The Empire is a 2024 apocalyptic science fiction comedy-drama film written and directed by Bruno Dumont. The international co-production between France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Portugal premiered on 18 February 2024 at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Jury Prize. It was theatrically released in France on 21 February 2024.

Bruno Dumont is a French film director and screenwriter. To date, he has directed ten feature films, all of which border somewhere between realistic drama and the avant-garde. His films have won several awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Two of Dumont's films have won the Grand Prix award: both L'Humanité (1999) and Flandres (2006). Dumont's Hadewijch won the 2009 Prize of the International Critics for Special Presentation at the Toronto Film Festival.