Bright is poised to be Netflix’s first blockbuster offering, grabbing to Will Smith’s starpower in hopes of creating a hit for the platform later in the film. The film pairs Smith with Joel Edgerton as his new Orc partner as the two hit the streets as cops in an alternate Los Angeles where magic, elves, orcs, and other fantasy beings exist and still seem to be steeped in the darkness and grit of the street. It is kinda like director David Ayer’s work on End Of Watch, but with a lot of J.R.R. Tolkien added to the story.
Netflix just dropped the first trailer in honor of its push at Comic-Con in San Diego, following a successful appearance on Conan with the entire cast and Ayer, and got a nice seal of approval from Smith and Ayer on their philosophy when it comes to filmmaking according to Indiewire:
In Smith’s words, “I’m sure this will end soon, but they give you money and let you make the movie you want to make.”
“This is no bullshit PG-13 movie. I was able to do my shit here,” Ayer said. “I was really able to tell a story.”
That story involves Edgerton’s Orc becoming the first on the force, an aspect that allowed Smith to become a “black LAPD officer who finds someone else to be racist against.” Ayer promises that the film is grounded in reality, even though the film features fantasy elements.
The praise for Netflix comes on the heels of Christopher Nolan’s comments about the streaming platform and his reluctance to work with them in the future. For Smith, the platform is a new frontier and it is only going to keep skewing in this direction:
“It’s really exciting to be at the forefront of whatever this new way of consuming media is…
“I have a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old, and movies they go to see in the theater are different from the movies they watch at home.”
It remains to be seen how this will affect the future of film delivery and the allure of Netflix. Adding names like Adam Sandler and Will Smith to the list of stars willing to appear in films for the service is a big step, even if their success has taken some hits in recent years. It’s a far cry from the Netflix that started an alternative to Blockbuster video.
