The Croods

This week's big global release is the DreamWorks animated prehistoric comedy-adventure The Croods, led by an all-star vocal cast including Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds. Look for a huge push for must-have spin-off merchandise for this one, as it's packed with cuddly creatures. And hope it does well at the box office, because it would make a great franchise too.

Doing the publicity rounds this week, Gerard Butler has been out promoting his new White House thriller Olympus Has Fallen. Flitting between New York and Los Angeles to appear on every chat show possible, it's no wonder that he was somewhat fed-up by the time he reached David Letterman's Manhattan studio. Of course, the paparazzi caught it on camera as he lost his patience with a fan trying to get multiple autographs. But he manages to recovers his usual charm.

The big casting news this week was that Tom Cruise has kick-started the long-gestating The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie, based on the 1960s TV and film series about two spies working to take down the villainous agency T.H.R.U.S.H. Guy Ritchie is lined up to direct the film, which is planned as the start of an all-new franchise.

Kick Ass 2

We had our first glimpse of the sequel Kick Ass 2 this week with the release of several images and a new red-band trailer promising a lot more action mayhem. Directed by Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down), the film costars an almost unrecognisable Jim Carrey as a meathead military superhero who joins with Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Kick-Ass and Chloe Grace Moretz Hit-Girl in a revenge match against Christopher Mintz-Plasse's supervillain. It opens in August.

Also opening in August is the long-awaited Alan Partridge movie, bringing Steve Coogan's beloved bumbling TV and radio presenter alter-ego to the big screen. This week saw the release of the film's first teaser trailer, focussing on the fact that the new film doesn't yet have a title. Alan prefers Colossal Velocity, but a colleague wants to use the radio alphabet for Alan's initials: Alpha Papa. But would that be Alan Partridge "is" Alpha Papa or Alan Patridge "in" Alpha Papa?

Star Trek: Into Darkness

And finally, a chilling new trailer for JJ Abrams' sequel Star Trek Into Darkness was released this week, promising a much more tense and bleak thriller than first film, as the title suggests. With Benedict Cumberbatch as a startlingly focussed villain taking on the returning cast led by Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana, the film looks even more unmissable now. It opens in May.

Rich Cline