Despite having the star power of Will Smith, Netflix’s Bright was heavily panned upon its release in 2017. The film holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 26%, though director David Ayer appreciates how it still works for some audiences, even if it’s not for everyone.

On the social media platform X, Ayer interacted with a fan who told the Suicide Squad and The Beekeeper director that he loves all of his movies — except for Bright and The Tax Collector. Ayer admitted that Bright was a big swing, but he was quick to point out that it did find its fan base. Considering that the movie has an audience score of 83%, it would appear that he’s not wrong.

“Bright was a big swing,” Ayer said. “It did work for a lot of people. Not for others. I really like the performances. Nothing harder than world creation. Honestly I like more grounded worlds.”

Honestly I like more grounded worlds.

As for The Tax Collector, the director noted how the movie has a large cult following. Released in 2020, the film made just $1.3 million at the box office, a result that Ayer suggested is due to the film being “super niche.” However, it similarly has a big divide with its critics’ and audience scores at Rotten Tomatoes, which are respectivvely 17% and 73%.

Ayer said, “Tax Collector was a 7 million dollar indie. It’s super niche, super inside LA street stuff. It has a huge cult following.”

Directed by Ayer and written by Max Landis, Bright starred Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry, and Ike Barinholtz. It is set in a fantasy world where humans and mythical creatures co-exist, with Smith and Edgerton respectively playing an LAPD officer and his orc partner. While there was some harsh criticism against the movie, there were tentative plans to make a sequel in the years after its release. However, it was reported in 2022 that the planned sequel was scrapped after Smith’s Oscars controversy. Smith’s career has since gotten back on track, but there’s been no new word about Bright 2 getting revived.

Bright Was Given an Anime Spinoff

The movie was able to get an anime spinoff film, Bright: Samurai Soul, which was released on Netflix in 2021. Directed by Kyōhei Ishiguro and written by Michiko Yokote, the anime was set in the year 1868 and followed a different cast of characters, with Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) doing the English dub for the lead role. Comparatively, it had a better reception than the original Bright film, but it was still labeled as rotten by critics with a 40% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Its audience score is 35%.​​​​​​​

Directed by Ayer and written by Max Landis, Bright starred Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry, and Ike Barinholtz. It is set in a fantasy world where humans and mythical creatures co-exist, with Smith and Edgerton respectively playing an LAPD officer and his orc partner. While there was some harsh criticism against the movie, there were tentative plans to make a sequel in the years after its release. However, it was reported in 2022 that the planned sequel was scrapped after Smith’s Oscars controversy. Smith’s career has since gotten back on track, but there’s been no new word about Bright 2 getting revived.