Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Media Group.

[2][3] They recruited Smash Hits editor Barry McIlheney to edit the new magazine, with Hepworth as Editorial Director.

"[2] The first edition (June/July 1989) was published in May 1989 with Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder on the front cover from the film Great Balls of Fire!.

This is intended as a guide to the chosen celebrity's contact with reality, and as such can be more informative than a direct interview by reporting some surprising responses.

[11] In 2001, Empire published a series of guides to the best films by genre including science fiction, horror, crime, action, and comedy.

[14] Empire published a special 15th anniversary issue in June 2004 by which time the magazine had reviewed 4,240 theatrical films.

[citation needed] Empire occasionally polls readers to find out what their favourite films are.

A poll of Empire readers was published in September 2001 and listed Star Wars (1977) as the greatest movie of all time.

[15] In March 2006, a readers' poll of The 201 Greatest Movies of All Time had The Shawshank Redemption (1994) as the number one choice.

[16] In July 2014, during their 25th anniversary year, a readers' poll of The 301 Greatest Movies of All Time was topped by The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

[17] In 2017, Empire surveyed five thousand readers to produce a list of the 100 greatest films ever made which was once again topped by The Godfather.

[20] In June 2015, Empire's readers named the greatest film characters of all time led by Indiana Jones.

[22] The podcast is released weekly and is hosted by Chris Hewitt, alongside Helen O'Hara and James Dyer, as well as regularly featuring other Empire journalists such as Amon Warmann, Ben Travis and Terri White.