'Bright,' 'Yes Day' Sequels Coming To Netflix, But Don't Expect A '6 Underground 2'
If there was ever a studio best-equipped to withstand the uncertainty and trying times of a modern pandemic, you'd be hard-pressed to find any better answers than Netflix. Theaters are shut down? No problem, just release some buzzy titles straight to streaming and rake in the views with little to no competition. Normal filming productions have to be halted? Just grab a skeleton crew, shoot at an isolated location to make social distancing easier, and cast no more than two actors for one of the most talked-about movies of 2020. No wonder the head of Netflix, Scott Stuber, is taking a victory lap of sorts.
In a wide-ranging profile with Variety, the conversation turned to how Netflix is built to give original movies a better chance than most conventional studios are able to offer these days. Forced to develop their own IPs, it should be no surprise to hear that a sequel to 2017's Bright and, in a separate report, a sequel to Jennifer Garner's Yes Day are both in development at the streamer. But maybe don't hold out hope for more installments of 6 Underground, the Michael Bay and Ryan Reynolds blockbuster (budget: $150 million!) released in 2019. Stuber himself owns up to certain aspects of the latter that were, well, lacking.
"We didn't feel like we got there on that one creatively. It was a nice hit, but at the end of the day we didn't feel like we nailed the mark to justify coming back again. There just wasn't that deep love for those characters or that world."
What Gets a Sequel and What Doesn't
That's a somewhat surprising show of restraint for a major industry player that has shown little to no hesitancy in mining their own library for new IPs at any and all costs. Like we said, they're reportedly "close to having a final script" for a sequel to Bright. Then again, this is also the studio that recently acquired the rights to the next two sequels for Rian Johnson's smash-hit Knives Out and currently looks like they're ready to pursue Christopher Nolan to the ends of the Earth if they have to. Maybe this is the dawn of a new age where quality will take precedence over quantity and Netflix originals won't simply release one weekend and then simply disappear into the ether, never to be talked about again.
Okay, maybe not. Netflix doesn't seem particularly interested in filling the niche of rapidly dwindling mid-budget films, but it still remains one of the few studios that's capable of providing original movies that are easily accessible to audiences on a mass scale. We'll probably just have to endure quite a few sequels to mediocre movies along the way.