Empire issue preview: Star Trek, Jason Bourne, Christopher Walken and Highlander

All things are new again in Empire this month. We’ve given the old girl a polish, introduced some mighty new regulars, an easy-to-navigate new look and feel, and plenty of world-first exclusives. It’s all the old stuff you love, just with added new stuff that you’ll also love. What could be better, short of a free unicorn? Here’s a taste of what to expect.

Star Trek Beyond is this month’s bumper cover feature. Co-written by die-hard Trekker Simon Pegg and starring faces, fresh (Sofia Boutella! Idris Elba!) and seasoned (everyone else!), the third instalment in J.J. Abrams’ rebooted franchise has plenty of secrets to give up to our reporter. Where are they boldly going next? Will there be more space exploration? Will fans be satisfied again after the whole John Harrison thing? It’s all here.

This month we go where no magazine has gone before and celebrate Star Trek within an inch of its red-shirted life with a special 50th birthday supplement. We have left no Tribble unturned in the pursuit of exclusive interviews, maps, nostalgic behind-the-scenes pictures, and a quiz that will test even Spock-sized intellects. There’s enough in here to convert even Trek skeptics to the ways of the Federation.

A sure-fire blockbuster that seemed improbable as recently as three years ago, Jason Bourne finally reunites Matt Damon will his most famous character. But as mesmerising as the ex-Treadstone operative is on screen, the behind-the-scenes story of the movie is at least as intriguing. Empire went to talk to Damon and writer/director Paul Greengrass to get the skinny on Bourne 4. Or is it Bourne 5..?

Who wants to live forever? Well, Highlander does. A cult classic that’s grown into a generation-spanning favourite, the combination of Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, some mythological mumbo-jumbo, the Kurgan, giant swords and endlessly quotable dialogue has seen it live on… and on. Empire delves into its sporran this month and pulls out a glorious celebration to mark its 30th anniversary.

Say hello to On.Screen, our new and rather fancy reviews section. The bit of the magazine we like to call “the big ole' reviews part” is taking in a broader array of new releases to reflect what you’re watching and how you’re watching it. As usual, our crack team of reviewers will be casting their gimlet eyes over new releases. This month they include Steven Spielberg’s The BFG, The Rock’s Central Intelligence and Pixar’s Finding Dory, as well as new Netflix feature The Fundamentals Of Caring.

Saving the planet, one punch at a time. It was an unlikely premise, but then Steven Seagal's On Deadly Ground was an unusual action movie. Wading through outlandish ponytails, unlikely casting and some particulary growly direction, Empire gets the full story behind this ill-fated Seagal vanity project, AKA "Lawrence Of Arabia in snow".

This month’s home entertainment section, Re.View takes in that nemesis of the fourth wall, Deadpool, who we've strapped to a gurney and subjected to a micro-detailed viewing guide. That odd-couple classic Midnight Run is this month’s Masterpiece, while there’s an illustrated floorplan for 10 Cloverfield Lane. There is literally no other magazine that provides this, apart from maybe Practical Bunkering.

A West Side Story for the Britpop generation, Baz Luhrmann’s rebellious blast of Shakespeare blew the cobwebs from the Bard’s great romantic tragedy with its stylised design, heartthrob casting and bold musical picks. For our special 20th anniversary piece, we asked Romeo + Juliet's creator to go back to a time when Leonardo DiCaprio was still a floppy-haired twentysomething and no-one had ever tried anything quite like this before. “They thought we were totally insane,” Luhrmann remembers.

A gifted actor, dancer and YouTube chicken chef par excellence, Christopher Walken may just be cinema’s most singular man. Not that he’d agree. “The most interesting thing I do is go to work,” the Nine Lives star tells us in this month’s Empire Interview. Caution: cowbells were rung in the making of this feature.

It’s been 15 years since David Brent exited Wernham Hogg to an uncertain future, but the chilled-out entertainer is back and living the dream – or at least, a dream – in David Brent: Life On The Road. Ricky Gervais sat down with us to talk about his seminal comic creation – past, present and future. We’d call this a celebration first, feature second.

All this, and more of the usual film-related fun, can be found in the August issue of Empire – available in all good, evil, or Vulcan newsagents from Thursday, June 28. You can subscribe instantly via this handy link. Go on, we can't mind meld it over to you.