Why Eichner’s Reaction To ‘Bros’ Failure Was Worse than Its Box Office
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There’s a line in the early red band trailer for Universal’s gay romcom Bros, where Billy Eichner’s character, who has a podcast, describes it as a place “Where I talk about whatever I feel like talking about.”
After its disappointing opening weekend box office, it would be fair to weigh the circumstances and look for answers. One may have been attributed to the romcom as a genre being dead another to it having been a niche film that could have been marketed a crossover film (i.e. a limited release as maybe a Focus feature that opened on fewer theaters and expanded via word of mouth). But there is not one iota of evidence to suggest as Eichner said: “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.”
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
In the final days leading up to its release, Eichner started imploring everyone to go see the movie because Hollywood loves a blockbuster.
neil degrasse tyson listening to it’s raining men, shaking his head: impossible
Except Universal gave Eichner a lot of fucking money. Blockbuster money to market it. More money, I’m sure than any non-white minority would have received.
Richard Newby over at The Hollywood Reporter beat me to the punch on this one when he said that audiences didn’t respond to Eichner well and that it felt like finger wagging.
Eichner, frustrated by the opening, turned heads when he tweeted Sunday, “straight people, especially in certain parts of the country just didn’t show up for Bros.” Followed by “Everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo should go see Bros tonight.”
The tweets have not been well received. Eichner’s tweets felt more like finger-wagging followed by moralistic confrontation rather than an invitation with a bit of warning, if you compare them to Viola Davis’ more polite request last month to see The Woman King: “If you don’t plop down money on opening weekend, you’re not going to see Black females leading a movie AGAIN.”
STRAIGHT PEOPLE GO SEE BROS CHALLENGE 😂❤️ pic.twitter.com/7jAO6n0Qll
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 1, 2022
I’m empathetic to the situation. It sucks to be passionate about something and not see that passion met by a willing audience. Yet, I think it’s clear from the numbers that the box office didn’t simply come down to straight people not going, or homophobia.
It’s easy to understand why Universal, and Eichner, best known for his roles on television, may have expected an opening similar to Apatow’s R-rated rom-com Trainwreck, staring Amy Schumer, another love ‘em or leave ‘em style comedian with a big personality and a reputation for television. That film opened to $30 million in 2015. But it’s not 2015 anymore, and comedy has been on the downward trend in terms of actually getting audiences to come to a theater to watch.
This was made abundantly clear when Lionsgate’s Seth Rogen, Charlize Theron led rom-com, Long Shot underperformed at the box office, alarming Hollywood studios and pundits about the future of theatrical comedy. If Rogen, a 21st century comedy icon, and Theron, a beloved Oscar winner, couldn’t sell a movie, what hope did anyone else have? Even then, Long Shot opened to $9.7 million, a figure Universal would’ve likely broke out champagne for, albeit the cheap kind, had Bros made as much.
Everyone saying it’s homophobia but it’s bc no one likes billy eichner https://t.co/k1LJ3t5rFS
— ednoana newsom (@edna_alt) October 2, 2022
It’s become increasingly clear, even more so during the pandemic, that comedies no longer often move the needle in terms of drawing crowds. It’s a disappointing reality, but if people are going to go to the movies, and yes, still risk COVID, they want to go for spectacle, such as Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s recent hit adventure rom-com, The Lost City. If audiences are going to be enticed to a theater for comedy, they want Comedy+, and they can get that from most Marvel movies, quite a few horror movies, Scream, Nope, Barbarian, and even blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick.
Had Bros premiered simultaneously on Universal’s Peacock service, along with theaters, it surely would’ve garnered more viewers and thus more social media chatter.
It’s a difficult thing to break the notion that a theatrical-only release is the best measure of success. But it’s obvious that streaming has become a place where comedy can thrive and where people are more easily able to show their support for representation they do care about in genres they simply don’t feel a need to see in theaters.
Not Billy Eichner blaming homophobia for the box office failure of “Bros”😩 I just feel like nobody in 2022 wants to go see a rom com in theaters during spooky season led by one of the most polarizing gay white men in Hollywood
— Shon! (@gayblackvet) October 3, 2022
And if the theatrical experience if that important to the film, I think the stars and filmmakers of Bros could learn a lesson from the Black community who have bought out theaters for films like Get Out, Black Panther, Queen & Slim and The Woman King, inviting people to see the film for free and spread the good word.
As someone pointed out the other day in a Twitter conversation I was tagged in, moviegoing isn’t a charity and audiences have no obligation to see movies to prove their values. But I think moviegoing, and ensuring the support of movies that champion inclusivity could benefit from a more charitable means of access of word of mouth. Be it through streaming or buying out showtimes, studios and creators have an opportunity to build a community around the films that’s success they want to ensure.
Word.
