Empire Australasia — December 2017

WHILE SITTING IN a cinema feels like a treat no matter what time of year it is, there’s

something about hitting up the multiplex in summer that’s especially gratifying — nothing

beats an escape from boiling temperatures like a cold, crisp blast of air con and the heady

scent of stale popcorn and plentiful perspiration. It’s also the time of year that you get the

greatest variety of fi lms to choose from: blockbusters and family fl icks mix it up with small

indies and Oscar hopefuls, giving movie lovers plenty of excuses to avoid the sunshine and

work on that year-long moon tan.

Of course this December sees the release of the most blockbusteriest movie of the year

with Star Wars: The Last Jedi (page 40). We’ve gone all out with our celebrating by including

a bonus mag with this issue (The Star Wars Summer Annual, which is chock full of all manner

of Star Wars-y goodness) and posters for all eight saga episodes. Excited? You bet your porg

we are!

Elsewhere in the mag, we’ve got a little bit of everything for ya: for fans of musicals,

Hugh Jackman is ready to unveil his highly ambitious The Greatest Showman (page 48)

— roll up for our chat with Our Hugh and the fi lm’s director Michael Gracey; the surprisingly

excellent family fi lm Paddington gets a sequel that’s — wait for it — just as good as the original

(page 54); David Ayer shrugs off the critical drubbing of Suicide Squad for his cops ‘n’ orcs

actioner Bright (page 60) — a big budget movie that sees Netfl ix take on the multiplex;

Kyle MacLachlan and Mark Frost help us to unravel some of the many mysteries of the latest

season of Twin Peaks on page 66; we meet Dale Dye, the ‘Nam vet who puts soft Hollywood

types through spirit-crushing boot camps (page 72) and, on page 78, we trace the curious

Hollywood career of Steve Bannon and how it led to the notorious right-winger getting

Trump into offi ce. Variety? We’ve got you covered.

Also a quick note to say “sorry, we screwed up!” to our loyal subscribers — due to a glitch

in the Matrix, the ‘Greatest Comic Book Movies Ever’ bonus mag from last month didn’t get

sent out to them; they’ll fi nd it included with the December issue along with the bonus Star

Wars mag (so many bonus mags right now!)

Alright you lot, you’ve got some readin’ (and movie watchin’) to do — we’ll see you on the

fl ipside for hugs and heated discussions about what movies rule / bite the big one.

Yours in sunshine-dodging,

THIS MONTH

AT EMPIRE

JAMES JENNINGS
EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS

Michael Adams, Liz Beardsworth, Elizabeth Best, Simon Braund, David Michael

Brown, Jeremy Cassar, John Catania, Simon Crook, Nick De Semlyen, Phil De

Semlyen, James Dyer, Danny Eccleston, Angie Errigo, Ian Freer, Alex Godfrey, Luke

Goodsell, Jethro Haynes, Chris Hewitt, David Hughes, Dan Jolin, Luke Lucas, Danny

Mackenzie, Ben McEachen, Jim Mitchell, Justin Metz, Anthony Morris, Ian Nathan,

Kim Newman, John Nugent, Helen O’Hara, David Parkinson, Patrick Peters, Nev

Pierce, Jonathan Pile, Kate, Poole, Olly Richards, Anna Smith, Damon Wise

ADVERTISING

Brand Manager Kate Macmillan 02 9282 8643

South Australian Advertising Ben Wiles 08 8267 5032

Queensland Advertising Judy Taylor 07 3101 6636

West Australian Advertising Nicky Simpson 08 6160 8964

Director of Sales Fiorella Di Santo

Sales Director, NSW & QLD Jo Clasby

Sales Director, VIC, SA & WA Jaclyn Clements

MARKETING AND CIRCULATION

Brand Manager Georgia Mavrakakis 02 9288 9650

Subscriptions Marketing Coordinator Thea Mahony 02 9282 8583

Circulation Executive Samantha Nelson 02 8116 9336

PRODUCTION

Production Controller Chris Clear 0 2 9338 6175

Production Co-Ordinator Dominic Roy 02 9282 8691

EMPIRE UK

Editor-In-Chief Terri White

Associate Editor Liz Beardsworth

International Director Simon Greves

BAUER MEDIA

Publisher Andrew Stedwell

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EDITORIAL

EDITOR JAMES JENNINGS 02 8268 4621

ART DIRECTOR KATIE SMITH

PHOTO EDITOR KRISTI BARTLETT 02 8114 9493

CLASSIC

LINES

OF THE

MONTH

“We tried to channel

a lot of Hunger, but

that piss-sweeping

scene just had to

go.”

p.

“I’m a nobody and

Laura Dern knows

my name. It’s insane!

I feel like Frodo

leaving the Shire.”

p.

“It’s like Training Day

meets Lord Of The

Rings. We got some

mean-ass elves in

this movie.”

p.