‘Bros’ Star Billy Eichner Blames ‘Straight People’ After Gay Rom-Com Bombs

Bros Movie (Credit: Universal Pictures)

Bros writer and lead actor Billy Eichner says there’s a reason the gay romantic comedy bombed at the box office — “straight people, especially in certain parts of the country,” shunned the film.

Eichner made the comment on Twitter Sunday after theater totals showed the movie wasn’t getting much brotherly love from ticket buyers.

The rom-com took in just $4.8 million and debuted in fourth place, despite having a reported $22 million production budget and receiving rave reviews from critics.

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The film also stars Luke Macfarlane, Bowen Yang and Monica Raymund, Miss Lawrence and TS Madison.

The Universal Pictures release is described as the first LGBTQ romantic comedy given a wide release by a major studio. Eichner shared on Twitter that he went to a theater in Los Angeles to watch Bros with an audience and it was packed.

“Last night I snuck in and sat in the back of a sold out theater playing BROS in LA. The audience howled with laughter start to finish, burst into applause at the end, and some were wiping away tears as they walked out. It was truly magical. Really. I am VERY proud of this movie,” he tweeted.

Bros made its world premiere last month at the Toronto International Film Festival and critics embraced it, giving the film a 91 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It got an even higher score on the site from moviegoers.

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Yet the film crashed and burned at the box office.

“That’s just the world we live in, unfortunately. 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,” Eichner wrote on Twitter.

The actor and comedian, who previously had a role on NBC’s Parks and Recreation blamed homophobia and said at least one theater chain expressed concerns about the film because of its gay content.

Rolling Stone already has BROS on the list of the best comedies of the 21st century. What’s also true is that at one point, a theater chain called Universal and said they were pulling the trailer because of the gay content. (Uni convinced them not to). America, f–k yeah, etc etc,” he tweeted.

Eichner urged those reading his posts to see the film.

“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!!!” he tweeted.

Bros finished far behind the horror thriller Smile, which debuted at #1 with $22 million in domestic theaters, according to Comscore.

The buzzy Don’t Worry Darling was second with $7.3 million after topping the box office last weekend. The Woman King took third with $7 million in its third weekend in theaters. As mentioned, Bros was fourth with $4.8 million and a re-release of 2009’s Avatar rounded out the top five with $4.69 million.