When your movie is one of the first gay rom-coms to ever be produced by a major studio, you know you’re taking a risk. Bros leading man, co-writer, and executive producer Billy Eichner was well aware of the possible obstacles his movie could face, but he’s sticking by its worth.
In a series of tweets published Sunday, Eichner reacted to Bros‘ less-than-ideal debut weekend box office numbers with a positive attitude and a message to those who have yet to “show up” for the movie.
Bros was expected to make over $8 million in its opening weekend but went on to gross a little over half of that, with $4.8 million worth of tickets sold.
“Last night I snuck in and sat in the back of a sold out theater playing BROS in LA,” Eichner said, sharing his emotional watching experience with an enthusiastic audience, who “howled with laughter start to finish, burst into applause at the end,” and even shed some tears.
According to The Billy On The Street comedian, who stated his pride in what he and co-writer, and director, Nicholas Stoller have created with Bros, the film’s theater rollout has not been without challenges. One theater chain wanted to pull the trailer for the movie “because of the gay content,” but was ultimately persuaded by Universal Pictures not to.
“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,” Eichner continued, calling “everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo” to go watch the movie.
Bros is currently sitting at a 91% approval rating by critics on Rotten Tomatoes after 129 reviews, with a matching 92% audience score, with over 250 verified ratings. So, Eichner isn’t wrong about the movie’s positive reception and the discrepancy with the box office numbers.
What is unclear, however, is how much of a role straight audiences have played in the movie’s financial failure. Another possibility could be down to rom-coms not having a great track record at the box office for years now. Gay, or otherwise.
Answer to Eichner’s call by catching Bros in theaters across the U.S. right now. It is likely to release on Universal Pictures’ streaming platform Peacock later this year.