THREE decades, two sequels and two mashups with the Alien franchise, on from the release of John McTieman’s Predator, comes The Predator, a more of the same sci-fi sequel from director Shane Black.

The film follows a group of mercenaries who must protect a small town from invading Predators. Whilst there’s no sign of original star Schwarzenegger here, the film does mark a return for Black, who featured as a cast member back in 1987.

Urban legend has it that Black was cast in Predator by producers as a means of recruiting him to help with script re-writes, in the face of his reluctance. When Black continued to reject the request, the team allegedly had his role cut to just seven minutes - not to mention a gory end - in so-called revenge.

Thirty years later, The Predator sees Black finally implement his creative vision upon a film featuring the extraterrestrial assassins. It is bloodier than before but also, surprisingly, funnier.

Speaking of funny films, romcom fans will not want to miss Crazy Rich Asians as it lands on big screens this weekend. The UK is a late taker of the comedy, which already boasts a barnstorming global run.

Directed by Jon M Chu, Crazy Rich Asians tells the story of a man (Henry Golding as Nick) whose introduction of long-term girlfriend Rachel (Constance Wu) to his east-Asian family comes as something of a shock to her. The twist being that Nick has neglected to tell Rachel that his family are among the richest in Singapore.

The film is based on the eponymous novel by Kevin Kwan and is very much dominated by his creative presence. Rejecting many lucrative studio offers, Kwan bought the book’s film rights himself for just $1, after rejecting a Hollywood proposal to replace the American-Asian Rachel with a white actress.

Instead, Crazy Rich Asians is notable for being the first modern Hollywood film to feature a majority Asian cast in over two decades. That, and because it’s terrific fun.

One more for this week is King of Thieves - a third dramatisation of the 2015 Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary, famously enacted by a group of old codgers, within the space of a year.

Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtney, Michael’s Caine and Gambon are among the all-star cast, which surely cannot be worse than Ronnie Thompson’s drab attempt.

-Toby Symonds