Here it is. The big three-oh. Heading into 2019, Empire will be celebrating its 30th anniversary – three decades of covering all of the biggest and best movies, from bold blockbusters to invigorating indie films, with major access to the heart of Hollywood and our own treasure-trove of homegrown talent. To commemorate the year of Empire 30, we’ve named the 30 Most Adventurous Filmmakers of our lifetime – the game-changers, the ambitious auteurs, and vibrant voices who have shaped the medium and steered the conversation, crafting the films that we love sharing with you month after month. After teasing the Empire 30 on the subscriber cover of the January 2019 issue, the time has come to unveil the full list – here they are, in no particular order.
- Steven Spielberg
- James Cameron
- Martin Scorsese
- Peter Jackson
- Edgar Wright
- Christopher Nolan
- Quentin Tarantino
- Kathryn Bigelow
- Kevin Feige
- Spike Lee
- Ang Lee
- Paul Greengrass
- David Fincher
- Danny Boyle
- JJ Abrams
- Paul Thomas Anderson
- Guillermo del Toro
- Wes Anderson
- Taika Waititi
- Denis Villeneuve
- Patty Jenkins
- Steven Soderbergh
- Christopher McQuarrie
- Ava DuVernay
- Jordan Peele
- Damien Chazelle
- Alfonso Cuarón
- Ryan Coogler
- Tim Burton
- The Coen Brothers
So there you have it; the Empire 30 list. Throughout the coming year – and starting with the January 2019 issue, on sale from Thursday 29 November – we’ll be celebrating every one of them through the magazine, Empire Online, the Empire podcast, our video content, and more.
Kicking things off this month is James Cameron – the man behind nothing less than the biggest box office hit of all time, Avatar, as well as Titanic, Terminator and Aliens. As well as delivering an exclusive personal essay for the magazine, we asked him a bunch of questions from our very own readers – and speaking of you lot, we’ll have subscriber surprises lined up to run through our birthday year, so it’s never been a better time to sign up{
“Empire has been passionately committed to adventurous filmmaking for the last thirty years, so our anniversary was the perfect opportunity to celebrate those who have taken the most risks and created some of the most thrilling moments in cinema,” explains Editor-in-Chief Terri White. “At the same time, we’re looking into the future – a future which embraces diversity within filmmaking. Empire is set to publish an upcoming filmmakers of the future list; a list that is made up of almost half women. A sure sign of how quickly, and significantly our industry is evolving.”
We look forward to celebrating our 30th birthday with you all – and to seeing what the next 30 years bring on the big screen.
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