'Bright', Will Smith's poorly reviewed orc cop fantasy drama for Netflix, is getting a sequel

Netflix's policy of renewing practically everything apparently applies to its movies, too.

The streaming service has just announced a sequel to Bright, their fantasy feature starring Will Smith as a human cop and Joel Edgerton as his orc partner.

The follow-up will reunite much of the original team, including stars Smith and Edgerton and director David Ayer (who will write as well as direct this time). Not returning, according to Variety, is screenwriter Max Landis.

Bright received largely negative reviews when it dropped on Netflix last month, with at least one critic naming it the worst film of 2017. Detractors took issue with the tone-deaf racial allegory (if you think having Will Smith yell "fairy lives don't matter" sounds cringeworthy, you're already ahead of the filmmakers) as well as its muddy visuals and predictable plot.

Nevertheless, subscribers tuned in. According to Netflix, Bright is one of its "biggest" originals of all time. Nielsen estimates that 11 million U.S. viewers caught Bright in its first three days, and Netflix claims that the film did even better in overseas markets.

(In that sense, Bright echoes Smith and Ayer's last project together, the critically panned but commercially successful Suicide Squad – which is also getting a sequel.)

Given all that, it's no surprise that Netflix is moving ahead with a sequel. While the company has found great success with its original TV content, its movie offerings so far have been hit or miss.

Bright, which reportedly cost $90 million to make, was positioned at Netflix's foray into big-budget blockbusters. Now, with Bright 2, Netflix is proving that traditional studios aren't the only ones who can greenlight sequels to expensive mediocrities.