During tonight's Academy Awards, there have been tons of surprises. La La Land won Best Picture. Then it didn't. Hacksaw Ridge has stolen some awards, the Academy went all in with Justin Timberlake's performance as their opening, and candy rained down from the heavens. And yet, none of those surprises caught us as off guard as our first look at David Ayer's Bright, which finally dropped its initial bit of footage during the festivities. It's a quick look, but it's certainly promising, and you can see for yourself below.
The trailer, released by Netflix, shows Smith as a cop operating in a world where humanity exists alongside Orcs and Elves. Smith's character, Scott Ward, must team with Nick Jacoby (Joel Edgerton,) the first Orc cop ever, in order to stop a powerful wand from falling into the wrong hands. So it won't surprise you to hear that the film was directed by Will Smith's Suicide Squad director, David Ayer, from a script by Chronicle's Max Landis. What may surprise you is the fact that this movie has been talked about for some time, as it was yet another case where a major studio rejected a film, only for Netflix to scoop it up.
Previously, Warner Bros was in the mix to acquire Bright, yet talks broke down and lead to the streaming giant landing the $90 million budgeted flick. And from our first, brief glimpse, it looks like that money has been well spent, as the world that exists within Bright is both grounded, and yet outside of our own. All the while, Will Smith looks like he's crossing his more fantastical performances in films like Men In Black with his look from the Bad Boys era of his career. If that isn't enough to get folks to tune their Netflix to Bright's frequency, then frankly we're not sure why these people even watch movies.
Should Bright's blend of visually stunning creatures and world building manage to capture the public's eyes, it'll be another feather in the caps of all the folks at Netflix that believed in the film when others did not. With films like Manchester By The Sea changing the game on the prestige front, Bright could do the same for the blockbuster world of motion pictures. Meaning that not only will Warner Bros kick themselves for not following through with Bright's acquisition, they'll also have to fight harder next time they compete with Netflix.
Bright hits Netflix sometime this December, but no official release date has been set just yet.
Want to see who won tonight's Oscars? Click here and read through the list of winners.
