 |  It was a relatively quiet week, all of us beavering away on various features and interviews, when the news broke. A film that sounds suspiciously like it might be Star Wars is holding open casting calls in our fair city, and everyone's all a-twitter. Despite many of us being clearly outside the age limits specified, everyone decided that they were sufficiently handsome and charismatic to be in with a shot. Then gradually people started disappearing in the direction of the local gym to ensure we met the fitness requirements, only to crawl back into the office hours later rather more slowly and painfully. As it turns out, the local fitness centres don't offer lightsaber zumba, and were entirely ignorant of the fitness benefits of using the Force, so our preparation for the casting call ran into some early obstacles. Still, we're sure we'll be ready when the time comes. J.J., you know where we are. Call us! Helen O'Hara
Deputy Online Editor, Empire
 
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug -
Four Stunning Collector's Covers To Collect!
To mark an exclusive look at Peter Jackson's new film that would have Radagast the Brown rabbit-sledging straight down to his local newsagent, we have created four limited-edition Hobbit covers to choose from. Your choices are Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) in Mirkwood, Gandalf the Grey in the dark domain of Dol Guldur and Bilbo, of course, clutching Sting as he treads through Smaug's lair in Erebor. Last but not least is Luke Evans' Bard the Bowman, a debutant in the second part of Peter Jackson's trilogy, defending Lake-Town from fiery menace. VIP print and digital packages Subscribe to Empire magazine Take a look inside this issue of Empire magazine Buy single iPad editions on the App Store View all subscription offers
  The Raid 2: Berandal Teaser Is Here!
It's a true teaser, giving us a basic and very intriguing set-up. Iko Uwais' supercop, Rama, survivor of The Raid, is now sitting in a prison cell. How he got there, or why, remains a mystery, but he certainly doesn't look happy about it - as he demonstrates in no uncertain terms by punching the crap out of a silhouette on the wall. As he does so, we get brief flashes of just some of the colourful characters that Rama will meet, greet and in all likelihood grind into meat. More: Latest Trailer For The Desolation Of Smaug And a new production diary goes online. New RoboCop Trailer Lands 'Thank you for your co-operation'. Latest Nymphomaniac Clip Goes Fully NSFW It's a polyphony spree (with added nudity). Hidden In The Woods Remake Trailer Online Michael Biehn gets his grindhouse on. New Anchorman 2 Video Strikes Ron Burgundy has a message for film fans... Winter's Tale Trailer Arrives Colin Farrell finds unexpected love. Latest Clip From The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Online Haymitch confronts Katniss... New Ride Along Trailer Hits The Streets Kevin Hart gets more than he bargained for.
  A Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone poster from Spineless Classics. You'll need some serious glasses to read the whole thing. (Check out our competition to win a Great Gatsby version below)
 Wouldn't you know it, the day we were due to put up the gazebo was the worst storm in a decade!  Dan experiences a middle-class crisis.
Sandra Bullock & Alfonso Cuarón Talk Gravity
Life in space is impossible, as the opening title card of Gravity explains. But astronaut Ryan Stone, played by Sandra Bullock, nevertheless struggles to cling to life after the shuttle she was on is destroyed by debris in orbit. We talked to star and director at the Venice Film Festival about making one of the year's best films... | |
|  | | The Empire Podcast #86: Jude Law, Alfonso Cuaron Interviews
It's Alfonso Cuaron appreciation week on the Empire Podcast, and what makes this so perfect is that Alfonso Cuaron is on this week's Empire Podcast. It's all in honour of Gravity - out now - and, of course, Hermione's right hook to Draco's face in The Prisoner Of Azkaban. Then there's Jude Law, in the podbooth for Dom Hemingway - out next week - who talks about Breaking Bad, Sherlock Holmes 3 and "cock socks". |
|  | | Marvel Movies: 21 Great Behind The Scenes Photos You Should See
Despite ushering in a new era of Hollywood giganticism, with eye-watering budgets and super-cool filmmaking tools, Marvel has tried to keep a down-and-dirty ethos on set. "Once you put your hand over the budget figure", Jon Favreau told Empire on the set of Iron Man back in 2008, "you realise that this is just an independent movie." Apart, we're guessing, from the arc reactors, super-hammers and Disney logo. Here we go backstage to see how they put it all together... |
|  | | 10 Movie Astronauts You Wouldn't Want To Be Stuck In Space With
Gravity is out this week, featuring George Clooney's level-headed space veteran and Sandra Bullock's nervy first-timer. It all got us thinking: if you were lost in space, there are several cinematic crewmen you might not want to find sharing your space capsule... Here, then, are some astronuts to avoid at all costs. |
|  | | Is This The Most Popular Filming Location In The World?
As you watched Thor: The Dark World, one location may have looked familiar. Without giving away spoilers, the film prominently features the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, in south-east London, a World Heritage Site and general place of interest. For movie fans, it's more important as a location for approximately every big release shot in the UK recently, a site that can lay claim to over $4bn at the box office and a share of at least two Oscars. Here are a few of the best films to shoot there, and some words from estate operations manager Ian Allchin on what it was like to work with the stars... |
|  | | 5 Questions A New Wolverine Movie Has To Answer
James Mangold and Hugh Jackman are working together on a new Wolverine movie, following this summer's $400m-grossing The Wolverine. Before that hits screens, of course, Jackman will be playing the mutant for the seventh time in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, creating a multi-time-period continuity nightmare for those crafting a new film (sorry, Mr. Mangold). So what issues do they have to deal with before The Wolverine 2 (or whatever) arrives? We discuss the big questions - but beware some spoilers for The Wolverine! |
