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Netflix confirms the expected 'Bright' sequel is on its way
Netflix's Bright might not be a critical success, but it is a commercial success -- and that's all the streaming service needs to hear. After reports that a sequel was in the works, company has confirmed that Bright 2 is in development through a brief teaser clip (below). There's no mention of a release date, plot or even casting, but there's a good chance that Will Smith and Joel Edgerton will pick up their roles. David Ayer is expected to return as a director and writer.
Netflix's 'Bright' nabs 11 million viewers in its first three days
It turns out betting on Will Smith paid off for Netflix. The company's first blockbuster film, Bright, garnered 11 million streaming viewers in the U.S. over its first three days, according to Nielsen figures reported by Variety. To put that in perspective, Nielsen found that 15.8 million people watched Stranger Things 2 over the same period of time, and The Crown's second season premiere saw three million viewers. While Bright was widely reviled by critics, Netflix has reportedly already greenlit a sequel. As I argued yesterday, the hype behind the film matters more to the company than its quality. (Notably, Bright's Rotten Tomatoe's score now sits at 26 percent, while its audience score is a rosy 89 percent.)
Will Smith's 'Bright' is terrible, but that doesn’t matter to Netflix
By most accounts, Netflix's big-budget Will Smith blockbuster Bright is one of the worst movies of the year. It has a 32% score on Rotten Tomatoes -- critics don't just dislike it; they've eviscerated it as an affront to cinema. Yet despite that response, which is particularly disappointing for a film with a $90 million budget, Netflix has reportedly greenlit a sequel with Will Smith attached. That doesn't make much sense at first, especially since the company can't bank on big box office returns like other studios. But for Netflix, it turns out hype matters more than quality.
Netflix's big-budget film 'Bright' already has a sequel planned
If you're as thrilled as we are for Netflix's Will Smith vehicle, Bright, then get ready for even more excitement. The film, which reportedly cost Neftlix $90 million to make, already has a sequel lined up, according to a report at Bloomberg. Whether this is the start of a Marvel-esque movie universe exclusively on Netflix (as TechCrunch notes) or not, it's hard not to see this as competition for actual movies in theaters.
What's on TV: 'Bright,' 'Christopher Nolan 4K Collection'
As the clock ticks down on 2017, we're finally checking out Netflix's $90 million+ movie. Bright stars Will Smith as a cop in a world full of orcs and other mystical creatures, and we'll see if it's enough to pull attention away from flicks currently in the box office. For other home movie options (or last minute gift ideas) viewers can grab many of Christopher Nolan's movies on Ultra HD Blu-ray, either in boxed sets or individually. Movies like The Dark Knight, Interstellar, Inception and of course Dunkirk are available this week in 4K. On HBO, Game of Thrones fans can watch Kit Harington (Jon Snow) in Gunpowder this week, while PC gamers can enjoy v1.0 of PUBG and there's even a new Kinect game for Xbox One. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Here’s our closest look yet at Will Smith’s ‘Bright’ for Netflix
Bright, from director David Ayer and starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, is probably Netflix's highest profile movie release this year. Will Smith stars as a policeman on an Earth that's inhabited by orcs, elves and other creatures. Edgerton is the first orc on the police force and becomes Smith's partner. The movie releases on December 22nd, just in time for the holidays. The second trailer came out today, and you can take a look at it below.
Netflix drops the full trailer for David Ayer's 'Bright'
Netflix has some 40 original movies due for release this year, but the highest profile release will likely be Bright. Directed by David Ayer (Suicide Squad, End of Watch), it stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as a pair of cops, but the twist is that they live in a world with orcs, fairies and elves. Following a panel appearance at Comic-Con Netflix posted this three minute trailer on YouTube, giving us our first good look at the movie ahead of its December 22nd release date.
Here's our first look at Netflix's 'Bright,' starring Will Smith
Why would Netflix pay $90 million for a single film? Two words: Will Smith. The blockbuster star is teaming back up with David Ayer, the director of Suicide Squad, for Bright, a new fantasy action film. Tonight at the Academy Awards we caught our first glimpse at the movie, which basically looks like a bunch of Suicide Squad deleted scenes. Smith stars as a cop in a world where humans live alongside fantasy creatures, and he partners up with an orc (Joel Edgerton) to track down a superweapon.
