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Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
25,001 - 50,000 - Monthly Reach
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75,001 - 150,000 - Active Followers
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15,001 - 40,000
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On the show
From 10 epsHosts
Recent guests
Recent episodes
Contact (1997) and how it nearly fell apart, plus David Frankel on The Devil Wears Prada 2
May 4, 2026
1h 23m 53s
Cape Fear (1991), and when Martin Scorsese read it three times and hated it
Apr 28, 2026
47m 47s
Dick Tracy (1990), along with the strange trick to hold onto its rights
Apr 20, 2026
1h 01m 21s
Wild Wild West (1999), plus how it affected The Matrix and The Iron Giant
Apr 13, 2026
44m 20s
In conversation with Paul Feig - The Housemaid, Bridesmaids at the Oscars, Ghostbusters and more
Apr 10, 2026
1h 02m 10s
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/4/26 | Contact (1997) and how it nearly fell apart, plus David Frankel on The Devil Wears Prada 2 | Robert Zemeckis' 1997 film of Carl Sagan's Contact is a remarkably grown-up science fiction movie for a summer blockbuster. Starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey, it took nearly 20 years to bring the story to the screen - and along the way, Mad Max director George Miller was hired and fired too. It's quite a story, told by Simon Brew in this latest episode. Plus! Oscar-winning filmmaker David Frankel chats to James about The Devil Wears Prada 2, and the short film that earned him an Academy Award... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 23m 53s | ||||||
| 4/28/26 | Cape Fear (1991), and when Martin Scorsese read it three times and hated it✨ | film historyMartin Scorsese+3 | — | Cape FearSchindler's List+1 | — | Cape FearMartin Scorsese+5 | — | 47m 47s | |
| 4/20/26 | Dick Tracy (1990), along with the strange trick to hold onto its rights✨ | film promotionDisney history+4 | — | DisneyDick Tracy+2 | — | Dick TracyDisney+5 | — | 1h 01m 21s | |
| 4/13/26 | Wild Wild West (1999), plus how it affected The Matrix and The Iron Giant✨ | film historyblockbuster films+5 | — | Warner BrosWild Wild West+3 | — | Wild Wild WestThe Matrix+5 | — | 44m 20s | |
| 4/10/26 | In conversation with Paul Feig - The Housemaid, Bridesmaids at the Oscars, Ghostbusters and more✨ | filmOscars+4 | Paul Feig | The HousemaidThe Housemaid 2+3 | — | Paul FeigBridesmaids+5 | — | 1h 02m 10s | |
| 4/3/26 | In conversation with David Mackenzie | Fuze, Relay, Hell Or High Water, Starred Up, AI and more✨ | filminterview+5 | David Mackenzie | FuzeYoung Adam+3 | — | David MackenzieFuze+5 | — | 50m 36s | |
| 3/30/26 | Judge Dredd (1995), and the long battle to get it made✨ | Judge Dreddfilm history+4 | — | 2000ADJudge Dredd | Mega City One | Judge Dreddfilm production+6 | — | 1h 00m 32s | |
| 3/27/26 | In conversation with Radio Silence - Ready Or Not 2, Sega Dreamcast, Samara Weaving and more✨ | film promotionhorror movies+3 | Matt Bettinelli-OlpinTyler Gillett | Sega DreamcastReady Or Not 2+2 | — | Ready Or Not 2Matt Bettinelli-Olpin+5 | — | 38m 07s | |
| 3/23/26 | X-Men (2000), and how it changed superhero cinema✨ | superhero cinemafilm history+3 | — | 20th Century FoxX-Men | — | X-Mensuperhero movies+4 | — | 52m 47s | |
| 3/20/26 | In conversation with Christopher Miller and Phil Lord | Project Hail Mary, Rocky IV, Geostorm 2 and more✨ | interviewfilm production+3 | Christopher MillerPhil Lord | Project Hail MaryRocky IV+1 | — | Project Hail MaryRocky IV+3 | — | 35m 52s | |
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| 3/16/26 | The Postman (1997) and Wag The Dog (1997) | Two films. The same weekend. Very different reputations✨ | film analysisfilm history+3 | — | Warner BrosThe Postman+1 | — | The PostmanWag The Dog+5 | — | 1h 13m 36s | |
| 3/13/26 | In conversation with Drew Goddard | A very nerdy film chat | Here's a special episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, where Simon is joined by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Drew Goddard. Drew was in town to talk about his script for Project Hail Mary. But as you're about to hear, the conversation goes off in a lot of different directions: from directing Bad Times At The El Royale and Cabin In The Woods, to writing The Martian, to, er, Police Academy... Project Hail Mary is in UK cinemas from 20th March. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 48m 00s | ||||||