|  | | Twelve Months With A Master
Kerschner to Lucas, Corman to Coppola, Cassavetes to Scorsese - there really is no substitute for a truly great mentor. It's a sentiment Rolex took to heart when establishing the Rolex Mentors & Protégés Arts initiative. Established back in 2002, this bi-annual programme set out to find artists of extraordinary potential and nurture them through a year of individual guidance from a recognized master of their discipline. This year, legendary editor Walter Murch generously donated his time to take film editing teacher Sara Fgaier under his wing. |
|  | | The 666 Greatest Horror Characters Of All Time
Last year, you may recall, we asked you for your votes as we embarked upon the most terrifying - on any number of levels - feature in our history. The votes came in, we started work on a bogstandard 50 Greatest Characters list and then we asked ourselves: what would Damien Thorn do? Surely he would do something grander, more diabolical. And so, after a year of compiling, here it is, the 666 greatest horror movie characters, as voted for by Team Empire and you. It's filled with masked maniacs, Final Girls, ghouls, goblins, witches, zombies, vampires, werewolves, nerdy heroes, stalkers, slashers, monsters, monster hunters, demons, devils, deadly dolls and Warwick Davis. Enjoy... if you dare! (maniacal laughter, flash of lightning, repeat to fade). |
|  | | Timo Vuorensola Talks Iron Sky 2 And More
Taking place in Helsinki last weekend was the awesome bi-annual genre film festival Night Visions. Udo Kier was the guest of honour (keep your eye on Empireonline for some fun with him), and, as always, rattling around the various proceedings was Timo Vuorensola, the improbably tall director of Iron Sky. Taking advantage of a rare 20-minute breathing space, he sat down with Empire for a coffee and a chat about the current state of Iron Sky 2, his comic book adaptation Jeremiah Harm... and Lobo and Star Trek. |
|  | | Steve Coogan Webchat: The Transcript
As we near the end of Annus Coogannibis, 12 months that have seen Steve Coogan headline three radically different movies to great effect, the time was ripe to unleash a barrage of your questions on the man himself. Read on for the origins of Philomena, working with Judi Dench, Alan Partridge's geography, The Trip 2, sharing a hot tub with Arnie, and, of course, his favourite sandwich. He... is... INTERFACE. |
|  | | Screen To Stage: From Here To Eternity
From Here To Eternity is not the easiest sell in the world, as musicals go. After all, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: The Musical seems like a natural fit for the stage, with all the bright colours and general insanity. But a World War II movie about GIs butting heads before the war is even joined, falling for married women or prostitutes and getting thrown in the stockade? It's a little harder to see immediately where you fit in the high kicks and the sequins. |
|  | | Full Steam Ahead
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are just around the corner - but if PC gaming giant Valve has anything to say about it, the console under your TV in a few years may not be a 'console' at all. Already the creator of Steam (the ubiquitous digital gaming marketplace than has all but become the default point of access for PC gamers) Valve has recently announced plans to bring computer gaming into the living room. |
|  | | The Jameson Empire Done In 60 Seconds Competition And Ironman Challenge!
Given that 2014 will be Empire's 25th anniversary year, we felt it was appropriate to pick a movie from the year of our inception: 1989 - so not Inception, then. We thought about Batman, we pondered Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, we almost went for Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure before realising it was made on the budget of a DISS movie anyway. Then it hit us, the perfect choice. Something we have all experienced, albeit in slightly less posh surroundings: school. So start channelling your best Peter Weir, brush up on your Walt Whitman, dust down your sixth form blazer, put a call through to your old alma mater for your location shoot, and track down your perfect Knox Overstreet, for it is time to seize the day! Oh captain, my captain, this year's Done In Sixty Seconds 'IRONMAN' Challenge movie is DEAD POETS SOCIETY. |
|  | | Empire Presents the New York Film Academy
New York Film Academy has built a reputation as one of the premier film schools in the world. With its innovative hands-on approach to teaching, students find themselves completely immersed in their course of study, surrounded by award-winning faculty and working with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. Learn Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Photography, Musical Theatre, Game Design, Animation and more. |
 A rather stylish selection of stationery and Blu-rays to mark the home entertainment release of The Great Gatsby. If anyone needs us, we'll be over here doing the Charleston.
 
Billy Joel's ringtone is the theme from The Godfather. 
ASICS is an acronym for the Latin phrase "anima sana in corpore sano" which translates as "a sound mind in a sound body". 
George A. Romero can't see well through his trademark glasses. 
Discussions about Wolverine's cinematic timeline are lengthy and complex and ideally involve quite a large blackboard and a box of chalk. 
Marvel's Iron Fist gained his powers by plunging his fists into the molten heart of a dragon he'd just killed. Greatest. Origin. Ever.
 |  | |  | |  | |  | | | The greatest idea ever. | | Cosplayers at home. | | Minimalist Potter posters. | | Thor Vs Loki: Who's best? |
If you have any timewasters to share, then e-mail them in to us. |
 
Gravity 
Pop quiz, hotshot: you're cut loose 375 miles above the Earth, oxygen is running out, communication is lost, catastrophic satellite debris is heading your way and you have no hope of rescue. What do you do? What do you do? The answer is the film of the year. Also Out
 
This Is The End 
It could use a brutal edit to remove some weak material, but mostly this is a hell of a lot of fun. Also Out
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