Billy Eichner Responds to ‘Bros’ Lackluster Box Office: ‘Straight People Just Didn’t Show Up’ – Yahoo Sports
Billy Eichner is calling out straight people for not seeing “Bros” in theaters.
The Judd Apatow-produced romantic comedy opened to $4.8 million at the box office after premiering at TIFF and receiving strong reviews. However, lead star and co-writer Eichner is bemoaning the lack of audiences showing up in theaters as “homophobic,” especially in “certain parts of the country.”
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“Everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo should go see BROS tonight! You will have a blast! And it is special and uniquely powerful to see this particular story on a big screen, esp for queer folks who don’t get this opportunity often. I love this movie so much. GO BROS!!!,” Eichner tweeted.
“Bros” centers on a podcast host (Eichner) who is tasked with writing a romance film that appeals to straight audiences, in a meta twist. In real life, Eichner penned the script for “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” with director Nicholas Stoller, who also helms “Bros.”
The trailer shows Eichner’s character arguing that gay and straight relationships really don’t have much in common, calling the monolithic myth “bullshit.” Meanwhile, he falls for Luke Macfarlane, who leads a star-studded ensemble cast including Harvey Fierstein, Bowen Yang, Symone, Miss Lawrence, Guy Branum, Guillermo Diaz, Amanda Bearse, and Ts Madison, as part of an entirely LGTBQ+ cast. The film premiered in theaters September 30.
Eichner tweeted that he went to a movie theater in Los Angeles on October 1 to gage the audience 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,” Eichner wrote. “I am VERY proud of this movie.”
The “Difficult People” alum added, “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. (Uni convinced them not to.) America, fuck yeah, etc. etc. 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.”
“Bros” currently has a 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore.
Everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo should go see BROS tonight! You will have a blast! And it *is* special and uniquely powerful to see this particular story on a big screen, esp for queer folks who don’t get this opportunity often. I love this movie so much. GO BROS!!! ❤️🌈
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 2, 2022
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