If you're looking for a little magic to get a thrilling new movie jamboree up and running, you can't ask for much better than Harry Potter himself. That man, Daniel Radcliffe, will be firing the metaphorical starting gun on American Airlines Presents Empire Live by introducing a pair of gala screenings, Swiss Army Man and Imperium, at The O2 on 23 September.
The former has him in the unlikely role of farting corpse alongside Paul Dano, while in the latter he goes undercover in a neo-nazi organisation as an idealist FBI agent. In double-bill form, they'll offer a perfect snapshot of an actor pushing the boundaries in all sorts of thrilling ways.
And that's just the beginning. Radcliffe will be sticking around to kick off three days of Q&As, fan events, exclusive screenings and family movie programming with an on-stage interview of his own to talk both those films – and much more. Ben Wheatley will also be there to introduce footage of his new '70s thriller, Free Fire, along with a screening of his soon-to-be-cult-classic High-Rise, while Belle's Amma Asante will share her experiences on filmmaking from a female perspective.
Between 23-25 September, The O2 will see Empire showcasing recent favourites on the big screen (Hunt For The Wilderpeople! War On Everyone! The Greasy Strangler! Game Of Thrones' Battle Of The Bastards!), cult classics (This Is England! Labyrinth and puppet makers' Q&A! Trainspotting Live Script-Read!) and a unique Ghostbusters Slime-Along that promises to reduce large swathes of Greenwich to ectoplasmic goo.
Movie lovers will find plenty to get their teeth into, as will movie lovers with wee'uns in tow. There's a Frozen Sing-Along, a screening of Bill and the Horrible Histories posse will be in attendence to share the gorier side of the history books. Oh, and we're showing all 17 Pixar shorts. In one go.
Where can you find tickets to this extraordinary feast of movie goodness? Glad you asked. Tickets for American Airlines Presents Empire Live go onsale from 7 September at 10am (for subscribers' pre-sale) and 9 September at 10am (for everyone else) from here. Bigger packages – ooo-er, etc – for the whole weekend are available right now.