Direct-to-video
[12] The practice of creating and releasing regular fiction specifically for video did not really take off until 1994, with Disney's The Return of Jafar and Universal's The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, neither of which was intended to hit theaters at any point in its production.[11] Several of the animated sequels, like MGM's The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue from 1998, have sparked criticism due to the deliberate neglect of the original source material by creative content limits[13] as these franchises will abruptly discontinue.The teens and young adults who drive blockbuster box office statistics stay away from family movies.Some horror films that are unsuccessful in theaters, like Witchcraft, begin successful direct-to-video series.[6] Studios may also release sequels or spin-offs to a successful live action film straight to DVD, due to a lack of budget in comparison to the original.Other times, a direct-to-video movie may get a limited theatrical screening in order to build excitement for the actual release of the video such as was done for 2010's Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, and Planet Hulk, 2016's Batman: The Killing Joke[16] or 2013's Sharknado.With the increasing prominence of digital distribution platforms in the 2000s and 2010s, direct-to-digital releases began to emerge alongside, or in lieu of home video.As this practice violates the traditional release windows mandated by the cinema industry, major chains have typically declined to screen the films.[41] The lax restrictions and censorship in comparison to broadcast television appealed to filmmakers, allowing them to include more controversial content, as the films did not need to rely on sponsored advertisements for financial support.Relaxed censorship in V-Cinema gave way to the premier and rise of expressive auteur directors such as Takashi Miike, Hideo Nakata, Shinji Aoyama, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa.[42][43] As the release of these titles were outside of usual distribution, studios and directors worked quickly to capitalize on niche markets or upcoming and current trends to increase financial returns.[citation needed] In the mid-to-late 2010s, low-budget B-movies that are made exclusively for digital streaming became a trend in China; these films are called "Online Big Movies" ("OBM"; 网络大电影 in Chinese, or simply 网大).[45] The word "Big" in the name was meant to be sardonic, as most of these films are often made on a very low budget[46] and featuring mostly unknown cast members and sometimes nonprofessional actors.