Why the fate of ‘mid-tier’ films at the cinema matters

The British Film Institute suggests there are less films grossing ‘middle ground’ totals arriving in cinemas – which may be a sign of things to come, argues James Moore

Disney’s ‘Prey’ went straight to its streaming service, rather than getting a widespread cinema release (Disney)

Is Disney’s hit Prey really a predator that is eating into the returns of Britain’s – and the world’s – cinemas?

That looks like a bit of playful hyperbole to describe the cinema-skipping movie, which is the latest, and maybe the best, iteration of the long-running Predator franchise birthed in the late 1980s with a muscular action flick featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his pre-governor of California days.

But here’s the thing: thanks to research conducted by the British Film Institute (BFI), I think I can back my assertion up. Prey would probably become a part of cinema’s “middle ground” had it been released, grossing somewhere between £2m and £20m in the UK.