Draft:Bright (film series)

The Bright franchise consists of American urban fantasy crime-action installments including streaming exclusive live action and Anime feature films. The plot centers around the combined forces of mankind and fantasy creatures, in collaboration against a greater evil, through the lense of real-world law enforcement.

The movies have been met with mixed critical reception, ...

Bright: Samurai Soul (2021)
A prequel, set hundreds of years prior during the age of Samurai and the powerful daimyo...

Bright 2 (TBA)
In December 2017, Netflix had began development on a sequel to the first film; while Smith was slated to reprise his role. The company was stated to expand the IP in order to compete with big-budget studio productions. By January 2018, the film was officially green-lit with Ayer returning as director, from a script he co-wrote with Evan Spiliotopoulos. Smith and Edgerton were hired to return in their respective roles, with Eric Newman and Brian Unkless once again serving as producers. Principal photography was scheduled to commence in March 2019 in Germany, following completion of production on Bad Boys for Life; before being rescheduled for July of the same year. By September, Lucy Fry confirmed that she had signed on to reprise her role as Tikka, while also confirming that production was delayed yet again due to Smith's busy production schedule.

In May 2020, after the development was delayed due to the coronavirus impact on the film industry, Louis Leterrier entered negotiations to serve as director; after Ayer stepped down from the production role. The most recent draft of the script was authored by T.S. Nowlin in a rewrite of an earlier draft co-authored by Ayer and Spiliotopoulos. Smith and Edgerton were both slated to reprise their roles in an international-spanning plot. Ayer, Eric Newman, Bryan Unkeless and Ray Angelic will serve as producers, while principal photography was scheduled to commence immediately following restrictions as a result of the pandemic being lifted.

In April 2022, the sequel was reportedly delayed indefinitely following Will Smith's 94th Academy Awards assault incident. Despite this, additional Bright installments from Netflix are still in development. By June 2024, Edgerton expressed interest in reprising his role in a sequel while stating that he believed critics were too harsh on the first movie, expressing that he believes there is "definitely an appetite for more".

Bright: Ninja Soul (TBA)
In October 2021, Ishiguro stated that there are tentative plans to continue the story from Samurai Soul in other anime follow-up films, exploring different time periods of ancient Japan. The filmmaker stated that while it is not yet greenlit by Netflix, a potential sequel with the working title of "Ninja Soul", is a consideration. The plot will take place many years after the previous installment, and follow ninja warriors during the Boshin War.