Big Screen – this week’s top ten at the cinema…

Avengers Assemble

Team effort… Joss Whedon unites some of Marvel’s most noteworthy superheroes to save Earth from a deadly onslaught launched by Thor’s adoptive brother, Loki.

Last slice… Nine years on from their last big-screen outing, the original American Pie characters get together for a raucous school reunion. Expect sexual shenanigans and drunken debauchery.

Dark Shadows

Grave tidings… Serial collaborators Tim Burton and Johnny Depp join forces again for this camp vamp fantasy about a 200-year-old bloodsucker and his dysfunctional descendants.

The Lucky One

Good fortune… Taylor Schilling is the object of Zac Efron’s affection in this romantic drama about a US marine searching for the woman he believes was his good luck charm during his tour of duty in Iraq.

Beauty and the Beast

Tale as old as time… Disney’s beloved 1991 animation, charting the unlikely relationship between plucky Belle and the cursed Beast, returns to cinema screens in 3D.

Safe

Handle with care… Action film staple Jason Statham packs a punch in this high-octane thriller as a former cage fighter tasked with protecting a prized math prodigy from the Triads, the Russian mob and corrupt NYPD cops.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Novel approach… Paul Torday’s novel about a fisheries expert asked to find a way of introducing fly-fishing to the desert gets a big screen reworking with Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.

Bite to eat… David Hasselhoff pops up in this bust-filled horror comedy sequel, which sees the school of pre-historic piranhas terrorising fresh victims at a newly-opened water park.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Serving time… Mel Gibson heads the cast of this action drama as a career criminal who learns to survive in a city-sized jail with the help of a young boy.

The Hunger Games

Survival of the fittest… This action-adventure fantasy adaptation of Suzanne Collins bestselling novel sees Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) pitted against other youngsters in a televised battle to the death.

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