After months of hype and an extended promotional campaign that saw its stars hitting the talk-show circuit alongside an inescapable array of cross-platform marketing, Netflix premiered their latest original movie, Bright. The fantasy-cop drama, directed by David Ayer and written by Max Landis, had been the subject of much cynicism since its announcement, but it had also signaled a paradigm shift for the streaming service in a year where its cultural dominance became wholly assured - and it tells us a lot about their long-term plan.This was a major deal for Netflix: A $95m genre epic their most expensive original film yet starring Will Smith, one of cinema's most beloved modern stars, released during the Christmas season and bolstered by a wide-reaching advertising campaign aimed squarely at that much-coveted geek demographic. To say that it did poorly with the critics would be an understatement, and social media buzz wasn't much better (and that doesn't even get into the recent emergence of sexual harassment and assault allegations levelled at Landis). Then again, it's hard to quantify how much stuff like that matters when it comes to Netflix. After all, this is the platform that's seeking to change how film and television is made, consumed and influenced, and that means shifting how such work is considered a success.Related: Bright: The Mythology of Netflix's Urban Fantasy ExplainedWe probably will never truly know how many people actually watched Bright. Netflix have made a habit out of not releasing solid viewership numbers to their service, although it is known that subscribership is rising steadily. If a traditionally released film flops, everyone will know about it in the trades or by browsing Box Office Mojo the following weekend. For Netflix, we can only guess, and even then, the scales aren't equally balanced. A lot of people seemed to hate-watch Bright, but they still watched it, and the service will still count them as well as those who turned off before it finished. The saying goes that all publicity is good publicity, and with Bright, that may be the case. It takes effort to see a bad movie in the cinema, as well as increasing costs, but anyone with a Netflix account can sate their morbid curiosity with remarkable efficiency.Regardless of its critical or commercial success as well as such things can be quantified Bright is simply another part of Netflix's expanding strategy regarding its original film content. While the service has had remarkable success in the fields of television, stand-up and documentaries, winning multiple awards and attracting massive audiences, their movies have been a more mixed affair. They've had successes and made a mark on the festival circuit with offerings like Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories (which both premiered at Cannes), but they haven't made as big a splash as the television productions. That's beginning to change - Dee Rees's drama Mudbound has seen growing success this awards season - but Netflix have always seemed a step behind their streaming counterpart Amazon, whose cinematic successes took them all the way to the Oscars. Bright probably won't make it that far, but it appeals to an area where Netflix have much surer footing.The service's expanding strategy has more in common with traditional studios than you may imagine, and Bright is a big part of that. It's a genre piece with a sizeable budget and a big star in the lead, not unlike much of the cinematic offerings of 2017 that have attracted the biggest audiences. For lack of a better term, that geek audience is a loyal and profitable demographic that every studio is after, but Netflix are on a clearer path to appealing to them. With a platform as vast and expansive as Netflix, they can offer those eager audiences two major things that the traditional system can't cost effectiveness and quantity. No other platform comes anywhere near as close to Netflix in terms of giving its subscribers the sheer number of things to watch and the variety of genres, styles and stories available. Bright is intended as the hook a step up from much of their previous original offerings, which have been smaller budget affairs with less obvious genre trappings but even for those who hated it, there's a whole selection of other things to check out in its place. Don't like Bright? Then why not check out some of the Marvel series or The OA or Okja or Gerald's Game or Death Note or whatever takes your fancy at that particular moment? You need never leave the couch, and that's exactly what Netflix wants.There are mountains that Netflix must overcome for its original strategy to work. For one thing, they, like basically everyone else in Hollywood, struggle to keep up with the mammoths at Disney, who own seemingly everything and command near untouchable domination of the international box office and the enthusiasm of general audiences. With Disney set to launch their own streaming service, Netflix will have to up their game. Having more films than basically every other platform or studio is certainly one major way they can do that outspend the competition, offer more than everyone else, and have it all on one convenient platform but they're also branching out into the kind of big name intellectual property that's helped Disney, Warner Bros. and the old-school system stay afloat during difficult times.Related: Netflix's Bright is Seriously UnderratedMarvel and D.C. are already taken, so Netflix reached out to comics writer Mark Millar, and their exclusive deal for Millarworld properties opens up numerous opportunities for them to compete with the top dogs: Properties all their own that can appeal to those comic book audiences while offering more explicitly adult fare that many studios would turn down for fear of alienating younger viewers. Millar's work may not be as instantly recognizable as Marvel's extensive universe, but it gives Netflix a foundation to build a new, reliable and potentially profitable brand in a way that competes with the traditional system while appealing to more adult audiences in a way they seldom aren't.Bright also signals a big change in Netflix's movie plans that many critics have been calling for since they first dipped their toes into the field: increased visibility for their content. The platform released some incredible films this year, but many of them completely slipped under the radar, seemingly ignored by Netflix or simply not afforded the promotion they needed. Bright, for better or worse, was impossible to ignore, even if you didn't have Netflix. It was a big title at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, TV adverts were plentiful over the holiday period, and few things promote a movie better than getting Will Smith on the talk show circuit.This was a film Netflix wanted to make sure people were aware of and one they would seek out because of that. We may never know how successful it was on that front, but it's clear Netflix want to tango with the bigger names, and doing so requires letting everyone know what you have to offer. However, questions remain over which films get the most attention and why, and many critics feel Netflix have overlooked their more critically appreciated efforts like Mudbound, a wonderful drama that could use the promo, in favor of more mainstream fare.Bright has plenty of issues to deal with right now the damning reviews, the mixed online reception, the arguments over seemingly ignored technical teams from the credits, everything regarding the accusations made against Landis and its ultimate place in Netflix's original canon remains to be seen. If nothing else, it will forever stand as the stepping stone for the streaming service's long-term plans into competing with the traditional studio system as a mainstream blockbuster and genre franchise player. Even when they stumble, they're a platform who are impossible to ignore.NEXT: THE MOST BRUTAL REVIEWS OF BRIGHT