Ian Freer

Alongside Empire’s upcoming Disclosure Day issue, I got to head over to L.A. to chat with Steven Spielberg about his favourite sequences from all of his sci-fi films. The first video is out now, and we’re talking Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Competition time! This Thursday we’re hosting a VIP screening of The Sopranos finale, followed by a Q&A with Creator David Chase to celebrate the launch of HBO Max. Want to join us? To win 2 tickets: repost this, follow us, and tell us your favourite Sopranos episode.

Really enjoyed Bugonia, like Poor Things if you can get on board early it takes you on a “wild ride” Thanks as always to @empiremagazine for the preview screening

UPDATE: Invite email is going out at 3 PM for all our VIP members! Thank you for your patience 🫶

I loved the Almodovar and was excited that @TimeOutFilm asked me to review timeout.com/movies/the-roo…

An epic Middle-earth Empire VIP Club event for #TheWarOfTheRohirrim last night. An early look at the film as well as a Q&A with director Kenji Kamiyama and producers Joseph Chou & Jason Demarco, hosted by our very own @helenlohara. #LOTR

🙏

Book news. A fully-updated edition of my Ridley Scott: A Retrospective will be out on April 10, 2025. Without a doubt, our greatest living director (NB: I'm British). From @thamesandhudson

If you are missing Total Film, here's the place to go, powered by some of the very best movie journalists around.

"So many entries in his storied canon are resident in my cerebral cortex like the replicant fail-safes of Blade Runner or Christopher Nolan’s implanted ideas in Inception." A Substack read on why my new Spielberg book is my most personal accomplishment. open.substack.com/pub/iannathan/…

I was lucky enough to attend the @empiremagazine VIP Club Q&A with director #DenisVilleneuve, where he gave a masterclass on the making of the first two-part @dunemovie (and gave some guarded hints about where he is with the highly anticipated #DuneMessiah).

What an incredible day with friends and cinema lovers! Big thank you to @empiremagazine @ChrisHewitt for hosting yet another incredible talk! I’m so grateful to have made the #DunePartTwo cover and now finally meet Denis Villeneuve and @TanyaLapointe ♥️

Thanks to James Dyer’s manky eye for affording me this opportunity.

Epic afternoon at our Dune Part 2 event, with Denis Villeneuve in the house. Thanks to @ChrisHewitt & @HelenLOHara for chatting up a sandworm storm before the interview. And a tantalising morsel from DV on Dune Messiah: “I have tendonitis. And my physiotherapist explained that it’s coming from too much writing…”

Thanks to everyone who came out to our @dunemovie VIP Q&A with Denis Villeneuve, plus a bonus live Dunesplaining from @ChrisHewitt and @HelenLOHara. Shai Hulud approves! 🪱

A quick reminder for everyone attending tomorrow’s Dune Part Two event with Denis Villeneuve: the venue for the event can be found on your order confirmation email. See you on Arrakis!

🪱 EMPIRE VIP EVENT INCOMING 🪱 Calling all #Dune fans: we’ll be hosting a Q&A with Denis Villeneuve on Sat 12 October in London to celebrate Dune: Part Two, with a deep-dive on his epic adaptation – plus a discussion of the films from Team Empire. Only for Empire VIP members.

Film journalism can be soul destroying at times but I don’t want aspiring writers to be disheartened. Yes I live in LDN but I’m still low income, working at a pub & often begging for access. Here’s some of the things I’ve done without breaking the bank.