Netflix is really going all-in on its original films slate in 2017. Not only did they pick up a serious awards contender at Sundance inMudbound, but they’ve got a genuine blockbuster on the docket in the form ofBright. Written byMax Landis(Chronicle), the film blends the worlds of a gritty cop drama and a high fantasy likeLord of the Rings, withTraining Dayscribe andSuicide SquaddirectorDavid Ayerat the helm.Will SmithandJoel Edgertonboth signed on to star as the project was looking for a studio, but Netflix snatched it up for a pretty penny and production began last fall.
Thefirst teaser for the filmaired during the Oscars—yet another sign that Netflix is swinging for the fences—and now some new images have surfaced online as Smith and Edgerton are offering up more details about the story.
Smith plays a human cop who is teamed up with an orc cop—the first of his kind to join the force. Speaking withEW, Smith describes Edgerton’s character as “theJackie Robinsonof orcs” while Edgerton reveals his character comes into the force already under scrutiny:
“I am the first orc, under a diversity program, to be allowed into the police force. I’m under investigation already for an incident that involved an orc who should have been apprehended but managed to escape. The feeling is that I looked after my own kind first and neglected to do my job as a result.”
Smith adds that Edgerton’s character has a lot on his shoulders, while Smith’s character is also being judged:
“[Edgerton’s character] has to make it go right, or other orcs won’t have a shot. So he’s taking on the social responsibility of being a good cop, with the weight of his people on his shoulders… I’m getting ridiculed by other members of the police force. In their interpretation, I’m giving him a fair shot, and I should really just be trying to get him off of the force.”
The film looks to be tackling issues of racism head on, albeit under the guise of this very fantastical concept. Indeed, while it’s a cop drama at heart, the story also involves the discovery of a magical relic, “an artifact of the Dark Lord’s war against humanity.”
In the world ofBrightusing magic is illegal, so that offers even more complications for the central characters. Ayer certainly has a knack for portraying relationships onscreen be it in a war setting likeFuryor the streets of Los Angeles inEnd of Watch. But withSuicide Squadhe caught the sci-fi/fantasy bug and thus was keen on further exploring that kind of genre filmmaking inBright.
This film is an important one for Netflix, and while we have to wait until December to see it, I’m mighty curious to see what kind of film Ayer has put together. The material itself is something of a tightrope walk, and if you lean too hard on one side you come off as very, very silly.
What do you think folks? How doesBrightlook to you? Sound off in the comments after perusing the new images (via EW) below.
Here’s the official synopsis forBright:
Set in an alternate present-day where humans, orcs, elves and fairies have been coexisting since the beginning of time, this action-thriller directed by David Ayer (Suicide Squad,End of Watch, writer ofTraining Day) follows two cops from very different backgrounds. Ward, a human (Will Smith), and Jakoby, an orc (Joel Edgerton), 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.
