Or 42 minutes with Chris Hewitt and Nick de Semlyen. Which would you prefer? Don't answer that. Anyway, that's what you've got with the latest episode of The Shameless Plug, as Chris and Nick sit down to talk about Nick's extraordinary adventures in New Zealand, shadowing James Cameron for two days as he put the finishing touches to this month's cover movie, Avatar: Fire & Ash. Elsewhere, our friends and neighbours talk about some of the other highlights from the September 2025 issue, including Chris' interview with Jeremy Renner, and Alex Godfrey's epic Zoom sit-down with Spinal Tap. Yes, actual Spinal Tap. It's all happening. For those tales, and more from behind the scenes of the world's biggest movie magazine, press play. And if you haven't picked up your copy yet, there's still time in good, evil and virtual newsagents wherever you are. Enjoy.

In space, no-one can hear you pod. Thankfully, we're not on space, we're on Earth, so you will be able to hear this wonderful Empire Podcast special dedicated to Noah Hawley's excellent Alien prequel, Alien Earth, which dropped its first two episodes today on Disney+. Here, you will hear Chris Hewitt sit down with Hawley, the show's creator and showrunner, about his vision for the show, the monsters old and new that he's bringing into this universe, and the lengths his cast members went to get his attention. And you'll also hear from two of those cast members, Timothy Olyphant, who plays the inscrutable synth, Kirsh, and Sydney Chandler, who plays the show's wide-eyed but extremely formidable lead, a hybrid called Wendy. Neither interviews are spoilerific, but you might want to wait until you've seen the first two episodes before giving them a whirl. It's your call. We're not your MU-TH-UR.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Helen O'Hara slip into the host's chair in Chris Hewitt's absence, and use her endless reservoir of patience to corral James Dyer, Alex Godfrey and Ben Travis in a discussion of the best second movies by notable directors (and yes, we know that we didn't mention [INSERT BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS CHOICE HERE]). That was inspired by the arrival of Weapons, the second film from Zach Cregger, and in the reviews section our quartet lose their minds over that, and also look at Freakier Friday, My Oxford Year, and The Pick-Up. Oh, and they talk about trailers, trailer, and more trailers in the movie news section. Guest-wise, Chris pops up on Zoom to have a lovely natter with Guy Pearce, who shows off his musical prowess, reveals the one accent that eludes him, and talks about brilliant new Australian prison drama, Charles Williams' Inside (which is out on Monday, August 11, on digital platforms); [20:12 - 37:51 approx] and Ben has a lovely spoiler-free chat with Weapons star, and the MCU's secret weapon, Benedict Wong. [1:02:05 - 1:17:58 approx] Enjoy!

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast adds insults to injury, as the team — Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, Alex Godfrey, and Ben Travis — share their favourite movie insults. And, yes, misquote at least one of them horribly. Also, nothing on this earth will prepare you for Alex Godfrey's Pazuzu impression. We can only apologise in advance. Elsewhere, the team also discuss the week's movie news, plug the new issue of Empire, and review Happy Gilmore 2, The Naked Gun, and Bring Her Back, while Chris is joined in The Guest Zone by The Naked Gun director, and one-third of The Lonely Island, Akiva Schaffer [20:11 - 39:53 approx], and Superman director James Gunn, who shares some spoilerific thoughts in an extended excerpt from our Superman spoiler special. [01:33:30 - 01:42:47 approx]

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is all kinds of fantastic. Guest-wise, Chris Hewitt sits down (in person, and on Zoom) with Matt Shakman, director of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, to discuss the FF's debut in the MCU [24:33 - 40:07 approx]; and Sam Rockwell, the cool cat who's Mr. Wolf in The Bad Guys 2. [1:07:02 - 1:19:28 approx] Then, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and, now and again, James Dyer for a fun episode in which they discuss actors who've played iconic heroes and villains, run their eyes over the week's movie news (including the state of the summer box office), and review both of the aforementioned movies. Oh, and what the hell is Movie News Mews? And where is it? Enjoy.

Do not adjust your speakers, or your headphones. Yes, Ralph Ineson's voice really is that deep and sonorous. And in this week's Empire Podcast, Chris Hewitt sits down with the actor who plays the planet-eating entity, Galactus, in next week's The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and talks about how his voice is his passport. [1:04:38 - 1:20:16 approx] Elsewhere, Chris also has an engrossing chat with Repo Man and Walker director Alex Cox about his days hosting BBC 2's much-missed cinematic gateway, Moviedrome. [30:44 - 44:01 approx] And then Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and John Nugent to discuss Rachel Zegler in Evita at the London Palladium, chat about the week's movie news, review Friendship, Smurfs, and Four Letters Of Love and, in a lengthier than usual listener question section, programme their ultimate music festival of fictional movie bands. Oh, and Chris coins a nickname for a highly-respected and beloved director. Enjoy.

This month's episode of The Shameless Plug sees Chris Hewitt sit down with Empire editor, Nick de Semlyen, for a deep dive into the latest issue of Empire magazine, which just happens to have a limited edition light-up cover to commemorate our latest cover movie, Tron Ares. Together, our dynamic duo discuss the art of the cover line, their favourite envelope-pushing covers from Empires past, and the contents of the issue. Nick talks about writing a feature on The Naked Gun, Chris discusses his experiences of writing about Nobody 2, and they both chat about whether 'Shazza' is a good nickname for anyone called Sharon. As Chris Evans (who's in one of the features, fact fans) once said, there's a lot of great stuff inside the issue. Enjoy!

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast is dominated by bald baddies. Namely, a group discussion of the hairless horrors who have been tormenting do-gooders in all kinds of movies throughout the years. But also, our very own James Dyer, whose unexplained absence from the podbooth has Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and Alex Godfrey speculating wildly, and threatening to send out search parties. Will James turn up? And if he does, how will he react to a conversation about bald villains? What will he have to say about the week's movie news? And what are his thoughts on James Gunn's Superman, which is the main topic of conversation in the reviews section. And speaking of Superman, Chris Hewitt sits down with the new Man Of Steel, David Corenswet, for a fun and fascinating chat. [23:41 - 42:04 approx] But that's not all — ahead of the full debut of our F1 spoiler special next week, we whet your whistle with an excerpt from our interview with that film's director, Joseph Kosinski. [56:39 - 1:07:27 approx] Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a Formula 1 car going at roughly 200 miles per hour. Easy mistake to make.