Billy Eichner blames “Bros” box office disappointment on straight people

Billy Eichner is blaming Bros’s disappointing opening weekend on the fact that straight people didn’t turn out to see the film. The gay rom-com opened in theaters on Friday to generally glowing reviews but fell well short of its projected $8 to $10 million box office, grossing just $4.8 million and coming in fourth place behind Smile, Don’t Worry Darling, and The Woman King.

Eichner took to Twitter on Sunday to air his frustration about the lackluster opening weekend numbers, citing straight people’s unwillingness to head out to theaters to see what has been heavily marketed as the first major studio romantic comedy about a gay couple.

“Rolling Stone already has ‘Bros’ on the list of the best comedies of the 21st century,” Eichner tweeted. “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).”

“That’s just the world we live in, unfortunately,” the actor continued. “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.”

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As The Wrap notes, the majority of ticket sales for Bros came from the nation’s top three markets, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, all of which also happen to be home to high concentrations of LGBTQ people.

Ahead of its opening weekend, Bros was also the target of online trolls, who attempted to “review bomb” the film, posting one-star reviews on IMDB without having seen it. IMDB later quickly removed the bogus ratings.

Meanwhile, over the weekend fans raved about the movie on Twitter. Celebrities like Chris Evans, Joel Kim Booster, Mariah Carey, and even Mandy Patinkin implored people to see the film.

On Saturday, Eichner tweeted out a challenge to straight people to go see Bros. Many replied with photos of themselves in theaters.

“Everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo should go see BROS tonight!” Eichner tweeted. “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!!!”