Billy Eichner has stated that "straight people just didn’t show up" for his new movie following a disappointing opening box office.
The movie, Bros, is one of the few LGBTQ+ romantic comedies released by a major studio to also have an openly queer cast. It has received highly positive responses from critics, who praised the film's representation and humor, and has been given a major 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, despite its strengths, the movie only amassed $4.8 million on its opening weekend in the US and Canada even though it had a budget of $22 million.
Now, the 44-year-old comedian - who stars as Bobby Lieber in the movie - has taken to Twitter to open up on his experience watching the film with the public and give his thoughts on the poor box office return.
Read Eichner's tweets below:"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," he began.
"Really. I am VERY proud of this movie," he said, continuing in a second tweet: "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*** yeah, etc etc," he pointed out.
Eichner then responded to the negative backlash to the film and said "that’s just the world we live in, unfortunately," adding that even with "glowing reviews" from critics, "straight people just didn’t show up" for the movie.
However, the actor called for more people to give the film a chance, writing: "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 added.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Eichner described Hollywood as "homophobic" in an interview with Page Six at the MTV Movie and TV Awards.
"Hollywood has often been very accepting on the surface but very homophobic underneath the surface and very hypocritical," he said. "And a lot of decisions have been made based on fear - fears that I think are often irrational - and yet, people were scared."
"You know, a lot of it was based around what they think the mainstream audience would or would not accept. And that’s pretty infuriating when you think about it," he added.
The Difficult People actor said that he wanted to create a movie that would show an eye-opening yet light-hearted illustration of what it’s like to date in today’s day and age as a gay person.
Bros hit movie theaters in the US on September 30.
