Hey, want to see Bros?
The gay romantic comedy is touted as the first big studio gay film that features gratuitous sex and some other R-Rated goodness. If you don’t, Billy Eichner likely thinks you’re a homophobic weirdo. On a serious note, the gay romantic comedy was heavily promoted leading up to its premiere. Universal Pictures reportedly spent $30 million to $40 million just to advertise the feature. It’s estimated that it cost around $22 million to make. Universal Pictures did everything in its power to make sure this film succeeded, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough.
Smile pulled in a strong $22 million for the weekend thanks to clever marketing. The creepy and well-reviewed horror feature didn’t have as much promotion spent on it as Bros, but actors were hired to appear at various sporting events to… well, smile. The promotion went viral, and given the high marks going into the weekend, audiences were eager to see the Paramount Pictures release as the opening number garnered the biggest weekend since Bullet Train. Unfortunately for Bros, it not only failed to make No. 1 for the weekend but was an outright flop. It opened at No. 4, only collecting $4.8 million. Ouch. Thankfully, the feature isn’t a huge blockbuster like John Carter, but it’s still not a good look for queer romantic comedies. In truth, the romantic comedy genre has struggled quite a bit for the past couple of years.
Credit: Bros
Earlier this year, Lost City, featuring three A-list celebrities (Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, and Brad Pitt), struggled to hit the $100 million mark. Before that film, the last romantic comedy to truly heat up the box office was Crazy Rich Asians, which made a strong $235 million. But even with that success, the genre didn’t see as much fire at the box office. Men don’t typically care for romantic comedies. Women generally do, but that specific gender doesn’t have characters they can relate to since the queer lifestyle is different. Are there some homophobes who refused to see the film? But when you look at the genre’s numbers in the past few years and the target audience, Bros is more in the niche category than anything else. So Billy Eichner blaming straights for not showing up to see Bros seems misguided:
“Rolling Stone already has ‘Bros’ on the list of the best comedies of the 21st century,” Eicher tweeted. “What’s also true is that at one point a theater chain called Univeral and said they were pulling the trailer because of the gay content (Uni convinced them not to). That’s just the world we live in, unfortunately,” the actor continued. “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.”
Credit: Bros
“Everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weird should go see BROS tonight!” Eichner also tweeted. “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!!!”
Bros isn’t the first great film to flop at the box office, nor will it be the last. Fight Club, Office Space, Blade Runner, The Shawshank Redemption, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World are just some of the excellent features that have bombed at the box office. Those films have gone on to become cult classics, and Bros could end up in the same category, but blasting the straight audience isn’t likely to win Eichner or the film any new fans.
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