2022 – what a year for film and TV, right? We’ve been reunited with familiar, fast-flying pilots, been more terrified of a cloud than we ever thought possible, gone back hundreds of years to take on the most fearsome of alien warriors, and realised that a life spent doing laundry and taxes with the right person is a life well spent.
In the new issue of Empire, we celebrate a mega (almost) 12 months of the big and small screen, speaking to movie stars, filmmakers and even a very well-dressed robot to get the inside stories behind some of the year’s standout hits. Our triumph of 2022 – and the box-office smash of the year – is the exhilarating, emotional, boundary-pushing Top Gun: Maverick. It may have taken over three decades to get back in the cockpit with Tom Cruise’s Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, but it was entirely worth the wait, and we speak to director Joseph Kosinski all about it.
This really was the year of the multiverse, and Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All At Once was the most brilliant, barmy, bagel-filled depiction of the lot. In a movie full of magical, mind-melding moments, we ask Waymond himself, aka Ke Huy Quan, to talk us through that incredible fanny-pack fight. Elsewhere in our Review Of The Year section are a certain ‘cosmic’ hero and clock-loving, Upside Down-dwelling monster, Amber Midthunder reflecting on moving to the top of the Predator food chain, Jordan Peele doing a deep dive on his homage to anime classic Akira, plus the non-human star of the year’s most endearing odd-couple comedy, Brian And Charles, getting to grips with some paparazzi. Whatever change and uncertainty we’re experiencing in other areas of life right now, one thing’s for sure – it’s still a great time for film and TV.
This month’s newsstand cover features a collage of some of 2022’s most memorable cinematic images and characters – from a jubilant Tom Cruise to cold-eyed Stranger Things villain Vecna and beyond – illustrated exclusively for Empire by Paul Shipper.
And our subscriber cover – created by Orlando Arocena, aka Mexifunk – is a bold, bright homage to our film of the year, Top Gun: Maverick, celebrating the red, white and blue of Pete Mitchell’s iconic helmet.
There’s all that, plus we embrace the festive feeling by talking to Spirited stars Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell about their all-singing, all-dancing new version of A Christmas Carol; Confess, Fletch star Jon Hamm and director Greg Mottola spill the beans on bringing iconic comedy detective Fletch back to life; we spend some time with the busiest man in Hollywood, Eric Roberts; get the lowdown on Mark Jenkin’s eagerly-awaited Bait follow-up, Enys Men; get exclusive first looks at The Fabelmans and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; and much, much more.
Find Empire’s 2022 Review Of The Year issue on newsstands from Thursday 27 October, or pre-order a copy online here now.