What do you get combining the gritty cop flicks of Street Kings and End of Watch director David Ayer with the magical creatures of Lord of the Rings? You get Bright, a Netflix original film that the streaming network has invested a hefty $90M+ into. We've already seen a surprising teaser for the Will Smith headliner in which he wields a giant Excalibur-esque sword, and now we're getting new images featuring his orc partner, played by Joel Edgerton.
Speaking with EW, Smith also referenced Lord of the Rings and Training Day while revealing what it was that drew him to the story of a human cop partnered up with the LAPD's first orc police officer...
“I love how bizarre it is. I’ve been saying it’s ‘Training Day‘ — a gritty LA cop drama, the darkness and handheld grittiness — meets ‘Lord of the Rings.’ There’s orcs and fairies and elves, mean-ass elves...“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. There’s a great scene where we’re sitting in the car, and the other police officers are beating up an orc. My character asks [Edgerton’s] the question, ‘Are you a cop first or an orc first? You need to decide.’ Juxtaposed against the imagery of him watching this orc being beaten by the police, I thought it was really cool.”
Yeah, this is definitely right up Ayer's alley, and a good way for him to reunite with Smith who he worked with on Suicide Squad. At the very least Bright promises to be unlike anything else on Netflix. The film debuts this December with Edgar Ramirez and Noomi Rapace co-starring.
