Box Office: ‘Bros’ Flops

But those opening weekend audience were largely driven by moviegoers in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco — meaning that “Bros”Is facing the kind of paradox that musicals like “In the Heights”And “West Side Story” got last year: Critics liked them, and the meager number of moviegoers that did buy a ticket liked them, but all of that isn’t translating into more widespread interest in the film.

One problem is that comedies, especially romantic comedies have proven difficult to sell in the past decade. According to Box Office Mojo, only four rom-coms have grossed more than $60 million in North America in the last 10 years: Will Packer and Tim Story’s “Think Like a Man” ($91 million), David O. Russell’s Oscar-winning “Silver Linings Playbook” ($132 million), Judd Apatow’s “Trainwreck” ($110 million) and Jon M. Chu’s “Crazy Rich Asians” ($174.5 million).

“Comedies, from a 30,000-foot view, have largely struggled at the box office in the last 10 years as they’ve been perceived now as more of a streaming offering,”Paul Dergarabedian is a Comscore analyst. “Whether or not one agrees with that, it’s definitely become harder to convince a large number of moviegoers to go out and buy a ticket on a pure comedy. Those sorts of films need something really unique that draws the masses in.”

Even in the best-case scenario, it is possible to get away with this. “Bros”Even with a $22 million production budget, it was unlikely that the theater would turn a profit. Marketing costs were not included.

The film was also seen as too niche by mainstream audiences. Stoller and Eichner’s film, As its trailer shows is unapologetically immersed in modern queer culture, even as it’s satirizing it like in a scene where members of a soon-to-be-built LGBTQ museum fight over why Bisexual Awareness Week and Lesbian History Month went unacknowledged. “Of course lesbians get a month and we get a week,”Jim Rash: Bemoans Jim Rash

This film would not get significant support from conservative states, especially at a time like this. anti-LGBTQ attacksFar-right groups are on the rise. But “Bros” hasn’t drawn significant turnout from more liberal areas of the country either, at least not to the point where it could meet pre-weekend projections of $8-$10 million.

Another studio executive spoke with me and pointed out that marketing is a key problem. According to the exec, explicit marketing is key. “Bros”Universal is an LGBTQ comedy “pigeonholed” the movie among moviegoers, making audiences outside of its core demographic feel like it’s not a movie for them.

“They should have sold it as, ‘Here’s a rom-com from Judd Apatow. It happens to be about two gay guys,’”According to the executive. “It’s like ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ a comedy which just happened to have an all-Asian cast.”

Yet, so much of the coverage is actually about “Crazy Rich Asians” in 2018 was about how it was the first Hollywood film with an all-Asian cast since 1993’s “The Joy Luck Club,” a look at that film’s trailerThis is what the exec really means.

While the film’s setting and the characters’ ethnicities certainly inform the entire story and is a major part of its marketing, the marketing highlighted other elements of the film to appeal to moviegoers from other demographics. The basic story of a couple’s relationship being tested by a tense first meeting with the in-laws is one that anyone could grasp onto, while the film’s colorful, luxurious depiction of Singapore demands to be seen on the big screen.

“Bros”Has been It was praised by critics for the sweet-hearted romance at the core of its story and showing the common threads of romance that can resonate with anyone regardless of whether they’re gay or straight. “It’s more concerned with making us laugh than pushing an agenda,” wrote Cinemalogue’s Todd Jorgenson.

But the film’s marketing tended to put that emotional core in the backseat in favor of drawing attention to its more bawdy, R-rated moments and queer-specific jokes. It was also promoted virally as a gay romance movie with Eichner. Paul Rudd as a partner To “round up straight people”To watch the film, you can find some laughter in the reactions of young straight men who were informed that it contains gay sex.

Sexual orientation isn’t something that audience metrics poll for, so it’s impossible to say how much of the opening weekend of “Bros”Mostly, it was straight moviegoers. Universal’s metrics did show that 61% of the audience was white, with 63% between the ages of 25-44.

Dergarabedian believes regardless of marketing that “Bros”This is just an unfortunate result of bigger circumstances. Most moviegoers are not interested in seeing romance movies on the big screen as they were decades ago when movies like “When Harry Met Sally”And “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”These were both cultural and financial successes. Universal had already made this move earlier in the year. “Marry Me,” another romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson, to a day-and-date release on Peacock — the film grossed just $22 million domestically in theaters.

Universal will launch a new rom-com within three weeks. “Ticket to Paradise,”Starring Hollywood legends Julia Roberts and George Clooney. With such huge marquee names “Paradise”To get a better box office result, should easily attract enough people over 40 to ensure a greater turnout. “Bros,”But it will also face the same lackluster interest in the genre.

“Like horror movies, comedies should lend themselves to the theatrical experience because of the chance to laugh together in a theater full of people. But I think years of rom-coms with poor quality have killed the willingness of most moviegoers to give that kind of film a chance,” Dergarabedian said.

Despite the poor result, Eichner tweeted on Sunday that he’s proud of “Bros,”He recounted how he sneaked into a Los Angeles theater and was encouraged by the laughter from the crowd. He also expressed disappointment at the lack of heterosexual moviegoers.

“That’s just the world we live in, unfortunately,” Eichner said. “Even with glowing reviews and 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.”

Universal responded to our request for comment by saying that it was proud of the release of the classic rom-com.

“‘Bros’ is a remarkably satisfying romantic comedy from the ferocious comic mind of Billy Eichner and the peerless comedic brilliance of Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller,” Universal’s president of Domestic Distribution Jim Orr said. “Together they have crafted the funniest movie of the year as evidenced by the remarkable critical and audience scores and all of us at Universal are incredibly proud of ‘Bros’ and can’t wait for audiences to continue to enjoy the film.”