Comedian and actor Billy Eichner's new gay romantic comedy Bros is a landmark for LGBTQ+ representation and has broken new ground for studio-funded romcoms.
Perhaps more importantly, its been nearly unanimously praised by critics and viewers alike.
But unfortunately, none of that translated into box office success—not yet, anyway.
And Eichner thinks he knows why and it's the simplest answer possible—straight people are simply not willing to go see a gay romantic comedy. Homophobia on the part of theater owners already reared its head before the film even released.
Eichner spoke out about the situation in a Twitter thread in which he described the disappointment this brought to a new spin on the romcom genre.
In his thread, Eichner described the experience of sneaking into a theater to see the audience's reaction.
"Last night I snuck in and sat in the back of a sold out theater playing BROS in LA."
"The audience howled with laughter start to finish, burst into applause at the end, and some were wiping away tears as they walked out. It was truly magical."
"Really. I am VERY proud of this movie."
Eichner went on to point out the film is already beloved, but has also been a target of homophobia.
"Rolling Stone already has BROS on the list of the best comedies of the 21st century."
"What’s also true is that at one point a theater chain called Universal and said they were pulling the trailer because of the gay content."
And it's this, Eichner says, that accounts for the films disappointing opening weekend.
That’s just the world we live in, unfortunately. Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros. And that’s disappointing but it is what it is.
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 2, 2022
The film opened with a disappointing $4.8 million gross, well below expectations.
Still, it's entirely possible for Bros to become a sleeper hit by building on word-of-mouth in subsequent weekends. So Eichner ended his thread with a call to action for anyone who loves a good comedy, especially straight people who are the bulk of moviegoers.
On Twitter, Eichner's thread produced an outpouring of support for him and his film.
Anyway, go see Bros!
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