The Ed Zone

It’s not that long ago that big blockbuster movies clustered around the summer months like demons around a Hellmouth. That’s no longer the case, as studios spread their wares throughout the calendar – and even with no new Star Wars in December, the run-up to Christmas will be among the most hotly contested box office battlegrounds of the year.

The biggest star strutting his stuff before 2018 calls it a wrap is Bumblebee, who literally dwarves his human rivals. Even if you’d lost faith with the increasingly high-octane Michael Bay Transformers movies, this ’80s-set prequel feels like the back-to-basics reboot the series needs. We speak to director Travis Knight, the man behind stop-motion classic Kubo And The Two

Strings, about reigniting the robot saga’s spark (p32). Continuing the blockbuster theme, we perform our best Legilimency spell to grill the Fantastic Beasts cast about The Crimes Of Grindelwald (p60), test the waters of DC’s Aquaman with director James Wan (p42) and explore cities on the move as Peter Jackson talks

Mortal Engines (p70). We also scare ourselves silly with Suspiria (p52), follow Outlander to the US (p56) and talk to God’s new right-hand man, Jon Hamm (p50).

There’s more like this every month in SFX, the gift that keeps on giving – y’know, a subscription could be the perfect present for any fellow geeks in your life. Or why not just treat yourself? Details on p24.