Will Smith has helped protect Earth from aliens, robots, and a vampire apocalypse in various films, but the new film Bright will thrust him into a new world — one filled with orcs, elves, and other magical fantasy creatures.
The first trailer for the film premiered during the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, offering a sneak peek at Suicide Squad director David Ayer’s upcoming reunion with Smith on the Netflix original movie.
Scripted by Chronicle screenwriter Max Landis, Bright is set in a version of the modern world where orcs, elves, fairies, pixies, and all manner of other fantasy creatures coexist with humans. Smith plays a police officer partnered with an orc (played by The Gift and Warrior actor Joel Edgerton) who becomes caught up in a dangerous adventure involving a powerful magical relic and a young female elf.
Smith and Edgerton are joined in the cast by Prometheus actress Noomi Rapace, as well as Ike Barinholtz (Neighbors), Edgar Ramírez (Carlos), and Lucy Fry (Wolf Creek). Other supporting cast members include Happy Anderson (The Knick), Kenneth Choi (Sons of Anarchy), Dawn Olivieri (House of Lies), and Andrea Navedo (Jane the Virgin).
The subject of a bidding war won by streaming video provider Netflix, Bright landed a highly publicized $90 million deal that made it the most expensive original movie produced by Netflix so far. In March, it was reported that Warner Bros. and MGM had both competed with Netflix for the project, and the ensuing deal ensured that everyone involved with the project would see a return similar to what the film would receive from a theatrical release.
Although story details are scarce, Landis has compared the story to Ayer’s gritty 2012 cop drama End of Watch.
Bright will premiere on Netflix in December 2017.
