Billy Eichner recently caused a minor controversy on Twitter when he blamed straight people for the box office underperformance of his new LGBTQ-themed romcomBros. Eichner, the star and co-writer of the film,tweeted, “Straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up forBros.” While it may be true that some homophobic moviegoers avoided this film on the basis of its subject matter, there are many other factors that contributed toBros’ commercial failure.
The trailers forBroswere too busy pointing out its historic status as the first studio romcom about a same-sex couple to show how funny the movie is. It was released at the end of September, just before the spooky season typically reserved for horror films likeSmile,Hellraiser, andHalloween Ends.Ticket to Paradise, another romantic comedy released in the same window, is bolstered bythe star power of George Clooneyand Julia Roberts.Bros, on the other hand, doesn’t have any famous faces in its cast. Eichner is the biggest star in the movie, and he’s a C-lister at best. And on top of all that, it’s simply been a really long time since a large audience came out to theaters to see a comedy of any kind.
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Less than a decade ago, a lackluster star-driven comedy likeIdentity ThieforLet’s Be CopsorThe Wedding Ringercould easily succeed at the box office. But that was before moviegoing audiences beganseeking humor in blockbusters likeDeadpool,Thor: Ragnarok, andGuardians of the Galaxy, and before the film industry was ravaged by a global pandemic. Almost every major comedy film release of the 2020s has disappointed at the box office, from star-studded comedies (Like a Boss) to family comedies (My Spy) to comedy-dramas (Downhill) toaction comedies(The King’s Man) to sci-fi comedies (Bill & Ted Face the Music) to animated comedies (The Bob’s Burgers Movie). Comedies about straight couples have been bombing just as hard as the one about a gay couple.
These days, most comedy movies are relegated to streaming, even comedies that would’ve seemed like surefire box office hits a few years ago. The sequels to bothBoratandEddie Murphy’s modern fairy taleComing to America, which each struck box office gold in their initial theatrical run, were released exclusively on Prime Video. The problem with straight-to-streaming comedies is that there’s far less pressure to win over audiences, so the filmmakers get lazy. Since they don’t need to get butts in seats, they don’t bother using test audiences to make sure the movie gets laughs and fine-tune the jokes. As a result, viewers are being subjected to abysmal efforts likeMe TimeandSenior Yearthat only inspire a couple of half-hearted chuckles if they get any audience response at all.
Mid-budget studio movies have been in decline ever since streaming killed the home media market. Back in the day, studios could recoup their losses from a movie likeBroswhen it was released on DVD. But the only people who still buy DVDs are old-fashioned cinephiles and diehard collectors. The pandemic seems to have hammered the final nail into the mid-budget studio movie’s coffin. The big studios are pumping nine-figure budgets intoguaranteed moneymaking I.P.s likeStar WarsandFast & Furious, while smaller studios like A24 and Blumhouse can afford to take risks with seven-figure movies likeX,Get Out, andIt Comes at Nightthat become sleeper hits if they catch on but won’t break the bank if they fail.
Studios won’t throw $20 million at a movie likeSuperbador $35 million at a movie likeThe Hangoveranymore, because it’s highly unlikely that they’ll make that money back in the modern cinematic climate. In today’s post-streaming, post-pandemic movie market, there was no need to spend $22 million onBros. The cast doesn’t have any A-listers beyond its brief celebrity cameos, the soundtrack doesn’t feature any artists with particularly expensive licensing fees, and there are no big set-pieces likethe final battle inGhostbustersor the car chase inPineapple Express. IfBroshad been produced for $5 million and marketed exactly the same way, then this conversation wouldn’t even be happening; the movie would’ve made back its production costs in its opening weekend.
The most successful recent comedies, likeBooksmartandSorry to Bother You, have been produced on tiny budgets, enjoyed modest theatrical runs where they turned a profit without setting the world on fire, and then been gradually discovered by wider audiences in the months that followed. Sadly, this might be the best that film comedy can hope for going forward. Audiences might never get to seea big, bold, star-studded studio comedy likeTropic Thunderor21 Jump Streeton the big screen ever again. They’ll have to seek their laughs in big-budget superhero movies likeThor: Love and Thunderand low-budget hidden gems likeFunny Pages, with nothing in between.
It would be a real tragedy if the comedy genre is truly dead, because comedies demand to be seen in theaters. It’s not necessarily that they need to be seen on a big screen, because they’re not as visually engaging or spectacle-oriented as action films or sci-fi films or soulful arthouse dramas. But comedies are more enjoyable with a crowd.When a comedy really works, likeBoratorBridesmaidsorBeverly Hills Cop– or, indeed,Bros– then they’re much more fun to watch in a packed house, laughing along with the rest of the audience, than watching it alone on a TV or laptop screen.
