The Empire Podcast

Gone Girl is one of those films that demands immediate discussion, ideally with the director behind it, David Fincher. This is where the Empire Podcast steps in, with Fincher himself offering up 20 minutes of his time to talk about his latest film, accompanied by 40-odd minutes of our own entirely spoiler-filled analysis of just what happened between Amy and Nick.

Two much-loved Empire favourites enter the podcast booth this week: Sam Neill, in honour of Peaky Blinders' series 2, and Luke Evans, here to talk about his take on Vlad The Impaler in Dracula Untold. Also, the team review Gone Girl, all while not revealing any spoilers - that's for the Gone Girl spoiler special (featuring David Fincher), due up on Monday 6...

It's a rare event when there are three interviewees on the Empire Podcast, so be sure to be especially generous with your five-star iTunes reviews this week after you listen to the wise and witty words of Jack Reacher author Lee Child, The Equalizer director Antoine Fuqua and the girl who puts the Girl in Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike.

The Empire Podcast breaks new ground this week, as just one person interviews five different people... at once. Give a warm Empire welcome, then, to Max Irons, Sam Claflin, Douglas Booth, Holliday Grainger and Jessica Brown Findlay, all dropping by to talk (in a rather posh fashion) about The Riot Club. Oh, and some guy called Liam Neeson turns up in honour of A Walk Among The Tombstones (whoever he is).

'Which shop from the whole history of cinema would you most like to visit in real life?' is just one of the questions the Empire Podcast team tackle, with guests Sir Roger Moore and George MacKay dealing with the likes of 'When was the last time you wore knitwear?' and 'How exactly is your name pronounced?' and handling both with aplomb.

Legendary 27-per-center William Fichtner tells the Empire Podcast about the catering services on The Lone Ranger this week, while The Guest's Dan Stevens ruminates upon the extra "." in the title of "If....". Never accuse the Empire Podcast of not tackling the serious questions.

After several weeks' of hype, the Richard Ayoade interview you've been waiting for is finally here, accompanied by some Mad Man - you see? Because of the TV show? And humour? - called Jon Hamm, with the former here to talk about The Double's Blu-ray release and the latter discussing Million Dollar Arm's cinema release. And beards.

Not one but two people of the French persuasion come to class up the Empire Podcast studio this week, namely Two Days, One Night's Marion Cotillard and Lucy's Luc Besson. Here to sully up proceedings is the leaving editor of Empire, Mark Dinning, who enjoys his very own exit interview at the hands of the podcast team.

Things get rather explodey in the Empire Podcast this week, what with Expendables 3 in cinemas, and Terry Crews and Wesley Snipes in the booth. Look forward to the former talking about his love of Nando's, the robot dance and pec-popping, as well as the latter doing the Blade voice and imagining what an Expendables character called "Jazz Gumbo" would sound like.

In honour of the DVD and Blu-ray release of his latest, Chinese Zodiac, Jackie Chan took part in a special screening and Q and A at London's very own Prince Charles Cinema on Monday, August 11. Here is the recording of the interview portion of the evening, which features the legendary martial artist talking about his love of pandas, his U.S. breakthrough and who he'd most like to work with next. Also, he sings. Quite a lot.

If you've ever wanted to hear Robert Pattinson talk about camels and Simon Pegg explain the finer points of throwing a chair out of a window, you've come to the right Empire Podcast episode. As well as the star of The Rover (Pattinson) and the star Hector And The Search For Happiness (Pegg), there's also an in-depth discussion of DC's new date selections - more fun than it sounds - and a meander around cinema's best U.S. presidents in an effort to create a new Mount Rushmore.

Originally heralded as a long-shot risk from Marvel Studios, Guardians Of The Galaxy has now become a huge hit in its own right, breaking August box office records and making thousands of kids reconsider what they believe to be their favourite film. Talking to the writer-director behind it all, James Gunn, we find out more about how it was made, and in our hour-long discussion afterwards, get into the nitty-gritty of what makes the weird and wonderful space comedy-opera work. Look forward to a surprisingly lengthy chat about the availability of AA batteries in space, as well as a round of applause for that credit sting.

Anarchy reigns on this week's Empire Podcast as Guardians Of The Galaxy's Chris Pratt impersonates the cast of The Only Way Is Essex over breakfast, while the Inbetweeners boys - Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas - discuss all the nicknames they've had for each other over the years. "Bucky O'Hare" comes up, which is a good indication of the weirdness level generally.

With many of the regular gang off in San Diego for some sort of comic-book convention or other, things take a turn for the weird on the Empire Podcast this week. Sinister, Paranormal Activity and The Purge: Anarchy producer Jason Blum explains how to set up an inflatable double bed on a plane, while Hercules director Brett Ratner talks about his favourite British confectionary.

First there was Rise and now there is Dawn. In the future, there will be war - though it's not clear if the film that tells that story will actually be called War Of The Planet Of The Apes. We've got our fingers crossed, anyway. Speaking to the director of the sequel, Matt Reeves, the Empire Podcast team get the inside scoop on the making of the film, then spend a good hour talking through the ins-and-outs of it all, from the CGI to the glorious final shot. Banana jokes are kept to an absolute minimum. Promise.