Empire Magazine Issue 420 (November 2023)

Empire Magazine Issue 420 (November 2023) David Fincher Special

Here’s something to set your sights on: a brand new David Fincher thriller, bringing the return of Michael Fassbender to our screens, about a methodical hitman forced on the run after his ordered life is disturbed. The Killer is locked and loaded – just weeks away from coming our way. And this month’s issue of Empire goes on set with Fincher and Fassbender themselves, getting up close and personal on a pulse-pounding noir from one of Hollywood’s finest filmmakers.

The Killer - The director behind some of the greatest thrillers in cinema history – Seven, Zodiac, Panic Room to name but a few – is back in business. Empire goes on set of David Fincher’s The Killer, watching the filmmaker at work – and speaking to him, his leading man Michael Fassbender, the legendary Tilda Swinton, and more. Boom.

David Fincher’s Iconic Shots - Prior to The Killer, Fincher has been behind an unstoppable run of must-see movies. He talks Empire through the greatest shots from his beloved works – from the ‘Missing’ poster scene in Gone Girl, to the snarling Xenomorph in Alien 3, to the boardroom breakdown of The Social Network, the sloth sequence in Seven, and many more.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes - Get ready to go back in the arena. The Hunger Games is back, in a whole new time-period, with an even more brutal deathmatch, and the central series’ chilling villain as its protagonist. Empire speaks to director Francis Lawrence about what drew him back to the cinematic saga he wrapped up nearly a decade ago.

Gravity At 10 - Narratively stark, viscerally thrilling, technically near-impossible – Alfonso Cuaròn’s dazzling Gravity sent viewers hurtling into space for an unforgettable, deeply emotional ride. A decade on, he reflects on its creation in a major new interview.

How To Have Sex - Capturing the dizzy highs of the rite-of-passage teen holiday and the shattering experience of a sexual assault, Molly Manning Walker’s striking debut feature is one of the year’s major must-sees. The filmmaker and her star Mia McKenna-Bruce talk Empire through telling a story that desperately needed to be told.

The End Of The Extra? - For decades, the on-screen extra has been one of Hollywood’s greatest assets – ready to fill the frame at a moment’s notice. But as A.I. encroaches, the era of the extra could be under threat. Empire speaks to the background actors fighting against the encroach of digital replacements.

The Deep Dive: Looney Tunes - In our latest exploration of cinematic lore, Empire looks back on the anarchic rise of the Looney Tunes – all emerging from a dilapidated building on the Warner Bros. lot known, due to its unwanted insect inhabitants, as ‘Termite Terrace’.

First Word - In this month’s movie news section, we’re welcomed into Saltburn by director Emerald Fennell, talk football with Taiki Waititi ahead of Next Goal Wins, learn how Bradley Cooper orchestrated Maestro, get animated with the upcoming anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, engage in fowl play with Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget, rev up with Ferrari director Michael Mann, and much more.

Final Cut - In the home entertainment arena, we break down Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse with directors Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Justin K. Thompson, and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller; rank the greatest episodes of Succession; go blow by bloody blow through Sisu with director Jalmari Helander; revisit Carlito’s Way with David Koepp, and plenty more.

Reviews - The verdict is in! Reviewed in this issue, you’ll find Martin Scorsese’s hugely-anticipated Killers Of The Flower Moon, Ken Loach’s swansong The Old Oak, erotic thriller Fair Play, Wes Anderson’s latest Roald Dahl adaptation The Wonderful World Of Henry Sugar, the final season of Sex Education, and many, many more.

Read about it on the Empire website.