David Farnor | On 12, Dec 2017

Guns, cars, cops, explosions, magic wands, orcs. The new trailer for Bright has all the things you expect from an epic fantasy blockbuster – and Netflix’s thriller certainly is shaping up to look like something capable of busting blocks.

Part-Lord of the Rings, part-Bad Boys II, the buddy cop flick sees Will Smith and Joel Edgerton play two LAPD police officers – a human named Officer Ward (Smith), and an orc named Officer Jakoby (Edgerton) – who form a most unlikely duo working to keep the mean streets of Los Angeles safe from a sinister underworld filled with violence and dark forces.

Directed by David Ayer and starring Noomi Rapace, Edgar Ramirez and Margaret Cho, the movie lands on Friday 22nd December, just in time to make a splash during the holiday season. With the CGI looking more impressive with each new teaser, could the end of year be looking bright for Netflix?

Here’s the latest video:

 

Second full trailer lands for Netflix’s Bright

26th October 2017

“Windows up. Drive it like you stole it.” If a Sing Street reference isn’t enough reason to make you excited about Netflix’s Bright, this trailer should do the job. David Ayer’s ambitious fantasy actioner is set in an alternate world where humans, orcs, elves and cops all live alongside each other, with Will Smith and Joel Edgerton starring as two policemen trying to keep the peace: Ward, a human, and Jakoby, an orc.

When they discover a magic wand, though, some otherworldly stuff really starts to kick off. With an ensemble that includes Noomi Rapace, Edgar Ramirez and Margaret Cho, and the most expensive Netflix original movie budget to date, this is set to be the streaming giant’s highest profile release of the year, with the film premiering on 22nd December – just in time not to watch it with your kids at Christmas.

Here’s the latest trailer:

 

Get to know the world of Netflix’s Bright

19th October 2017

Humans. Orcs. Elves. Cops. To sum up Netflix’s new film, Bright, in a sentence is no easy feat: the fantasy blockbuster takes place in an alternate world where all the above co-exist, with Will Smith and Joel Edgerton starring as two policemen trying to keep the peace: Ward, a human, and Jakoby, an orc.

Fortunately, Netflix has got something to help with all that, as a new featurette eases us into this bizarre, ambitious world.

Directed by David Ayer, and co-starring Noomi Rapace, Edgar Ramirez and Margaret Cho, the movie was written by Max Landis (Chronicle) and, with its gargantuan budget, is the most expensive Netflix original to date.

The film premieres worldwide on Netflix on 22nd December. Here’s the new video:

 

Netflix hits Comic Con Hall H with Bright trailer

21st July 2017

Netflix has landed at Comic-Con bigger than ever this year, as the streaming giant heads straight to Hall H for the first time. Straight out of the gates? Bright.

It may not be The Defenders or Stranger Things, but the R-rated fantasy picture is still a massive deal for the VOD service, after it splashed out a record amount on landing the Max Landis-penned blockbuster, with a budget, cast list and scale that puts Netflix right alongside Hollywood’s traditional major studios.

Set in an alternate present-day where humans, orcs, elves and fairies have been coexisting since the beginning of time, the film will see Ward, a human (Will Smith), joined by Nicolas, as they embark on a routine night patrol that will alter the future of their world as they know it. The Netflix original film also stars Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry, Edgar Ramirez, Ike Barinholtz, Enrique Murciano, Jay Hernandez, Andrea Navedo, Veronica Ngo, Alex Meraz, Margaret Cho, Brad William Henke, Dawn Olivieri, and Kenneth Choi.

This is, essentially, Netflix’s first tentpole movie. And the trailer has all the tentpole elements you’d expect, from action edited in time with music to banter-filled exchanges between its leads. “We might be in a prophecy,” says Edgerton’s orc. “We’re not a prophecy,” comes the reply. “We’re in a stolen Toyota Corolla.”

Bright premieres on Netflix on 22nd December. Here’s the new, full trailer:

 

First look at Joel Edgerton’s orc in Netflix’s Bright

6th March 2017

Hot on the heels of the teaser trailer for David Ayer’s Bright, Netflix has released its first full images of the fantastic thriller – and, more specifically, the orc, Nicolas Jakoby, played by Joel Edgerton.

Set in an alternate present-day where humans, orcs, elves and fairies have been coexisting since the beginning of time, the film will see Ward, a human (Will Smith), joined by Nicolas, as they embark on a routine night patrol that will alter the future of their world as they know it. The Netflix original film also stars Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry, Edgar Ramirez, Ike Barinholtz, Enrique Murciano, Jay Hernandez, Andrea Navedo, Veronica Ngo, Alex Meraz, Margaret Cho, Brad William Henke, Dawn Olivieri, and Kenneth Choi.

The pictures come courtesy of the South Central Los Angeles Police Force, who announced the appointment of Nicolas as the LAPD’s first ever orc police officer, a hiring that solidifies their commitment to diversity and their acceptance of all communities and races.

“Orcs have been a part of our society for over a millennia and we welcome all who are ready and willing to serve on the force. Jakoby will be an excellent partner to Ward,” said a spokesperson for the force.

Bright will be released on Netflix in December 2017. Read on for some more photos of Smith and Edgerton in action – or scroll down for the trailer.

 

Netflix releases first teaser trailer for Bright

27th February 2017

Netflix has unveiled the first teaser trailer for its fantasy crime thriller, Bright.

Starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, the film is one of Netflix’s biggest original titles of the year, following a major deal in 2016 for Max Landis’ spec script. The streaming giant paid a reported $90 million for the movie, including the cost for the screenplay, the production and the A-list cast. The ensemble has only become more impressive in the last 12 months, with Rooney Mara, Edgar Ramirez and Enrique Murciano all signing on.

Directed by David Ayer (Suicide Squad, Fury), the blockbuster sees Smith play Ward, a human detective, who teams up with Jakoby (Edgerton), an orc, to embark on a routine night patrol that will alter the future of their world as they know it. Battling both their own personal differences as well as an onslaught of enemies, they must work together to protect a young female elf and a thought-to-be-forgotten relic, which in the wrong hands could destroy everything. “I’m assuming this doesn’t end well,” quips Smith in the new video, which gives us our first glimpse of the gritty realism Ayer will be bringing to the movie’s fantastical elements.

Bright will premiere on Netflix in December, which means we can expect many more trailers, and a lot more information on the film’s plot and characters, as 2017 unfolds.

Until then, here’s the first teaser, which was broadcast during last night’s Oscars – a statement of intent if ever there was one. The ceremony saw Netflix win its first ever Academy Award for the short documentary The White Helmets.

Fantasy has become reality. Will Smith and Joel Edgerton star in Bright, only on @netflix. pic.twitter.com/FJueEhMFCO

— Bright Film (@BrightNetflix) February 27, 2017

 

Enrique Murciano added to Netflix’s Bright

23rd November 2016

Netflix’s Bright has added Enrique Murciano to its growing ensemble.

The film, which is directed by David Ayer, was acquired by the streaming giant earlier this year in a record $90 million deal. The ambitious fantasy already has the impressive cast to back it up, including Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Edgar Ramirez and Noomi Rapace.

The premise is no less epic: the film is a cop thriller set in a world where fantastical creatures exist alongside humans, with Smith and Edgerton playing a human and an orc teaming up to track down a powerful wand.

Deadline reports that Murciano will play Poison, the leader of a gang. It marks something of a reunion for Murciano, who has had a recurring role on Netflix’s original drama series Bloodline.

The film, which was written by Max Landis, has already begun shooting.

 

Ike Barinholtz joins David Ayer’s Netflix film Bright

17th November

Ike Barinholtz has joined David Ayer’s Netflix film, Bright.

The project is one of the highest-profile titles on Netflix’s original slate, with the streaming giant paying a record $90 million on the movie. Given the names involved, that is perhaps no surprise: the script was written by Max Landis and stars Joel Edgerton, Will Smith, Noomi Rapace and Edgar Ramirez.

The cop thriller, which has fantastical elements, will see Edgerton play an orc, who teams up with a human detective to find a magical wand. Now, another name has been added to the ensemble: Ike Barinholtz.

Barinholtz, who started at Fox’s MadTV before co-starring on The Mindy Project, has recently been seen in the Neighbours films and also co-wrote Dwayne Johnson comedy actioner Central Intelligence. He has also worked on a mother-daughter comedy with Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn and will appear in Peter Landesman’s Felt, a drama about Watergate and Deep Throat, co-starring Liam Neeson.

Most notably, though, Barinholtz played Griggs in Suicide Squad, which Ayer directed. Indeed, with Smith also on board, the film is fast becoming a Suicide Square reunion.

 

Edgar Ramirez joins Netflix’s Bright

10th November 2016

Edgar Ramirez has joined the cast of Netflix’s original film Bright.

Bought by the streaming giant for an unprecedented $90 million earlier this year, the film is directed by David Ayer and stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton.

A fantastical cop thriller, it sees Smith play a human cop, who has to team up with an orc (Edgerton) to outrun cops, criminals and supernatural beasts to protect a magical wand. Ramirez will play an elf named Kandomere, who works for the FBI’s magic division, reveals The Hollywood Reporter.

He joins an ensemble that also includes Noomi Rapace, just in case you weren’t intrigued enough already.

 

 

Netflix spends record $90 million on Will Smith’s Bright

19th March 2016

Netflix has spent a record $90 million on Will Smith’s new movie, Bright.

The streaming giant has been ramping up its original content arm in recent months, with one notable deal adding Brad Pitt’s War Machine to its slate. Now, though, that has been dwarfed by the amount spent on David Ayer’s cop thriller, Bright.

Penned by Max Landis and starring Joel Edgerton and Will Smith, the movie has A-list written all over it – and after a two-week bidding war, Netflix has paid the price to get it. The film cost around $45 million to make, which means that the VOD company will be spending just as much on the fees for all the talent involved, from Ayer and Smith to Max Landis, who has received more than $3 million for the script, making it “one of the largest spec deals for a writer in years”, notes Deadline.

The result is a potential game-changer in the streaming landscape, with Ayer and Smith fresh off the Warner Bros. blockbuster Suicide Squad, placing Bright firmly in tentpole territory. With fantastical elements set to introduce Men in Black-style VFX to boot, the end product should look significantly different to Netflix’s previous original projects.

Netflix saw off competition from Warner and MGM, who bid $50 million for the property, while PalmStar’s Kevin Frakes also offered $4 million for Landis’ script and $60 million for the production budget. While both of these would have seen the film receive a traditional theatrical release, the principals reportedly chose Netflix and were keen on the streaming service’s disruptive model. The VOD giant, for its part, compensated them as if they had released a hit movie straight into cinemas.

Eric Newman, Ayer, Landis and Bryan Unkeless will share producing duties, reports Deadline, with CAA packaging the deal and representing Ayer, Smith, Edgerton and Newman. In short, it’s a win-win for all involved. Shooting will begin this autumn.

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