*** BRIGHT *** (Will Smith, dir. David Ayer)

16,024 Views | 153 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by fig96
TCTTS
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Just over six months removed from Suicide Squad and we already have the teaser for David Ayer's next directorial effort, Bright, which debuted last night during the Oscars. What makes this so noteworthy, though, is that it not only stars Will Smith, but features a star of his caliber and it's debuting only on Netflix. With Netflix also releasing the Brad Pitt-starring War Machine later this year, along with Scorsese's The Irishman in 2019, well... the times they are a changin'.

I don't know what to think of Bright, in particular. Just the look itself is very Suicide Squad-esque in cinematography/tone, which cuts both ways. I thought SS was shot beautifully, but we know how everything else turned out, and this definitely feels of the same sandbox. I guess we'll know for sure in December when this finally releases not in theaters, but your living rooms...

Quote:

Set in an alternate present-day where humans, orcs, elves, and fairies have been co-existing since the beginning of time. Bright is genre-bending action movie that follows two cops from very different backgrounds. Ward (Will Smith) and Jakoby (Joel Edgerton), embark on a routine patrol night and encounter a darkness that will ultimately alter the future and their world as they know it.

Definitely Not A Cop
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AG
Will Margot Robbie be appearing in this?
jabberwalkie09
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I'm willing to give this a shot.
TCTTS
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It's a unique idea for sure, and I like the look/vibe. On the one hand, Ayer didn't write this one. On the other hand, though, Max Landis did write it, and he's a notorious egomaniac who thinks he's a far better writer than he really is. So, we'll see...
jabberwalkie09
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Yeah, the synopsis is what drew me to it. Though I also enjoyed Netflix's Spectral too. From Landis I've seen Victor Frankenstein and Chronicle. I enjoyed Chronicle quite a bit, and Victor Frankenstein was entertaining but I think that was more so because of the cast involved with McAvoy and Radcliffe.
42799862
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TCTTS
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Yeah, maybe the release plan will change a bit with these bigger titles. Hoping it does.
Sex Panther
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I cannot believe this is going straight to Netflix... this seems crazy.
jabberwalkie09
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Sex Panther said:

I cannot believe this is going straight to Netflix... this seems crazy.
After Earth probably should have gone straight to Netflix.
Sex Panther
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After Earth should've gone straight to Crackle
TCTTS
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Just for the record, "straight to Netflix" might be misleading phrasing. It's not like this was passed over by a bunch of other studios and then Netflix finally took it. Instead, Netflix won the bidding war for the script and developed/financed the movie in-house, just like any other studio would. And if Netflix is willing to pay more than the other guys / give filmmakers the creative freedom that other studios might not, then this is likely the new norm. Expect to see Netflix win more and more battles like this.
israeliag
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Interesting take. We've always looked at Netflix as an HBO but this really changes it.

As for the movie itself, I'm looking forward to it. Sounds like a End of Watch (buddy cop) meets D&D which I couldn't imagine any studio actually greenlighting but kinda right up my alley. I'd have to imagine Netflix, with the troves of data at its fingerprints, has a pretty strong idea of how well it will succeed.
Ulrich
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Seems like it's been a long time since one of Will Smith's movies landed.
oragator
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Suicide squad is now an oscar winning movie.

Ponder that.
Tobias Funke
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Landis is so much of an egomaniac that he chose a song in the trailer that features his name three times
Tobias Funke
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I'm aware I'm probably making myself look dumb here, but can somebody explain to me the economics of a high-budget film produced and released by Netflix?

I can understand traditional release:
X = rights and production expenses
Y = casting expenses
Z = revenue from theatrical release and beyond
Hope X + Y < Z (I realize I'm way oversimplifying this but you get the point).

With the Netflix model:
X = rights and production expenses
Y = casting expenses
From there my brain explodes.
Sex Panther
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Right, I get that... I guess I just dont understand why you wouldn't want a theater run. I mean, how does this make Netflix more money? Nobody is gonna join Netflix just for this movie. And who doesn't even have Netflix at this point?

It just seems like a movie that could make at least 75 mil domestic minimum easy.

But I don't know how the economics of distribution rights works, or how Netflix monetizes other than memberships. Obviously they are making a killing selling data, but who knows how.
TCTTS
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Z = revenue from new subscriptions + the fact that they (are the only ones to) have this movie in their catalogue forever

They definitely don't make money on it in the short term, but the idea is that the more their catalogue is stacked with stuff like this, the more likely they are to get new subscribers even ten years from now. From what I understand, they're not trying to make money from movie to movie, project to project, like a normal studio. They're playing the long game. They know that the more full their catalogue is, the more likely they'll continue to add subscribers for as long as the company is in business.
TCTTS
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Must have been typing my answer to Tobias as you posted. I'm not 100% sure how it all works, and I may be way off, but that's my basic understanding. It's all about the future years and years from now.
Tobias Funke
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TCTTS said:

Z = revenue from new subscriptions + the fact that they (are the only ones to) have this movie in their catalogue forever

They definitely don't make money on it in the short term, but the idea is that the more their catalogue is stacked with stuff like this, the more likely they are to get new subscribers even ten years from now. From what I understand, they're not trying to make money from movie to movie, project to project, like a normal studio. They're playing the long game. They know that the more full their catalogue is, the more likely they'll continue to add subscribers for as long as the company is in business.


