David Farnor | On 06, May 2020

Louise Leterrior is lined up to direct Bright 2 for Netflix.

The sequel to the fantasy blockbuster was officially announced by Netflix back in 2018, with the streaming giant confident enough in the potential for a franchise that it gave a green light to follow-up before the first movie had even been released. That confidence appeared to be demonstrated by the film’s success with subscribers: at the time, Netflix said it was the most-viewed Netflix original film on the service in its first week.

Directed by David Ayer, Bright starred Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as a human-orc cop duo in an alternate universe’s modern-day Los Angeles. The two LAPD police officers work to keep the mean streets of Los Angeles safe from a sinister underworld filled with violence and dark forces.

The film was originally created by Max Landis, but the sequel will instead by written by Beauty and the Beast’s Evan Spiliotopoulos and David Ayer, with T.S. Nowlin conducting a rewrite. Now, they’ve got themselves a director, with the Transporter and Now You See Me helmer reportedly in talks to take over from Ayer.

Both Will Smith and Joel Edgerton will now reprise their roles for the movie, which Netflix is keen to start filming this year, once the coronavirus pandemic safety restrictions have been lifted.

 

Joel Edgerton: Bright 2 will have “international flavour”

7th February 2019

Bright 2 will have a more “international flavour”, Joel Edgerton has said.

The sequel to the fantasy blockbuster was officially announced by Netflix last year. The streaming service was reportedly so confident in the potential for a film franchise that it gave a green light to follow-up before the first had even been released. That confidence appeared to be demonstrated by the film’s success with subscribers: at the time, Netflix said it was the highest viewed Netflix original film on the service in its first week.

Directed by David Ayer, the movie stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as a human-orc cop duo in an alternate universe’s modern-day Los Angeles. The two LAPD police officers work to keep the mean streets of Los Angeles safe from a sinister underworld filled with violence and dark forces.

The film was originally created by Max Landis, but the writer has departed from the project, following several allegations of sexual harassment against him. The sequel will instead by written by Beauty and the Beast’s Evan Spiliotopoulos and David Ayer.

Edgerton will reprise his role as orc Nick Jakoby in the second film.

“I can tell you that Will Smith did a good enough job in the first one that I think they might invite him back,” Edgerton joked in a recent interview with Yahoo! Movies. “I’m definitely going to be back, David Ayer will be back so we’re getting the team back together.”

“All I can probably assume is that most sequels go a little bit bigger the second time around so I think we’re going to tune the dial up to eleven,” he teased. “There may be a slightly more international flavour about Bright 2, we might go outside the boundaries of Downton Los Angeles.”

Production on Bright 2 is expected to begin later this year.

 

Netflix confirms Bright sequel on the way

3rd January 2018

Netflix has officially confirmed that a sequel to Bright is on the way.

David Ayer’s fantasy blockbuster, which stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as a human-orc cop duo, was met with mixed reviews from critics, but Netflix is confident in the movie’s franchise potential, with Bloomberg reporting that a sequel had been given the green light before the film had even been released. Now, the streaming giant has officially announced the follow-up.

In a riposte to unofficial viewing figures from Nielsen, which claimed 11 million US subscribers watched the movie over he opening weekend, Netflix has also released some vague statistics of its own: Bright is the highest viewed Netflix film ever on the service in its first week of release and one of the biggest originals (including sequels/additional seasons) Netflix has ever launched. Bright is also the number one movie on Netflix in every country since its release, with more people viewing the film internationally than domestically.

Netflix made the announcement with a cheeky video on its social media channels. You can watch that below, or read our review here.

Orc auditions… now closed. @BrightNetflix will return! pic.twitter.com/VRwPe6J2lX

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) January 3, 2018

 

Bright draws 11 million viewers in opening weekend

29th December 2017

Netflix’s Bright was watched by at least 11 million people in its opening weekend, according to new figures.

The data comes from Nielsen (via Variety), which has been heavily disputed by the streaming giant. Indeed, Netflix remains as closeted about its viewing figures as ever, and Nielsen’s attempts to cut through that veil of secrecy is only part of the picture: the data uses audio content recognition, like other, similar reports, to track viewing volumes, but only does so with TV households, which discounts mobile devices and computers. The SVOD figures are also extrapolated, as per industry standard, from a select panel of households.

Nonetheless, they give us a rough indication of Netflix’s content performance. Nielsen’s data shows that Bright drew an average of 11 million viewers in its first three days after its launch on 22nd December. 3.9 million viewers aged 18 to 34 tuned in, while 7 million viewers aged 18 to 49 streamed the movie. The audience was typically 56 per cent male.

That makes the fantasy actioner, which stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as a human and orc cop duo in an alternate universe’s modern-day Los Angeles, less popular than Stranger Things Season 2, which Nielsen’s data says drew 15.8 million viewers in its opening weekend. However, it is more popular than The Crown Season 2, which drew an average of 3 million US viewers (although the popularity of the show is arguably likely to be higher in the UK).

Netflix, regardless, is evidently very happy with the movie’s performance, with Bloomberg reporting that the green light has already been given for a sequel. You can read our spoiler-free review of the film here.
 

Netflix orders sequel to Will Smith blockbuster Bright

20th December 2017

Netflix has reportedly already ordered a sequel to Will Smith blockbuster Bright, in an unprecedented move that will make movie history.

The film, which stars Smith and Joel Edgerton as a human-orc buddy cop duo, is the streaming giant’s first attempt a major tentpole release, entering the kind of waters that are normally reserved for traditional studios opening films wide across hundreds of cinema screens. Bright, though, is premiering straight in people’s living rooms, albeit with a limited theatrical release in the UK and US.

Directed by David Ayer (Fury, Suicide Squad), it follows the story of the two LAPD police officers who work to keep the mean streets of Los Angeles safe from a sinister underworld filled with violence and dark forces at work. That world is apparently enough for Netflix to continue exploring, as Bloomberg reports that it has already greenlit a second film to follow on from the first, with Smith also signed on for the movie.

The move marks the very first streaming-only movie franchise in history – and a rare instance of a blockbuster outside of a trilogy being given a sequel before its first entry has even premiered. It’s a warning shot from Netflix to the traditional Hollywood players, following the hire of former Universal chief Scott Studer to head up its film development, bringing with him a black book of contacts that is being put to use by Netflix’s growing budget.

The company looks to spend up to $8 billion on original content next year, as well as release more than 80 original films – up from around 50 this year. With Netflix apparently already happy with Bright’s $90 million investment, you can expect this to be just the beginning.

Bright is released on Netflix on Friday 22nd December. Head this way to watch a trailer.

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