Will shines ‘Bright’ with new Netflix film

Imagine but with orcs and fairies and magic. That’s the vibe of Will Smith’s big budget Netflix film which unveiled its first full trailer Thursday in a presentation at Comic-Con.

The film reunites Smith with his Suicide Squad director David Ayer and takes audiences to a gritty Los Angeles setting where two police officers, one human (Smith) and one orc (Joel Edgerton) have to contend with some mythical, evil forces plaguing the city. Noomi Rapace and Edgar Ramirez also star.

It was the Hall H debut for the streaming service, which brought out Smith, Edgerton, Ayer and the film’s other stars to charm the 6,500 super fans in attendance and get them excited about the $90 million (Dh330 million) movie, which makes its Netflix debut on December 22.

Ayer said Bright is not some “standard issue PG13 movie.” “I was able to do some real [expletive],” Ayer said. “I was able to tell a real story. I was able to do my thing.” He praised Netflix for its support. Smith said the film has the hard “rated-R grind of Training Day” mashed up with Lord of the Rings.

His character is stuck with the force’s first orc cop, which Smith said gave him a rare character opportunity: to be racist.

“You never get to be racist when you’re black,” Smith said. “You’re like, ‘Look man, I don’t want no orcs in my car.’”

Smith is just the latest A-list movie star to try his luck doing a big film with Netflix and has made waves in Hollywood with his support of the service.

He said he was “really excited” to see “whatever this new wave of entertainment is going to be.”

—AP