In the last few years, amid lockdowns and closures and film delays and furloughs, filmgoers have rallied around our spiritual home: the cinema. And now that things are (hopefully) looking a bit more on-track, who’s ready to see a moviemaking great present a love-letter to colourful light projected onto a screen at 24 frames per second? No, we’re not talking about Vin Diesel (“d’movies!”), but legendary British filmmaker Sam Mendes – y’know, of Skyfall and American Beauty fame. His follow-up to 1917, a film that was very consciously capital-c Cinema, is called Empire Of Light, and it’s all set around a picturehouse in 1980s England. Check out the first teaser:
Doesn’t that fill you with the warm flickering glow of a projector and celluloid? Mendes has assembled a small but excellent cast for this one – centrally, Top Boy and Blue Story star Micheal Ward and the always-excellent Olivia Colman. They’re joined by the likes of other perennial Brit favourites Colin Firth and Toby Jones. Behind the camera there’s more top-tier talent too – Mendes is once again working with best-of-the-best cinematographer Roger Deakins (think of how gorgeously he’ll capture all that cinema-light), while the score for this one comes from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. As well as directing, Mendes is also on writing duties for this one, and produced alongside Pippa Harris.
Empire Of Light is due to have its UK debut at the BFI London Film Festival on 12 October, and is set to arrive nationwide on UK screens from 13 January 2023 – possibly pitching it into awards season territory. Surely, this is one to see on the big screen – catch you in the foyer.