Netflix Reportedly Cancels Plans For Bright Sequel

The planned sequel for the Will Smith and Joel Edgerton-starring Bright has been cancelled at Netflix, according to a new report. Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw reports that the streamer has abandoned plans for a sequel to the 2017 modern fantasy film.

Details on the cancellation are not yet known, though the report notes that it is unrelated to fallout from Smith’s now-infamous slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, which saw Smith resign from the Academy and banned from attending or participating in the Oscars for 10 years.

Bright — which starred Smith and Edgerton as police officers in a fantasy version of the modern world where elves, orcs, and magic was part of everyday life — was not a critical success when it released in 2017. The film earned a 28% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes, though the audience rating is a much stronger 83%. Despite an expensive $90 million budget, it ranked among one of Netflix’s most streamed movies in the earlier days of its push into original films. A sequel was ordered in December of 2017 but few developments had been revealed since that time.

While the sequel film is not moving forward, Netflix did release an anime spin-off film titled Bright: Samurai Soul that released in October of 2021.