It looks like David Ayer had a good time working with Will Smith on Suicide Squad because the director and actor are set to reteam for Bright. According to Deadline, Joel Edgerton will co-star in the film, which was co-written by Ayer and American Ultra screenwriter Max Landis. There are currently no details on the plot other than it’s “a contemporary cop thriller, but with fantastical elements.” Deadline notes that with the bidding war warming up, "It’s not simply a spec sale; whoever buys it is going to make it and so it will be a big sale."
We should also be a little wary of Landis as a screenwriter. His track record has been less than stellar since Chronicle with last year's Victor Frankenstein getting critically panned and his indie Mr. Right, which I caught at TIFF, felt like it was dug out of a wastebin from the 1990s where the writing could not be more self-aware if it tried. Maybe working with Ayer will help balance him out, and there’s certainly promise in the visuals of a cop thriller with fantastical elements. I’m just going to remain a bit wary of this one until we know more about the plot.
Ayer is currently in post-production on Suicide Squad, which opens August 5th. Smith is currently filming Collateral Beauty. Edgerton was recently seen in the western Jane Got a Gun will be seeing later this year in Midnight Special and the racial drama Loving. Landis’ Mr. Right opens in theaters later this year.
Update: Max Landis took to Twitter to clarify that his screenplay was dedicated to Ayer, but he wrote it alone.
