TOTAL FILM

THE SMARTER MOVIE MAGAZINE

Well, this has been quite the year… 12 months in which a prestige pic and a pink fantasia made cinema a big beautiful thing again, when strikes made history, and AI became the hot topic on and off screen. We all hope for more of the box-office nirvana and less of the drama in our next calendar year – and looking at the 2024 slate, we can’t help but be encouraged. We’re kicking off a stacked preview with the antidote to misery, Argylle, Matthew Vaughn’s irreverent espionage romp featuring Henry Cavill’s flat-top cut and a cat. We’re finding out what we can expect from that plus other must-sees such as The Fall Guy, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Furiosa, Dune: Part Two, Joker 2, Beetlejuice 2 (a lot of 2s) as well as Mickey 17, Masters of the Air and Madame Web. We’re also chatting to David Ayer, getting into the case with True Detective: Night Country and discovering the delights of Mog’s Christmas.

If we could wrap it all up in a bow we would, cos this is a gift of Christmas future, just without the ominous black hood and terror. Though look through our pages and I’m sure you’ll find that somewhere.

Happy holidays - and enjoy the issue!

@JANEVGCROWTHER

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THIS ISSUE’S EXTRAS

EDITOR-AT-LARGE JAMIE GRAHAM

@JAMIE_GRAHAM9

Great to catch up with Matthew Vaughn. He not only told me all about his new spy movie Argylle, he showed me the script of his next movie. I’m sworn to secrecy…

REVIEWS EDITOR MATTHEW LEYLAND

@TOTALFILM_MATTL

Had a chat with Studio Ghibli creatives about Miyazaki and how even the pandemic didn’t distract him. ‘Once he starts working on a film, that’s all he thinks about,’ said Toshio Suzuki.

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR LEILA LATIF

@LEILA_LATIF

Steve McQueen was my white-whale interview and not only did my dream come true but I shed a tear when he told me, ‘If every interview was like this I’d love doing press.’

NEWS EDITOR JORDAN FARLEY

@JORDANFARLEY

I flew to Madrid to watch the first 12 minutes of Dune: Part Two, in the presence of Denis Villeneuve and Javier Bardem. The latter’s one request for Part Two: ‘Promise me that I will ride a sandworm’.

CONTRIBUTOR EMILY GARBUTT

@EMILYLGARBUTT

Bonded over the struggles of perfecting winged eyeliner with Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny. She revealed she did the cat-eye flick in the film’s opening getting-ready montage in one take.

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR NEIL SMITH

@TOTALFILM

I’ve always loved The Red Shoes so was pumped to see BFI Southbank’s Beyond the Mirror exhibition, an immersive celebration of the classic that includes the actual footwear featured in the film.