxer named Bill Richmond known as Britain’s first Black sports star — made me feel so privileged.” ON HIS FIRST TELEVISION ACTING ROLE “My background is in theatre. I told everyone from the start it was my first TV show and the cast, producers and all the team had my back.” ON GETTING INTO SHAPE FOR THE ROLE OF A BOXER “I had my own personal trainer. I had a mini six-pack when I started out but he taught me how to bulk up. I also had a boxing coach. Sadly, he passed away suddenly. That was the most enormous challenge. Losing such a wonderful person who championed me the whole…

no./3 the music documentary gets a re-wright

HE FOUND THE RIGHT SUBJECT “Sparks was just staring me in the face,” says Edgar Wright of the band that herald his first documentary. A longtime pop oddity, Sparks have been remarkably durable, with glam rock, electro and new wave phases, and too many comebacks to count. “Instead of boring my friends at dinner about how they should listen to more Sparks, I thought it might be easier to make a film.” Superfans came calling. “It’s not like I had to twist people’s arms,” the director remembers, landing revelatory interviews with everyone from Beck, Flea and Duran Duran to Neil Gaiman and Mike Myers. (Wright even interviews himself, a cheeky tactic he credits to Martin Scorsese’s landmark The Last Waltz.) Were there any rejections? Yep: Pet Shop Boys. “They passed on…