[UPDATED] Bros Bombs At Box Office On Opening Weekend
Who knew that people won’t go to a movie simply because they’ve been told over and over and over again that they’re obligated to see it because it’s the historic first studio rom-com with an all-gay cast? That was the nauseating and relentless promotional strategy behind shrill “comedian” Billy Eichner’s movie Bros, and now the movie has bombed at the box office on its opening weekend, with an expected take of just $4.7 million. Via Forbes:
In grimmer but not very surprising news, Universal’s Bros opened with a whisper. The Billy Eichner/Luke Macfarlane rom-com earned just $1.84 million on Friday (including $500,000 in previews), setting the stage for a likely $4.7 million weekend. The $22 million release, written by Eichner and Nicolas Stoller and directed by Stoller, is technically the first mainstream, wide theatrical release rom-com starring a same-sex couple. Alas, the marketing and much of the media coverage emphasized its importance and social value over whether the film is funny. To be fair, I think the film falls into the same trap, thriving when it’s ‘just’ a rom-com but stopping dead in its tracks to congratulate itself on its existence and hit every LGBTQIA discussion point.
[Forbes]
When I used to go to movies (pre-COVID, before it was a life-endangering event), I would go if the plot appealed to me, if it looked like it would provoke an emotional response (e.g., laughter if it’s a comedy, fear if it’s a horror movie), or if it had movie stars I enjoyed. Bros is a romantic comedy (my least favorite type of movie) with no movie stars, and it was marketed based on its “representation” and social relevance. Maybe it’s funny, who knows, but the next time a studio puts out a gay rom-com, they should market it based on the jokes within the movie and the popularity of its stars. Imagine thinking that this is going to sell movie tickets:
Comedian and actor Billy Eichner used his time on stage to slam “all the homophobes on the Supreme Court”, while introducing Panic! at the Disco at the MTV VMAs. #VMAs #BrosMovie #SupremeCourt #MTVVMAs pic.twitter.com/5xZAJM8K6l
— Queer Insider 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ (@qitweets) August 29, 2022
Yikes…
This box office report from Showbiz411 is harsh, not to mention incorrect:
“Bros” doesn’t have a huge budget — $25 million at most. But the movie has had a tremendous amount of publicity and marketing, a blanketing that most films would give their popcorn up for. This just means that the public at large had no interest in seeing not only a gay rom com, but one with graphic sex scenes.
No, the movie didn’t bomb because of homophobia or graphic sex (as if people thinking of seeing the movie would change their mind, if they even knew there were “graphic sex scenes” in it?), the movie bombed because it had no movie stars, and advertisements focused on its “importance,” not its humor.
Remember The Birdcage? It’s one of the funniest comedies of all time, it’s all about gays, and it had movie stars. One of the lead characters was gay in real life, too. I don’t remember being told to see this movie because it was “historic.” Some of the jokes are of course outdated now (it’s been 20 years), and there are stereotypes galore, but the trailer made me laugh, so I went and saw it. Marketing a good and entertaining movie isn’t that complicated.
UPDATE:
As expected, Eichner is blaming his movie bombing at the box office on straight people:
Obviously, a great way to sell more tickets is to alienate 95% of the population.
Newsflash to this narcissistic toad: The overwhelming majority of Americans will never see the movie because a) they don’t know who Eichner is and have never heard of him, b) people don’t go to movie theaters anymore (especially if the movie isn’t comic book or superhero), and c) people like to be entertained at movies, not preached to or insulted.
