There was a time when being sent straight to video was about the most ignoble fate a would-be movie blockbuster could suffer: the vision of its makers confined to the dimensions of a television screen, never to be enjoyed by more than a sofa-full of people in one sitting. In the modern age, that fate became less tangible still: demoted to streaming, many good films even now float in a strange digital purgatory, sometimes connecting with sizeable audiences, yet rarely acquiring the tangible cultural currency of a hit in cinemas.
Still, such films – like Prey, for example, a surprisingly good Predator prequel that skipped cinemas to premiere last week on Disney Plus – can at least be seen, and widely so, by those inclined. Right about now, the creative team behind Warner Bros’ addled comic-book film Batgirl would gladly accept that outcome, after being dealt a far rarer and more egregious humiliation. Last week, it was announced that the near-complete film, having already racked up a budget of $90m, would not be released at all – not even on the Warner-owned streaming service HBO Max.
