BRIGHT.

• Author: Suderman, Peter
• Position: FILM

In theory, Netflix doesn't care when you watch its programming. Unlike broadcast television or Hollywood blockbusters, which rely on huge marketing pushes tied to their release dates, the goal isn't to have viewers watch things at specific times. Instead, it's to have a vast library of content available for people to watch wherever, whenever.

It's a new way to make both movies and television--one that is less interested in individual blockbusters and more interested in piling up popular programming. But that doesn't mean the old rules have completely gone away. The company doesn't mind when viewers tune in to a new film all at once, as happened with the release of Bright in December.

The movie--a buddy-cop fantasy starring A-listers Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as a human cop and his ore partner--was a pseudo-blockbuster production, with a reported $90 million budget, although roughly $40 million went to buying out the profit sharing that the major players would normally receive. David Ayer, the man behind 2016's superhero smash Suicide...