Billy Eichner Details 'Bros' Box Office Disappointment: 'Didn't Make A Movie For Homophobes Anyway'

Billy Eichner has a critical darling on his hands with “Bros,” the new romantic comedy with an all-gay cast he co-wrote and stars in. But the film's box office numbers left a lot to be desired, as it only grossed $4.8 million in its opening weekend despite strong reviews after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. . Eichner later made headlines attributing the disappointing numbers to homophobia and his belief that "straight people just don't show up."

But it turns out that the situation is a bit more complicated. Appearing onstage at the New Yorker Festival on Friday night, Eichner spoke more about the film's box office failure while adding some nuance to his controversial tweet.

“There are a lot of factors to that,” Eichner said. “To open this movie, in as many theaters, a rom-com in 2022 – there are rom-coms with mega-stars that are struggling at the box office, and a lot of the biggest comedy stars are putting their movies on. streaming. And for good reason! That seems to be where people want to watch these movies. I always love to see these films in the cinema."

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While Eichner acknowledged that there were many reasons other than homophobia that made the film a financial risk, he still pointed out that the subject might have been considered taboo in some parts of the country where gay culture is less pervasive.

"I think it's, for some audiences - not for gay people - but for some audiences, a difficult subject," he said. “Universal, to their credit, were very bold in how they framed the film in the trailers; there was a lot of gay sex in the trailers, and some people love it, some people aren't shocked by it at all, it looks like something they watch on their phones every day - you know - and in some parts of the country, as I said in my very controversial tweet, there was literally a theater chain in the South and in the Midwest that called Universal over the summer and said "we don't play not this trailer". We live in a country divided in this way, and it depends on where you live.

While the comedian stands by his original claim that homophobia was a factor in the film's lackluster box office success, he also understands that the gay community has bigger battles to fight than making sure that straight people see his film.

"Homophobia is a bigger issue than how it relates to this stupid romantic comedy," he said. “But do I think that's a factor? Yeah, in some parts of the country I think that was a factor. Although, to be honest, we didn't really make the movie for homophobes anyway. This is an R-rated gay romantic comedy. It was never meant as a movie to try to convince people who don't like gay people that we're normal, sweet, cuddly and okay with loving . It's so not that movie. So it's complicated, and I honestly think it's all very silly when you look at it all from a bird's eye view - it's just a comedy."

"Bros" is out in theaters now.

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