| 3/9/26 | Joker (2019) and Cat's Eye (1985) | Two lower budget films, only one grossed a billion | Jared Leto was the reigning Joker. Todd Phillips couldn't get the films he wanted to do off the ground. The DC range of movies was having a whole range of challenges for Warner Bros. And constant changes at the studio were leading to regular challenges of direction. In the midst of this, a relatively slim production, Joker, would have notable ramifications. Similarly slim, Cat's Eye marks the first credited screenplay for a man called Stephen King. But this too had challenges, when the original financing plan fell apart. And then, another film - Firestarter - had a bit of a knock-on effect... Stories of both are told in this episode. Please like/subscribe/leave nice reviews. Thank you! Find more at www.filmstories.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 24m 33s | ||||||
| 3/2/26 | Kevin Costner's Horizon project and where it's up to, plus Andrew Stanton | In the late 1980s, Kevin Costner - pre-Dances With Wolves - first had the idea for what became the Horizon movie saga. A hugely-ambitious series of westerns, that he'd ultimately star in, co-write, and direct. By 2026, two films had been made, only one released, and around ten minutes shot of a third. So what's happened? For the second half of this episode, Simon is joined by director Andrew Stanton, chatting about his new film In The Blink Of An Eye. The pair chat science fiction, semi-colons, a fruity toy, John Carter, and a whole lot more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 11m 37s | ||||||
| 2/23/26 | Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Maybe Baby (2000) | The never-ending shoot, and Ben Elton's directorial debut | The plan was for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman to spend around six months in the UK for the filming of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick had been mulling the film for decades, and considering a couple of other projects, too. But the shoot of Eyes Wide Shut would ultimately be his final film - and it's end up in the Guinness Book of Records. For Ben Elton, he was keen to pursue making the film Maybe Baby, having enjoyed success with the same story in his novel Inconceivable. But his insistence on a particular piece of casting nearly derailed the whole project. Stories of both are told in this episode. Please do like and subscribe and leave nice reviews! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 16m 41s | ||||||
| 2/20/26 | What on earth is film 'testing'? | A podcast special, with Kevin Goetz | The art of movie testing isn't just about researching finished films. It's also testing the very concept of a movie, that can determine both whether it gets made, and what it gets made for. In a special episode of the podcast, a man who you may not have heard of joins Simon. Yet Kevin Goetz has certainly had some impact on the films you watch. His new book - How To Score In Hollywood, written with Bob Levin - digs into this. And in this special chat, we uncover some of his work... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 03m 27s | ||||||
| 2/16/26 | Hulk (2003), plus the ongoing sequel problem | It was very different times for Marvel when, in the 1990s, it struck an assortment of deals over screen rights for its characters. For the purposes of this tale, the Incredible Hulk, for whom Universal snapped up the rights. The deal done then continues to have some ramifications now, but the first fruits of it? Ang Lee's 2003 movie Hulk, starring Eric Bana. Arriving the year after Sam Raimi's Spider-man, it turns out there was an early alarm bell that they might have got the tone a little wrong... More on the film, and the ongoing sequel issues, in this episode... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 46m 38s | ||||||
| 2/9/26 | The Untouchables (1987), plus the prequel movie that never was | Brian De Palma's soaring 1987 crime drama The Untouchables nearly went in some very different directions. Jack Nicholson as Eliot Ness? Bob Hoskins as Al Capone? And what's more, the film's legendary sequence on the steps of Chicago's Union Station was pretty much made up on the fly. The story is told in this episode, as well as the brief attempt to get a prequel movie - Capone Rising - off the ground as well. If you enjoy this, please like and subscribe. Doesn't half help independent podcasts when you do that... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 45m 48s | ||||||