Netflix reportedly pays $90 million for Will Smith and 'Bright'
A couple of weeks ago rumors surfaced that Netflix was in the lead to sign its biggest movie deal yet, and now Deadline says it is the winner of a bidding battle (over Warner Bros./MGM and PalmStar) for Bright. Pitched as an R-rated thriller with fantasy elements, it carries a reported price tag of about $90 million -- $30 million or so more than it paid for War Machine with Brad Pitt. In it, Smith is apparently playing cop partnered with an orc (Joel Edgerton) Alien Nation-style. That includes $45 million to shoot it, with another $45 million used to pay the talent and buy out back end residual fees that they won't get because of its anticipated limited theater release.
Netflix wants Will Smith's next feature film
Netflix's track record for original movies is spotty, to say the least. On one hand, you have something like the pretty stellar Beasts of No Nation. Then there's Adam Sandler's output that's exclusive to the streaming juggernaut and the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon sequel. But maybe Bright, a new flick starring Will Smith that's being directed by Suicide Squad's David Ayer, can fix that. The Hollywood Reporter says that the budget is between $80 million and $100 million and follows a human cop (Smith) forced into working with an orc partner (Joel Edgerton) to find a powerful wand.
Sony WhiteMagic LCD promises magic formula of better brightness, lower power
How do you make a brighter LCD without murdering battery life? Simple. Add a white pixel to each RGB trio, creating an RGBW panel that pumps out more nits without recourse to the backlight. We've already seen this technology in action on a tablet-sized screen from Samsung and Nouvoyance, and now Sony's come up with an OEM 3-inch panel that it hopes will prove popular in smartphones and cameras. The VGA screen is claimed to double brightness without increasing power consumption compared to conventional panels. Alternatively, it has an outdoor mode which sacrifices this power-saving in favor of doubling brightness -- although, when it comes to the sunlight problem, we're still hoping that PixelQi's approach will eventually come of age.
NTT DoCoMo announces 24 new mobile wonders (yes, really) to flood its network
So, Japan... want a new mobile device? How about 24? This grandiose announcement comes straight from NTT DoCoMo, which commonly lays its cards on the table for the delight of consumers. Among the selection you'll find eight new Gingerbread phones, six incredibly high-res shooters (ranging between 12.2 and 16.3 megapixels), eight waterproof handsets, and one embedded with Swarovski crystals. We're particularly thrilled to see the mighty Galaxy S II, 3D-capturing Aquos SH-12C, 700-nit Optimus Bright (contrastingly-named but nearly identical to the Optimus Black), ultra-slim MEDIAS WP N-06C, and mobile payment-enabled Xperia Acro. Oh, and don't forget about the LOOX F-07C -- a multi-talented handset that's running Symbian and Windows 7 Home Premium -- while two LTE-enabled WiFi routers are sneaking into DoCoMo's party, too. That's a lot to absorb, so check out the source for individual release timeframes, which begin now and continue through August -- or just check out the PR after the break.
LG Optimus Black arrives at T-Mobile UK for free (gasp!)
Sure, its 700 nit Nova Display is bright, but it doesn't quite approach Apple's excellence, and its 1GHz processor comes across a touch sluggish, but attach "Free" to LG's Optimus Black and instantly there's a whole lotta value crammed in these 9.2 millimeters. That's the story over at T-Mobile UK, anyway, which is giving the Android 2.2 handset away with any two-year plan over £25. Just think, once you convince a friend to also throw down nothing for this handset, you'll be exchanging laughs, tunes and memories over WiFi Direct -- once you find an app that supports it, anyway. As for mainland Europe, your Optimus Black will be arriving shortly, but don't get too huffy if your particular carrier isn't quite so philanthropic.
