Let’s just get it out of the way immediately: “Bros” did not do as well at the box office as expected. Instead of the projected $10 million opening weekend, it made just $4.8 million, despite near universal positive reviews and a solid A Cinemascore. But a disappointing debut can’t take away what Billy Eichner accomplished with “Bros”: a funny, raunchy and sincere studio-backed movie packed with queer folks that tells a story about gay men in love.
Eichner, best known for his wild, Emmy-nominated interview series “Billy on the Street,” co-wrote “Bros” with director Nicholas Stoller and stars as a New York City museum curator who falls for a jock lawyer (Luke Macfarlane).
As has been noted many times, Eichner is the first openly gay man to co-write and star in his own studio movie — which just happens to be the first studio-backed gay romantic comedy featuring an all LGBTQ+ cast. That fact, as Eichner unapologetically tweeted, might have contributed to straight audiences bypassing the film.
For Eichner, it made sense to cast the film with actors from the LGBTQ+ community. “Historically, when you look at who’s gotten the opportunities to play the most high-profile, the most widely distributed movies that centered LGBTQ characters, they’ve almost always been played by straight actors and actresses, who use it as opportunities to show their range and show us how serious and brave they are,” Eichner told TheWrap before the film’s release.
“And they win awards and their career gets to grow as a result of playing those roles. And it has so rarely happened in the reverse — with the LGBTQ actors who were bold enough to say, ‘I’m LGBTQ and I still should have access to a great Hollywood career,’ they weren’t getting the opportunities to play our own roles.
“‘Bros’ is not making any rules about who should play what,” he continued, “but I did think it was a fun opportunity to flip the script, right? Flip the way it’s usually done and say, ‘Hey, there are so many hilarious LGBTQ actors and comedians out there.’”
Of course, when he was working on the script with Stoller and producer Judd Apatow, making a landmark film for queer cinema was not his top priority. “We never sat down — Nick and Judd and I — and said, ‘Let’s make a historic movie,’ or ‘This is about representation.’ I mean, yes, that’s part of it,” Eichner said. “We always sat down and said, ‘What’s the funniest f—ing thing we can do in this scene?’ We want to make a movie that’s going to make people laugh out loud, start to finish, and be honest, and be heartfelt and uplifting.”
And even if, as Eichner posited on Twitter, mainstream America just wasn’t ready for “Bros,” the movie will always be there for people to discover it. And he’s proud of that. “In the last few years, we’ve seen a real wave of queer content that, for the first time, is made by and starring actual LGBTQ folks. ‘Bros’ is part of that wave, and I’m very grateful for that. And it’s great to not be alone.”
Additional reporting by Brandon Katz.
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