Principal photography began in November 2016 in Los Angeles. The film was released worldwide on Netflix on December 22, 2017. While it has received largely negative reviews from critics,[6][7] it was exceptionally popular with viewers. Netflix called it one of the company's most successful original programs as of January 2018.[8][9]
Plot
Humans coexist with other sentient species, notably orcs and elves. While magic is real, its practice is illegal. Magic wands exist, but only a few individuals called "Brights" can wield them without dying.
In Los Angeles, veteran officer Daryl Ward is involuntarily partnered with Nick Jakoby, America's first orc police officer. Jakoby is equally detested by the other officers for his race and his fellow orcs for being a policeman. Ward's relationship with Jakoby is strained since Ward was shot by an orc robber Jakoby failed to apprehend; Internal Affairs suspects Jakoby deliberately let him go.
One night, Ward and Jakoby respond to a disturbance at a safe house for the "Shield of Light", an extremist group that prophesies the return of the "Dark Lord", an ancient semi-mythical figure defeated millennia ago. The lone survivor, an elf girl named Tikka, has a wand. Ward calls for backup, but when the four arriving officers see the wand, they try to coerce Ward into killing Jakoby and letting them steal it for themselves.
Ward goes outside, demanding the truth about the robber. Jakoby admits he lost sight of Ward's assailant and mistakenly apprehended a younger orc, whom he then helped flee, knowing that the police would probably kill the boy on sight. When the four officers appear behind Ward, planning to kill both him and Jakoby, Ward guns them down. The gunfire attracts the attention of a Hispanic gang, while rumors of the wand draw the attentions of both its owner Leilah, the leader of the radical elf sect the Inferni, and Kandomere, an elf FBI agent assigned to the federal "Magic Task Force".
The gangsters corner the trio in a strip club, but are slaughtered by Leilah, allowing the trio to escape. At a service station, Ward contacts his friend, Deputy Sheriff Rodriguez. Rodriguez contacts Kandomere, but Leilah intercepts their conversation. While attacking the service station, she kills Rodriguez.
Escaping again, the trio is captured by the Fogteeth Orcs, whose leader Dorghu also wants the wand. He orders his son Mikey to kill Jakoby. Being the orc that Jakoby saved, Mikey refuses to kill him. Sending his son away, Dorghu kills Jakoby himself. As he prepares to kill Ward, Tikka uses the wand to resurrect Jakoby, showing she is a Bright. The Fogteeth's shaman pronounces this to be part of a prophecy, causing the clan to kneel to them, setting them free. Tikka explains that the Inferni believe that assembling three wands will allow them to resurrect the Dark Lord. She was once a member of the Inferni but fled the group and was sheltered by the Shield of Light. Leilah loaned her wand to a Bright assassin to kill Tikka. Tikka killed the assassin, taking the wand.
Using the wand to resurrect Jakoby made Tikka gravely ill, and she can only be healed in a magical pool at the safe house. Returning there, they are ambushed by Leilah and her enforcers. In the confrontation, Leilah's guards are killed, but she holds Tikka helpless as Ward and Jakoby run out of ammunition. Ward grabs the wand, believing that the resulting explosion will kill all of them. To everyone's amazement, Ward does not die, revealing he is a Bright. He kills Leilah with the wand, triggering an explosion that sets the building on fire. Tikka disappears, and the injured Ward and Jakoby escape the building with Jakoby leading the way. After exiting, he realizes Ward is not with him and is trapped inside. Casting aside first responders, Jakoby charges back into the building, pulling his partner from the flames and debris just in time. This act of bravery is witnessed by the Fogteeth clan, and Dorghu 'bloods' Jakoby (a mark of great respect within Orc society).
In the hospital, Ward and Jakoby, understanding that the FBI want any hint of magical activity kept secret, give Kandomere a doctored account of the previous night's events. Kandomere realizes what is going on but accepts their tale nonetheless.
In a public ceremony, Jakoby and Ward are celebrated as heroes, and Rodriguez's memory is honored. Ward smiles as he spots Tikka moving through the crowd in disguise.
