See you next month.

RIGHT, THAT’S 2020 officially done, right? The year that most of us have longed for the end of is now in the rearview mirror, disappearing out of view. I wrote in this very magazine last month of my belief that 2020 will, in spite of everything, be remembered as a good, maybe even great, year for film. This issue we tested that theory further by compiling our annual review of the last 12 months. Any year that ends with Tilda Swinton interviewing Bong Joon-ho (p90), Aaron Sorkin writing an essay for us (p82) and five electrifying horror directors jumping on Zoom together (p84) is a damn good one, in my book. It was a year that also brought us the second season of The Mandalorian, the show that made everyone (including us) fall head over heels for Star Wars again. And we’re taking those vibes into 2021 with us as we look to the future of the franchise (Ahsoka! Vader! Patty Jenkins on those rollerblades!). Disney didn’t just reveal an exciting future for the Star Wars universe, though: in a late-night presentation (1am GMT) that had the entire Empire team screaming in our Whatsapp group, they outlined what lay ahead for Marvel and Pixar too. We dig into what it means and how we feel about it all on p8.

There’s so much more in the issue (Scorsese interview? Check! Francis Ford Coppola interview? Check!), but I’ll let you discover the rest yourself. For the future is right there, in front of you. Step into it and don’t look back. There’s so much yet to come.