Makes sense I guess, but isnt that somewhat shortsighted? Can't we expect that in 10 years there may be an entertainment medium that we aren't even considering now, making the Netflix model on its way to obsolete?
TCTTS
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I'm assuming that they're anticipating whatever the model is ten years from now, they'll adapt / be it. And no matter what it is, it can't hurt to have content that you alone own, that you're not paying licensing fees on.
Tobias Funke
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So you're saying pour my life savings into Netflix stock? FINE
Sex Panther
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So that makes sense, but wouldn't it make more sense to give it a theater run, and then they own exclusive rights? Like it never even releases on dvd?

Just trying to understand, very interesting though

Also the movie looks bananas
TCTTS
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The problem though is that Netflix isn't equipped to distribute in theaters. That's way harder to do than people realize, and you have to basically open up a whole new part of the company to handle that and make it a reality. So the alternative is partnering with a distributor - like Amazon does with Roadside Attractions - but then the distributor sees a percentage of the profits. So Netflix could definitely team with a distributor, and that's not out of the question, but they're not going to make a ton of money unless the movie is a big hit. Amazon can afford to do that, though, because they're Amazon. They obviously have other means of income, to put it lightly,

As for DVD/Blu-ray releases, I'm honestly not sure. I know seasons of House of Cards are on Blu-ray, so I assume other shows of theirs are as well and that they see some kind of profits from those.
Sex Panther
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TCTTS said:

The problem though is that Netflix isn't equipped to distribute in theaters. That's way harder to do than people realize, and you have to basically open up a whole new part of the company to handle that and make it a reality.

Got it... makes sense
42799862
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20ag07
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What's crazy about the Netflix model is that not only is it perplexing how they get revenue to make sense of this, but they also have to overpay for all these projects. They supposedly paid $90M for the movie- $45 for production cost and $45 for talent. So Will Smith is probably getting like $25M, which he can't get in a traditional film anymore. But since there is no backend upside, they have to pay more guaranteed money.

Even for their TV shows they have to overpay. They were paying $8M/episode for Bloodline, which is almost as much as Game of Thrones cost HBO. On FX or AMC, that exact show is like $2-3M/ episode. But they are just throwing guaranteed money at everybody since there is no syndication/residual backend potential.
TCTTS
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Yeah, who knows how sustainable this is. I don't quite understand it all myself.
israeliag
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I'd love tof have insight into how they make their decisions.
Tobias Funke
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Tobias Funke said:

Landis is so much of an egomaniac that he chose a song in the trailer that features his name three times


Underrated
20ag07
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Quote:

I'd love tof have insight into how they make their decisions.
Its all algorithm based. They have more data on you than anyone but google. A large enough subset of people watch both Drew Barrymore romantic comedies and binge The Walking Dead? OK, here's a Drew Barrymore vampire comedy. Strange corellation between people who have watched Lonesome Dove and That 70s Show? Here's a show with Ashton Kutcher on a ranch.

From a business perspective, it seems like they have long past the point where increased expenses don't increase revenue, and shareholders would be better off with higher op margin and dividend. But there is some math Netflix is doing where paying a premium to produce their own content helps drive the market down on the rest of the stuff they license to make it worth it. They need the threat of almost 100% independently producing all their own content to drive down the price of the outside content.
amercer
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I'm in Germany this week for work, and the three Germans I had dinner with tonight all use Netflix as thier main means of consuming movies and shows.

If you can sign a billion people up at 15$ a pop, it funds a lot of stuff...
FightinTexasAg15
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Official Trailer

Brian Earl Spilner
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Quote:

From a business perspective, it seems like they have long past the point where increased expenses don't increase revenue, and shareholders would be better off with higher op margin and dividend.
This is what I find interesting.

Movies like this are unlikely to drive any new subscribers, so it's strange to see them put so much money into these projects.

I would much rather them increase budget on their hit shows like Stranger Things.
Weimerica
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The show looks pretty insane. I've always felt that the modern fantasy genre is completely underutilized in TV and movies. Magic, technology, and a buddy cop feel? How could you go wrong?

This one looks pretty good, but then I might be a bit biased since I love the modern fantasy setting.
 
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