Several upcoming Will Smith projects have reportedly been shelved after the King Richard star slapped Chris Rock onstage during last month’s Academy Awards telecast. Now, it looks like we can add Bright 2 to that list. Bloomberg reporter Lucas Shaw says that Netflix has cancelled plans for a sequel to David Ayer’s 2017 fantasy flick.
Shaw tweeted the Bright 2 news to accompany an earlier Bloomberg story about National Geographic delaying production on its upcoming Pole to Pole docuseries, which also features Smith. That show will now begin shooting in the fall. However, Shaw was quick to add that Bright 2’s cancellation is “unrelated” to what happened at the Oscars.
The original Bright starred Smith as Daryl Ward, an LAPD detective in a world where magic is real and humans coexist with various mystical creatures. One of these creatures, Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton) becomes the country’s first orc police officer and partners with Daryl to protect an elf girl and the magic wand in her possession.
RELATED: Louis Leterrier May Direct Bright 2 For Netflix
Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk) entered negotiations to replace Ayer as the director of Bright 2 in 2020. Ayer was going to stay on as a producer and work on the script with Evan Spiliotopoulos and T.S. Nowlin. Regardless, news of the sequel’s fate isn’t bound to make waves. The first film received overwhelmingly negative reviews when it premiered on Netflix more than three years ago. The movie’s screenwriter, Max Landis, was also accused of sexual and emotional abuse by eight different women. Despite this, Netflix still released an anime spinoff, Bright: Samurai Soul, last October.
Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after the incident took place. The Academy later banned him from attending the ceremony for 10 years, but he has faced additional consequences since then. Earlier this month, Netflix put another Smith film, Fast and Loose, on the backburner. A fourth entry in the Bad Boys franchise is reportedly on hold as well.
Are you sad to hear that Bright 2 is no longer happening? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
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