The Curious Case of the Missing Audience

The rom-com Bros debuted in theaters over the weekend. It was projected to open with $8.8 million at the North American box office. Instead, it stumbled with $4.8 million. The movie's co-star and co-writer, Billy Eichner, has made headlines after tweeting about the film's lackluster opening. He seems to blame homophobia for the poor showing for the movie about two gay men who attempt to navigate their attraction toward one another. Maybe he's right? Maybe not?

Full disclosure: I haven't seen Bros yet. Not sure if I will. I didn't find the trailer to be all that amusing. And, for the record, I've gone to see a lot of movies featuring gay characters over the years. This one just didn't grab me. Maybe it didn't entice others to go, either? Gay or straight. I'm not the only who thinks there may have been other reasons why folks didn't go see it.

Reason, or Excuse?

Honestly, blaming Bros' smaller-than-expected box office on homophobic straight people is a bit like fans of a sports team blaming a losing game on the referees. Could there have been some bad calls? Sure. But is that really the reason the team lost? Is it the only reason? Same with a movie. Are there a lot of homophobes out there? Of course there are (unfortunately). Are they really the reason the film didn't draw more of an audience? Seems doubtful.

Looking at Data

The weekend of January 20-22, 2006 was when Brokeback Mountain increased to over 1,000 screens in North America. Its box office for that Friday, Saturday and Sunday was $7.4 million - already higher than Bros' opening weekend, but even more so when you realize that it comes to $10.9 million in 2022 money. The gay coming-of-age rom-com Love, Simon opened in wide release across North America in March of 2018. Its weekend box office was $11.7 million ($13.8 million in 2022 numbers).

While we still have a ways to go for acceptance of the LGBTQ community, it doesn't seem as though a massive number of people have suddenly become homophobic. The folks who took the time to go and see Brokeback or Simon didn't develop a dislike for gay people during the intervening years, and decide not to go see Bros because of it. I'll tell you want has changed, though, and that's how we view movies.

An Evolving Landscape

I'm a film enthusiast, seeing more movies in a year than the average person. I still buy DVDs, Blu-rays and 4k discs. I go to the movie theater on a weekly basis, which isn't something a lot of people do on the regular. I mention these things because some of my fellow moviegoers (understandably) bristle whenever they hear about folks who prefer streaming vs. going to a movie theater. I kind of do, too, but that's not to say that it doesn't reflect an ever-increasing reality. I wish people still bought physical media, but wishing for something doesn't make it so.

More and more people prefer watching movies at home, via streaming, than seeing them at their local cinema. An exception to this is typically your garden variety superhero movie or expensively-made blockbuster. The pandemic only accelerated this. And, it's not just movies -- people listen to music via online resources such as Spotify, Apple Music, etc. Sure, there are some who buy vinyl, CDs, or even cassettes, but it's a fairly niche market. How people watch a movie or listen to their favorite songs has been changing, and will continue to evolve along with the technology that delivers it to us (in more convenient formats).

Final Thoughts

So, in a post(ish)-pandemic world, a gay rom-com with no real marquee names had a lackluster opening weekend. Maybe people had other stuff going on? Perhaps they didn't care for the trailer? It's possible folks are just more in the mood for spooky season at the moment? Horror films have been doing pretty well of late, and Halloween is coming up at the end of the month. Or, maybe Bros is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and who didn't see it are just a bunch of haters and homophobes?

Whatever gets you thru the night, I guess.