| 2/6/26 | In conversation with director Angel Manuel Soto | The Wrecking Crew, Blue Beetle, toilet roll | Director Angel Manuel Soto has just brought Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista together on the big screen, in the Prime Video hit THE WRECKING CREW. Growing in Puerto Rico, he was some way away from the man who'd direct BLUE BEETLE for Warner Bros and DC. And in this special interview, he tells his incredible film story. And it involves loo roll! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 49m 23s | ||||||
| 2/3/26 | Fatal Attraction (1987), plus a very nerdy chat with Sam Raimi | Quite the double dose in this episode of Film Stories. Firstly, the story of how Fatal Attraction came from the roots of a short film at the start of the 1980s. How directors such as John Carpenter turned it down. And how the infamous battle over its ending led to one of the iconic movie thrillers of the 1980s. Then! It's only Sam Raimi! Chatting about Send Help, movie frame rates, For Love Of The Game and futuristic prison movies... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 19m 51s | ||||||
| 1/30/26 | In conversation with Ric Roman Waugh | Shelter, Statham, the freezing cold and more | Ric Roman Waugh has directed films such as the newly-released Shelter, along with Greenland, Greenland: Migration, Kandahar and more. And in this far-reaching conversation with Simon Brew, he takes us through his latest film and body of work. Not least the unusual connection between Simon and Ric's fathers, thanks to Paint Your Wagon. A tenuous link, surely, but one the pair get into! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 46m 13s | ||||||
| 1/28/26 | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Educating Rita (1983) | A mighty messy Star Wars production | Two very different films in this latest episode of film history podcast Film Stories. Firstly, it's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an infamously difficult production that saw director Gareth Edwards fashion a war tale in the Star Wars universe - and then reshoots become Hollywood trade press fodder. Coming off the back of two James Bond films meanwhile, director Lewis Gilbert reckoned he might be able to get interest in a film take on hit play Educating Rita back in the early 1980s. He got a short, sharp shock - but a dinner party offered him a very welcome stroke a luck. Stories of both films are told in this episode. Please do the like and subscribe and leaving a nice review thing. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 14m 29s | ||||||
| 1/26/26 | Paint Your Wagon (1969), and Dexter Fletcher on The Elephant Man and more | One of the more bizarre projects to come out of a Hollywood studio in the late 1960s, Paint Your Wagon felt like a turning point movie. Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood - and they're both singing? How did that happen? Turns out it's quite a story. Then, ahead of an appearance at the BFI to talk about his work in David Lynch's The Elephant Man, Dexter Fletcher joins Simon for a chat about it. That, and a bit of Alan Rickman, and inviting Christopher Walken over for dinner... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 18m 39s | ||||||
| 1/16/26 | In conversation with Tiff Stevenson | Movies, and featuring in a film that shouldn't be any good | She's a comedian, writer, actor and film nerd, and Tiff Stevenson also is a go-to for hosting things on boats, it turns out! In this Film Stories special, she talks about her role in a film called Slotherhouse. A horror slasher movie, with a sloth in it. As the pair discuss, it sounds like both an intriguing and terrible idea, yet it somehow works! It's one of the many movie discussions that come up in this chat... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 33m 30s | ||||||
| 1/12/26 | Almost Famous (2000) and Cellular (2004) | A box office stumble, and an underappreciated action thriller | Regular episodes of Film Stories with Simon Brew resume for 2026, with two very different films in the spotlight. First up there's Cameron Crowe's superb Almost Famous, a film he got the greenlight to make in the aftermath of Jerry Maguire's success. A hugely personal story, here's how it stumbled at the box office, but found new life. Then, from the same brain that gave us Phone Booth comes Collateral. There aren't many film you could bill Chris Evans, Oscar-winner Kim Basinger and Jason Statham in, all from the director of Snakes On A Plane. How, then, did this one end up a treat? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 03m 27s | ||||||
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Chart Positions
26 placements across 20 markets.
Chart Positions
26 placements across 20 markets.