• 46 minutes 39 seconds
    The Inbetweeners Movie (2011), and the incredibly fast turnaround of a box office giant

    The road to The Inbetweeners Movie was a fairly swift one. Even while the hit British TV comedy was bringing in big ratings for E4, its creators - Iain Morris and Damon Beesley - were filing away ideas for an eventual movie.

    When the opportunity came, time was not on its side: filming had to begun just six months before The Inbetweeners Movie was due in cinemas. It turns out too that if you're looking to shoot a movie set in the middle of summer, March isn't necessarily the best time to do it. Simon Brew tells the story...

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    21 September 2026, 5:32 am
  • 33 minutes 29 seconds
    Adam Randall on directing Slow Horses, his mystery IMDB film, and Gary Oldman's text messages

    In a special episode of Film Stories, Simon Brew turns to his attentention to the Apple TV show Slow Horses, which has just returned for its sixth season. The man directing season 6, as he did season 4, is Adam Randall.

    He chats to Simon about landing the Slow Horses job, making the first film for Netflix UK many years ago, the IMDB movie with Miles Teller that he's linked with but has never heard of, and a whole lot more...

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    18 September 2026, 5:54 am
  • 1 hour 6 minutes
    James Cameron's Titanic (1997), the two battling studios, and drugs in the chowder

    James Cameron knew as he pitched Titanic to 20th Century Fox that it wasn't likely to be as commercial a film as the one he'd just done, True Lies. The budget was set to be lower, the release date was initially set for just a year after the start of filming, and there was to be no song.

    What happened changed his career and many others. From the unhappy crew member drugging the food table, to press reports of a production out of control, Simon Brew digs into the extraordinary story behind one of the biggest movies of all time...

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    14 September 2026, 4:53 am
  • 1 hour 50 seconds
    Interview special with Oscar winner Susanne Bier (Practical Magic 2) and producer Ken Petrie (Sunny Dancer and more)

    Two different creatives share their film stories in this special episode of the podcast!

    First up, Oscar-winner Susanne Bier talked to Simon the day after the Practical Magic 2 premiere in London. The pair natter about the the film, about the set build, and what Susanne is up to next.

    And then producer Ken Petrie joins, a man who's had an unusual journey to film producing. Just how do you get from doing the pytotechnics at a Katherine Jenkins Christmas show, to producing the acclaimed indie comedy Sunny Dancer?

    You'll hear both conversations in this episode...

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    11 September 2026, 6:33 am
  • 1 hour 11 minutes
    Parenthood, the plane trip that led to the film, plus a lovely chat with Robert Carlyle

    1989's Parenthood started life on a long haul flight. Director Ron Howard would tell of how 'testing' it was to do such a journey with kids in tow, and soon, he realised there was a film in it. But it'd be a movie where he, producer Brian Grazer, and writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, would end up mining their personal lives. Plus, it was going to need one hell of an ensemble cast.

    For the second part of this episode, Simon is joined by Robert Carlyle, who has just directed for the third time. Fittingly, it's a short film called three, and Robert talks about why he made it, how it differered from his other directing film, plus the importance of putting the bins out...

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    7 September 2026, 5:29 am
  • 46 minutes 8 seconds
    In conversation with Michael Sarnoski - The Death Of Robin Hood, Death Stranding, Pig, and videogames

    In UK cinemas now is the third film from writer/director Michael Sarnoski, The Death Of Robin Hood. Headlined by Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer, it's a hugely ambitious independent movie, with a very different spin on a well-known character.

    Sarnoski joined Simon Brew for a Film Stories special, chatting about the movie, about filming in Northern Ireland, about the weather, and about shooting on film.

    Plus, the pair talking about working with Nicolas Cage on Pig, an assortment of videogames, Sarnoski's upcoming Death Stranding movie, and the deadly nature of Split Fiction...

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    3 September 2026, 7:59 am
  • 1 hour 31 minutes
    Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey, the title that had to change, plus a chat with William Sadler and Alex Winter too

    With Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure already playing in cinemas, plans moved quickly for a sequel. Originally entitled Bill & Ted Go To Hell, the movie that became Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey survived the financial problems of the studio behind it, and brought in a first-time director, with a really tight schedule to turn the film around.

    In the first part of this episode, Simon tells the story of the film. In the second, he's joined by two of its stars, Alex Winter and William Sadler, to put their side of things.

    Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey has just made its 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray debut in the UK, courtesy of Arrow.

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    1 September 2026, 5:43 am
  • 1 hour 22 minutes
    Speed (1994), the lack of Speed 3, plus director Dave Green on the Coyote Vs Acme saga

    1994's Speed may now be regarded as an action classic, but the original idea was a bus that didn't go above 20mph, in a film called Minimum Speed. Sat for a late summer release in 1994, things changed after a really successful test screening - and Keanu Reeves' haircut! - but it'd gone over a lot of hurdles to get to that point.

    Plus: where's Speed 3?!

    In the second half of this episode, director Dave Green joins Simon to chat about the terrific Coyote Vs Acme, a film that very, very nearly didn't exist...

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    24 August 2026, 5:41 am
  • 35 minutes 43 seconds
    In conversation with Adam Shankman - Stop That Train, the Oscars, Hairspray and more

    Director Adam Shankman shot the joyously entertaining Stop! That! Train! in under three weeks, and it arrives in cinemas this very weekend in the UK. In this special Film Stories interview, he talks to Simon Brew about getting the film made, as well as his time producing the Oscars, the short film that got him started, Hairspray, and an upcoming Christmas movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger too...

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    21 August 2026, 1:45 pm
  • 1 hour 25 minutes
    Licence To Kill (1989), plus Toby Kebbell on Dead Man's Shoes and more

    James Bond 007 took a grittier turn with 1989's Licence To Kill, an adventure that was the first and only Bond film very specifically written for Timothy Dalton.

    It was an attempt to turn Bond grittier, and would mark the end of an era for many involved in the saga. Plus, it would end up doing box office battles with some tougher than expected competition.

    For the second half of this episode, Simon is talking Dead Man's Shoes with actor Toby Kebbell, for whom it marked his first film apperance. The movie is finally available on Blu-ray for the first time, and Toby is not short of stories about it...

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    17 August 2026, 6:23 am
  • 1 hour 38 minutes
    Film Stories Live: with Mark Kermode in Cornwall

    Up front, you can find Simon's tour dates at www.filmstories.co.uk/live.

    Simon Brew has been touring the UK with Film Stories in 2026, and in June 2026, he landed at the lovely Plaza Cinema in Truro. There, for an hour and half, he and Mark Kermode talked movies. And lots of them.

    In this special recording, you can hear the pair talk about dentistry, John Travola, Event Horizon, The Devils, The Exorcist II, Howard The Duck, Masters Of The Universe and a whole lot more...

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    10 August 2026, 5:33 am
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