The Trailer for 'Bros' Was Almost Banned from an Entire U.S. Theater Chain

It’s worth noting that September is a notoriously difficult month for new movies to open in theaters. Last week, The Hollywood Reporter even reported that this September saw the worst box office earnings in 26 years. Meanwhile, comedy films have struggled theatrically, with many films within the genre — such as Searchlight Pictures’ Fire Island — going straight to streaming.

Nevertheless, it’s a bummer given that Bros was heralded as the first gay rom-com to be released by a major movie studio, especially because many of the highest-grossing queer films of all time center on tragedy, like Philadelphia, and feature gay characters played by straight actors, such as Brokeback Mountain. In contrast, Bros has an all-LGBTQ+ primary cast and tells a heartwarming story.

On Sunday, Eichner took to Twitter to voice his disappointment over the film’s performance.

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“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,” he wrote. “And that’s disappointing but it is what it is.”

Eichner finished up by encouraging “everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo” to go see the film, adding, “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!!!”

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