Bright: All the trailers and commentary for Netflix’s biggest film to date – The Verge

A new featurette for Netflix’s Bright reveals the backstory that should have been in the film

2017-12-31T11:11:56-05:00

Netflix recently began streaming its big blockbuster Bright, and it hasn't been entirely well received by critics. The action film is set in a modern fantasy world where elves, humans, and orcs live alongside one another, but it only alluded to the larger world that drives much of the story. To help fill in those gaps, Netflix released a short video that highlights all of the history of the world that would have made the story a bit more comprehensible.

Bright might not have been great film, but it did introduce viewers to an intriguing fantasy world; it just didn't explain any of it. The movie follows a human police officer and his orc par …

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Netflix has already ordered a sequel for its fantasy blockbuster Bright

2017-12-21T11:20:57-05:00

Netflix's big blockbuster Bright doesn't debut on the streaming service until December 22nd, but the company is already plotting out its next steps. Bloomberg reports that the company has ordered a sequel to the fantasy cop film, with Will Smith set to star again.

Bright is set in an alternate world where fantasy creatures exist and tend to stir up trouble for society. Smith stars as LAPD police officer Daryl Ward, whose partner is an orc named Jakoby (Joel Edgerton). In his review, my colleague Bryan Bishop noted that Bright's world was clearly designed to set up innumerable sequels, with a big antagonist lurking on the horizon. At last we …

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Bright proves that Netflix can do blockbusters — but most blockbusters aren’t that exciting

2017-12-20T20:00:02-05:00

When Netflix first began producing original television shows, it wasn't clear how well the service would do. It was easy to think of internet-only video as being on the low end of the content spectrum, but with shows like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things, and countless others, the company has transformed from a streaming service that happens to make some shows on the side to a true prestige television power-player.

Its feature film ambitions, on the other hand, haven't gone as smoothly. Netflix regularly acquires documentaries and arthouse films, and it released the acclaimed Okja earlier in 2017, but it hasn't reall …

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How Netflix is trying to rewrite movie marketing with Bright

2017-12-19T13:37:09-05:00

Any doubts about whether Netflix has effectively established itself as part of the Hollywood community vanish immediately upon stepping into the company's Los Angeles offices. Two cases full of Emmys greet visitors just inside the lobby of the 14-story tower, situated near eight Netflix-controlled sound stages on the Sunset Bronson Studios lot. In one corner sits the Bluth family banana stand from Arrested Development, while an elaborate projection art piece takes up an entire wall, simulating screens from phones, tablets, televisions, and any other device the service runs on. On the other end, there's a discreet coffee bar, where bearded cr …

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Netflix just secretly won San Diego Comic-Con

2017-07-23T14:06:50-04:00

On the first day of San Diego Comic-Con, director David Ayer took the stage before the massive crowd at Hall H. A year prior, he'd been there to promote Suicide Squad for Warner Bros., but this time he was discussing a different project: the $100 million fantasy-action film Bright. "What's up, Hall H?" he shouted into the microphone. "This is the house of Netflix! This is Netflix right now, we're here to represent Netflix!"

Shots fired.

As Comic-Con winds to a close, it's hard to argue that Hall H ever truly became the "House of Netflix." HBO's Game of Thrones still filled the hall with adoring fans, Warner Bros. and DC thrilled the faithf …

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Watch the new trailer for Netflix’s $100 million fantasy epic Bright

2017-07-20T19:09:12-04:00

The first trailer for Netflix's most expensive original film to date has premiered at San Diego Comic-Con.

Bright, from Suicide Squad and End of Watch director David Ayer, is a fantasy epic starring Will Smith as a human cop and Joel Edgerton as some kind of Orc cop. The film takes place in an alternate version of the present day that also involves elves and fairies.

Regardless of your feelings about the man at the helm here, this is likely to be a huge movie for Netflix. Its original film strategy is slowly taking on a discernible shape, and the thrust of it seems to be "The bigger and weirder, the better." If what we saw in Suicide Squa …

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Netflix is willing to put its films in theaters — but not before online release

2017-04-17T16:58:57-04:00

What is the role of theaters as streaming platforms become film studios? That question is floating around an anxious film industry as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and other video streaming services rapidly contract talented filmmakers and make aggressive acquisitions at big-name festivals. Amazon has cooperated with theaters, releasing awards-friendly films like Manchester by the Sea and Chi-Raq in cinemas before making them available to subscribers. But Netflix has been doggedly committed to releasing every new film directly onto Netflix, even when it hurts at the Oscars. And today, we got a small explanation why.

In Netflix's shareholder letter …

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Watch the first trailer for Bright, the Netflix movie starring Will Smith and an orc

2017-02-27T01:04:30-05:00

Netflix used tonight's Academy Awards to show off the first trailer for Bright, a cop drama set in a version of our world that also contains orcs, elves, and other mystical creatures. The short teaser doesn't give too much away, but provides an idea of how the film will combine gritty realism with fantasy, showing LAPD officer Will Smith clutching a battered-looking broadsword, alongside a shotgun-toting orc, played by Warrior star Joel Edgerton.

Netflix spent upwards of $90 million on Bright, helmed by Suicide Squad director David Ayers. That investment that includes $3 million for the script - written by Max Landis - with another $45 mill …

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Netflix is nearing a deal for Bright, a supernatural cop movie starring Will Smith

2016-03-09T19:03:59-05:00

Netflix is close to securing its biggest movie deal yet with a top bid for Bright, a supernatural cop film co-starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton with Suicide Squad's David Ayer on board to direct. It would be Netflix's most ambitious project to date, with the company footing a rumored budget of between $80 and $100 million and an actor with as much star power as Smith already attached. The news was reported first today by The Hollywood Reporter.

Bright stars Smith as a human cop in a world where fantasy elements are an accepted part of society. Smith is tasked with tracking down a powerful wand and must team up with an orc (Joel Edgerton) …

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