LG Optimus Black review
If you asked us to design our ideal Android phone, it might well end up looking like LG's Optimus Black. The handset that was once known under the codename "B" features a clean, elegant and exceedingly thin exterior, which is garnished with a 4-inch IPS display capable of generating 700 nits of brightness. There's the usual litany of added features, too, like a 5 megapixel shooter with the ability to record 720p video, a special G-Key for motion controls, and Wi-Fi Direct for peer-to-peer file transfers. Of course, looks and headline features are just the tip of the iceberg that is user experience, so if you want to know about the mountainous whole, join us after the break for a deep dive with LG's latest Android phone. %Gallery-123183%
New biggest star discovered, is not Justin Bieber
You know how sometimes you're just sitting out in a field with your homies, looking up at the stars and thinking man, the universe is so BIG... and I'm just so small! Thanks to the Very Large Telescope in Chile, Professor Paul Crowther at Sheffield University, and some good old-fashioned Hubble data, you can feel just a little bit smaller. Crowther and his team have measured the giant known as R136a1 to be 265 times the size of the sun. That's a pretty cool size, but not quite as cool as the 320 solar masses it was at birth -- nothing to sneeze at, since previous discoveries had the largest stars somewhere around 150 solar masses. It's also the most luminous star ever found, at 10 million times brighter than the sun. Even so, don't get your hopes up trying to see this with your telescope (unless it's, you know, Very Large) because it's a good 165,000 light years away. Doesn't mean you can't look in its direction and smile, though. [Image: ESO / M. Kornmesser]
Don't let retailer's lights distract you from buying the right HDTV
In case you hadn't already learned your lesson and started checking behind the displays while HDTV shopping, the HD Guru points out another element of the in-store experience that throws off buyers (and likely contributes to the LCD vs. plasma choices we find so infuriating): lighting. In case you don't recall from your last trek to a big box superstore, the lighting is quite often stuck on blinding making it nearly impossible to discern any difference in picture quality between televisions, specifically in terms of contrast and black levels (the pictures above are of the same value priced display, at left, under normal home lighting, at right, how it looks under some store lighting setups.) Tested with an illuminance meter, all the stores (except Best Buy's Magnolia showrooms) averaged well above home ambient lighting levels, with Wal-Mart and Costco measuring the highest at 411.66 and 742.77 lux. Still, there's tips on how to get a good idea of a TV's black levels even under those circumstances, plus some choice words left over for the incredible (and useless) dynamic contrast ratio numbers every manufacturer trots out these days, so go ahead and get educated.
Scattered Shots: A PvE gem and enchant guide for Hunters
Welcome to this week's edition of Scattered Shots, which is dedicated to shiny things and dust.So by now you've seen our normal dungeon gear guide, our heroic dungeon gear guide, our reputation gear guide, and our holiday gift guide. Between all of them, you should be able to put together a nice solid set of gear that should let you tackle 10-man Naxxramas pretty easily. But grabbing the gear is the easy part. To go the extra mile, you need to grab those gems and enchantments. Let's look at some of the best gems and enchantments you can take along to secure your place in the DPS charts in Naxxramas.
Hitachi introduces trio of ultra-bright projectors
Hitachi's latest trifecta wasn't designed for your surely swank abode per se, but we suppose those with enough cash and willpower can do anything they darn well please. That said, the CP-X10000 (1,024 x 768), CP-WX11000 (1,280 x 800) and CP-SX12000 (1,400 x 1,050) can all handle professional (read: lit) settings with ease, featuring 7,500 / 6,500 / 7,000 lumens, respectively. The whole lot also boasts a 2,500:1 contrast ratio, 10-bit signal processor, HDMI / BNC connectors, Ethernet, an RS-232 control port and a lamp good for 10,000 maintenance-free hours. Mum's the word on price, but don't worry, these are going on the corporate card anyway.[Via I4U News]
Samsung gears up to ship 46-inch "High Bright" panel
Interestingly enough, the last time we heard the phrase "High Bright," Runco was showcasing a prototype set meant to work and play in the great outdoors. Now, however, Samsung's looking to one-up that endeavor by actually shipping a High Bright DID panel later this month. The 46-inch unit is said to posses 1,500 nits of brightness, a contrast ratio of 3,000:1, 16.7 million colors, 178-degree viewing angles and a screen resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels. Sammy claims that it's around three times brighter than a typical LCD TV, and aside from remaining visible outside (you know, for pool parties and digital signage applications), it was designed to be tiled together to create "video walls." No word on what sets these panels will find their way into, but we wouldn't count on 'em coming cheap. [Via SlashGear]
Dream of Mirror Online open beta incoming
To be honest, I'm not sure if a game like this floats any boats here at Massively, but surely in our (growing) audience there's someone out there who cares for cel-shaded graphics and wacky Japanese RPGs with surfer swords and anime nose bubbles. For you, dear reader, we cover the news that Dream of Mirror Online (DOMO, for short), a very Japanese (and Maple Story-esque, I believe) MMO is finishing up closed beta and will have an open beta before the end of the year.The open beta will also add Hunter, Mercenary, Musician and Wizard classes, and Gametribe promises more new content to come. I kind of like how bright and shiny the graphics are-- it's a good change from the dark and increasingly bump-mapped graphics of Western games. But I worry that the gameplay will end up as cutesy as the models are. Anyone excited about this one and want to tell us why?
