Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea (12A), which is adapted from Nathan Philbrick’s award-winning book of the same name, opens in Nantucket in 1850, with the young novelist Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) interviewing retired sailor Tom Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson) about the dramatic events that befell the whale ship Essex some three decades previously.

“Happiness is the enemy,” says Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) during Rush (15A), and you fear that Ron Howard’s movie about the rivalry between 1970s Formula 1 stars Lauda and James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) is going to descend into simplistic tale of Hunt’s cavalier flair triumphing over Lauda’s dour efficiency.

Following the triumph of his opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games, which attracted an estimate worldwide TV audience of 900 million, Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle returns to the smaller canvas of the big screen.

Dame Helen Mirren is up against two other veteran British stars for the best actress award at the European Film Awards next month, in the shortlist announced today.