You may be surprised to learn that you are a very bad person if you go to the cinema this weekend and see the horror film Smile instead of the romantic comedy Bros.
Actually you are a fanatic. you hate gays
At least that’s what Billy Eichner, writer, producer and star of “Bros,” says, tells the story of two gay men who fall in love.
It seems a little self-serving, but let’s listen to Billy.
Despite a production budget of $22 million, an estimated $30-40 million in advertising, Eichner’s appearances on every imaginable media platform, and largely positive reviews from critics, “Bros” only managed to bring in a meager $4.8 million in its opening weekend take in.
Long story short – it bombed.
It made 40% less than expected, well behind the number one film in North America Smile, which grossed more than $20 million.
Eichner lashed out on Twitter by slamming America’s moviegoers for not recognizing his genius and, of course, for being hateful monsters.
“…Even with rave reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore, etc., people just haven’t turned up to Bros. right now, especially in certain parts of the country. And that’s disappointing, but it is what it is,” he wrote. “Anyone who IS NOT a homophobic nut should go to BROS tonight!”
Really Billi? Could there be another reason why Americans weren’t flocking to your film?
You may be surprised to learn that you are a very bad person if you go to the cinema this weekend and see the horror film Smile instead of the romantic comedy Bros. (Above) Eichner in a scene from “Bros”
One possible explanation might be that horror films are particularly popular. Interest in the genre rises in times of political and cultural turmoil.
Or maybe it’s because we’re weeks away from Halloween, so horror fits the mood. It’s spooky season.
I saw “Hocus Pocus 2” on Disney this weekend. Does that make me homophobic?
Maybe, just maybe, ‘Bros’ didn’t do well because its cast consists of virtually unknown actors?
No of course not. It’s far easier to blame millions of Americans for secret hatred.
Despite the fact that the same “homophobic viewers” have been watching films featuring homosexual characters for decades.
In 1993, Tom Hanks played a gay man in the film Philadelphia. After a limited premiere, the film earned nearly $14 million in four days.
The Birdcage, starring comedy legends Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, grossed $18 million on its opening weekend in 1996.
There was also “Brokeback Mountain,” which grossed $83 million on its opening weekend in 2005. Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger were there. But I’m sure superstar actors don’t matter to audiences.
I thought it looks like US audiences are going to get over their blatant homophobia to see a good movie.
What might ‘Bros’ have done differently?
For one thing, it’s worth noting that Eichner said seeing his film was an explicitly political act. “I need you all in theaters on September 30th,” Eichner told a jubilant Hollywood star at last summer’s Video Music Awards. Audiences because we need to show all the homophobes like Clarence Thomas and all the homophobes on the Supreme Court that we want gay love stories and we support LGBTQ people and we’re not going back to the last century because they’re the past and bros is the future. Are you with me VMAs?!’ Maybe, just maybe, ‘Bros’ didn’t do well because its cast consists of virtually unknown actors?
Maybe, just maybe, ‘Bros’ didn’t do well because its cast consists of virtually unknown actors? (Above) Actors Eichner (left) and Luke Macfarlane (right) in a scene from “Bros”
The prominent audience erupted in applause.
Again, maybe, just maybe, when people go to the movies, they want to be entertained and not feel like they’re signing a petition with their name.
No, that can’t be why ‘Bros’ tanked. It must be someone else’s fault.
It’s my fault, it’s your fault, it’s the fault of everyone who didn’t open their wallets to make a political statement by giving their money to Billy Eichner
Eichner and Universal Pictures also touted the film as “historic,” but it really isn’t.
“Bros makes history as the first gay rom-com ever produced by a major studio and the first in which every role is played by an openly LGBTQ actor,” Eichner claimed.
But major studios recently shot two gay-centric rom-coms. Fire Island was released by Disney’s Searchlight Pictures on Hulu this summer and Love, Simon was released by 20th Century Fox in 2018.
The Wrap reported that Eichner’s comments were taken as a “slap in the face” to the Fire Island cast. Joel Kim Booster, writer and star of Fire Island, said at the time, “It seemed like he was [Eichner] was quite inarticulate in his excitement.’
Did Eichner even insult his target group?
The only thing that made Bros “historic” was that it had a lead lady who was all LGBTQ.
Finally, perhaps the biggest possible explanation for the “Bros” box office failure is that Billy Eichner is an incredibly polarizing figure for those who even know him (which probably relatively few are).
He recently gave an interview bragging about Carrie Underwood blocking him on Twitter. Underwood had criticized the masking of children in schools during the pandemic, and Eichner let it be known that he did not condone it.
Eichner never shied away from shooting many, including yours truly.
To be honest, I had forgotten the incident because it happened in 2017, but he had a few choice words for me after I criticized a Meryl Streep awards speech.
It was a pretty harmless thing on my scale of feuds, but it ended up with him calling me a “damn idiot” and then – I’m not kidding – bragging about being late to the Weinstein/Netflix party. Burn! Just 10 months later, the New York Times ran the story of Weinstein’s decades of sexual abuse of women. I am not one of those who boycott the liberals. I can separate art and film from my beliefs. I don’t want to miss a great movie, show or song because of politics getting in my way. But I also don’t feel compelled to support someone who hates me, and many Americans probably feel the same way.
The only thing that made Bros “historic” was that it had a lead lady who was all LGBTQ. (Above, left to right) Miss Lawrence, TS Madison and Dot-Marie Jones also appear in the comedy
Obviously, Eichner would see homophobia as a reason why Americans didn’t flock to his film—he thinks his countrymen are Neanderthals.
A sane person would understand that there are no guarantees in life, especially in the entertainment industry. Sometimes, despite all the goodwill and publicity, movies bomb.
Blaming Americans for bigotry simply because they chose to spend their hard-earned money elsewhere feels like a lame excuse.
There are many reasons why people go to the cinema. The most unreliable way to get them to buy a ticket is to accuse them of doing so for political reasons. If you do something that makes people laugh, cry, and feel, you’ll have a lot more success than saying you’re a fanatic if you don’t buy a ticket.
But in the Billy Eichner school of film promotion they say: Come and see my film or something else.
Good luck with it.