Described as "a contemporary cop thriller, but with fantastical elements", the film was directed by David Ayer and stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, with a script penned by Max Landis, which Ayer rewrote.[10][11] Netflix officially picked up the film for a $90 million deal with filming beginning in fall 2016, making it the most expensive Netflix film to date.[12]Noomi Rapace entered talks to join the cast in May 2016.[13] Landis stated in an interview that official production was expected to begin in September 2016, but that they had already shot a small part in Los Angeles.[14] Ayer's frequent cinematographer, Roman Vasyanov, was confirmed to be working on the project.[15] On October 15, 2016, Lucy Fry was added to the cast.[16] On October 17, 2016, Andrea Navedo was added to the cast.[17] On October 20, 2016, actor Brad William Henke was cast in the film.[18] On November 1, 2016, Kenneth Choi and Dawn Olivieri were cast in an unnamed role and the role of Smith's wife, respectively.[19] On November 9, Édgar Ramírez was confirmed to be added to the cast.[20] That same month, Alex Meraz, Matt Gerald, Ike Barinholtz and Enrique Murciano joined the cast of the film in undisclosed roles.[21][22][23][24]
Filming
Photos from the set were first published in November 2016.[25] Filming was completed by February 4, 2017.[26]
Reception
Critical response
Bright received criticism for its screenplay, cinematography, poor worldbuilding, and excessive focus on social commentary.[6] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 26% based on 113 reviews, with an average rating of 4.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Bright tries to blend fantasy, hard-hitting cop drama, and social commentary—and ends up falling painfully short of the mark on all three fronts."[27] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 29 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[28]
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave a negative review of 1.5 stars out of 4. He said: "Bright is basically a tired buddy-cop movie dressed up in bizarre trappings ... It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it’s not nearly as self-deprecating and funny as it needed to be."[29] Writing for Rolling Stone, David Fear gave the film 1 out of 4 stars, criticizing the script and incoherent action scenes, writing: "This combo of gritty cop procedural and fantasy is a dark, dank, dumb-as-hell mess."[30]
David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film an "F" and called it the worst film of 2017, saying: "There's boring, there's bad, and then there's Bright ... from the director of Suicide Squad and the writer of Victor Frankenstein comes a fresh slice of hell that somehow represents new lows for them both—a dull and painfully derivative ordeal that often feels like it was made just to put those earlier misfires into perspective."[31] Ayer responded enthusiastically to Ehrlich's review, claiming that he desired for the film to receive "a strong reaction either way."[32]
NPR's Chris Klimek wrote: "Critics have already lined up to pillory Bright as among the year's worst releases. Don't believe the clickbait. Lazy but not boring, this Net-flick is perfectly, stubbornly mediocre, and less a chore to sit through than either of 2017's Vin Diesel vehicles," referring to XXX: Return of Xander Cage and The Fate of the Furious.[33]
Audience response
Several publications noted that while critics were harsh in their assessment of the film, viewers liked it and gave positive reactions on social media.[34][35][36][37] Netflix announced that the film had been viewed more times in its first week than any of its other releases.[38] According to Nielsen ratings, about 11 million American viewers streamed Bright within the first three days of its release, with 56% of the audience being male and 7 million being between the ages of 18 and 49.[39]
In January 2018 Netflix reported that the popularity of Bright gave "a major lift" to the company's revenue and number of new subscribers in the last quarter of 2017.[8] CEO Reed Hastings stated, "The critics are pretty disconnected from the mass appeal...[they] are an important part of the artistic process but are pretty disconnected from the commercial prospects of a film. If people are watching this movie and loving it, that's the measurement of success."[40]
In December 2017, Netflix ordered a sequel.[52] The following month, Netflix confirmed the sequel was moving ahead, with Smith and Edgerton reprising their roles and Ayer directing and writing the script with Evan Spiliotopoulos.[38] In August 2018, it was announced the film would begin filming in March 2019 in Germany.[53] In September 2019, Lucy Fry revealed that production had been delayed, citing Smith's busy schedule.[54] In May 2020, it was reported that Netflix had entered negotiations with Louis Leterrier, director of The Incredible Hulk and Now You See Me, to direct the sequel.[55] In April 2022, following Smith's altercation withChris Rock at the Academy Awards, Netflix scrapped the film.[56]
In June 2021, Netflix announced that an anime spin-off film called Bright: Samurai Soul would be produced. It was announced that Kyōhei Ishiguro would direct the film, with Michiko Yokote writing the film's script, Atsushi Yamagata designing the characters, and Arect animating the film. The film premiered on October 12, 2021.[57]
^Webster, Andy (December 21, 2017). "Review: 'Bright' Has Fairies, Orcs, Elves and L.A. Cops, but Little Magic". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2017. With the buddy-cop fantasy "Bright," Will Smith and the director David Ayer attempt to chart new territory: an urban action film populated not only by humans but also fantastical creatures like centaurs, fairies, orcs and elves.
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