Bright had plenty of pre-release hype that the finished product failed to deliver upon. That's why it earned a 38% Rotten Tomatoes score from over 100 critics. Still, Netflix felt bullish about the IP thanks to fan response (84% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes) resulting in the film being viewed more times in its first week than any of the streaming giant's other releases.
As such, a sequel was announced in December 2017 which was originally slated to start filming in March 2019. Obviously that didn't come to pass, but at Fox's recent TCA presentation, Ayer said the sequel was still happening.
"[
The Bright sequel] is still in development," said Ayer responding to a question. He added, "
We’re working on it so hopefully we’ll be able to mount that up soon. It’s a great opportunity for all of us to explore the world more,” he continued. “I think people felt like there was a lot of doorways to explore. People were like, ‘Tell us about the dragon. Tell us about this, the history.’ So it’s a very rich world and I think we’re going to drill down some more."
Ayer is slated to return as director, with Will Smith and Joel Edgerton reprising their roles. Evan Spiliotopoulos was brought in to replace Max Landis as screenwriter.
Set in an alternate present-day where humans, orcs, elves, and fairies have been co-existing since the beginning of time. Bright is genre-bending action movie that follows two cops from very different backgrounds. Ward (Will Smith) and Jakoby (Joel Edgerton), embark on a routine patrol night and encounter a darkness that will ultimately alter the future and their world as they know it. Bright is available only on Netflix this December. Bright is directed by David Ayer (Training Day, End of Watch, Suicide Squad) stars Will Smith (Men in Black), Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby), Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Lucy Fry (11.22.63), Edgar Ramirez (Hands of Stone, Zero Dark Thirty), Margaret Cho (Drop Dead Diva), and Ike Barinholtz (Suicide Squad). The movie is written by Max Landis (Chronicle) and produced by Ayer, Eric Newman (Narcos) and Bryan Unkeless (The Hunger Games).