PRIDE: Community

[BuddyThomas]

 

[BuddyThomas]

Oh my God, I’m making a post that is not about Bros. Hell is officially frozen.

Velma Is Officially a Lesbian in New ‘Scooby-Doo’ Film, Years After James Gunn and More Tried to Make Her Explicitly Gay

Velma is officially a lesbian. Clips from the brand new movie “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!,” which show the Mystery Inc. member googly-eyed and speechless when encountering costume desig…

variety.com

 

[TP2000]

Regardless, it's a low budget movie and will no doubt be profitable once all revenue streams are factored in.

Bros was not low budget. It was in line with other RomComs without an A List cast.

Bros had a production budget of $22 Million and an estimated marketing budget of $30 Million. So Universal is down about $50 Million. And Bros crashed very hard on its opening weekend pulling in less than $5 Million, and this upcoming weekend has several new movies coming out and thus Bros will fade further into obscurity very fast.

Bros is going to cost Universal a tidy loss in the tens of millions of dollars, and likely leave a permanent dent in Mr. Eichner's career.

It didn't help that Mr. Eichner was so aggressive and insulting to much of the American audience in advance of his movie's opening. The same American audience that he needed to show up for his movie, and that he is now blaming for not going to see his movie.

What Hollywood might learn (but probably won't) from this Bros box office disaster is that this is generally not the best marketing angle for any writer/producer like Mr. Eichner to take... "I kept saying how I think you people are awful, and then you awful people dare not go see my movie?!?"

The free market of consumers spending their own money, or not spending it in this case, is always crystal clear in its statements...

 

[Ghost93]

I liked Bros and thought it was a pretty good movie, but I think it was a huge mistake to market the movie over how important it is instead of focusing on how funny and romantic it is. Billy Eichner made the movie seem like homework that people should watch out of moral obligation instead of the fun movie it actually is. Blaming straight audiences also was stupid, as it just led to everyone — both gay and straight — making fun of Eichner online.

 

[TP2000]

I liked Bros and thought it was a pretty good movie, but I think it was a huge mistake to market the movie over how important it is instead of focusing on how funny and romantic it is.

I rarely go to movies, and I didn't even know this movie was happening until I saw the commercials on TV a few weeks ago. How is it "important"? Please don't tell me because it's gay.

RomComs have been gayer than this, and those are the RomComs I like to watch as a guilty indulgence on a rainy night in winter; Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, Send Me No Flowers, That Touch of Mink, etc., etc.

I mean seriously! Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Tony Randall in a 1960's RomCom is way gayer (and much funnier!) than anything Mr. Eichner scolds us as "important".

Billy Eichner made the movie seem like homework that people should watch out of moral obligation instead of the fun movie it actually is. Blaming straight audiences also was stupid, as it just led to everyone — both gay and straight — making fun of Eichner online.

Folks like Mr. Eichner, coming off to most people as bitter scolds, just make things so difficult now. They have to be "first" at victimhood, as if the 20th century never happened and no human walked the earth before them. It's just very tiring. And not fun.

I don't blame American audiences for staying away from his movie in droves. But it's going to leave a bad taste for Universal after losing at least $40 Million on Bros.

 

[Figgy1]

I rarely go to movies, and I didn't even know this movie was happening until I saw the commercials on TV a few weeks ago. How is it "important"? Please don't tell me because it's gay.

RomComs have been way gayer than this, and those are the RomComs I like to watch as a guilty indulgence on a rainy night in winter; Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, Send Me No Flowers, That Touch of Mink, etc., etc.

I mean seriously! Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Tony Randall in a 1960's RomCom is way gayer (and much funnier!) than anything Mr. Eichner scolds us as "important".

Folks like Mr. Eichner, coming off to most people as bitter scolds, just make things so difficult now. They have to be "first" at victimhood, as if the 20th century never happened and no human walked the earth before them. It's just very tiring. And not fun.

I don't blame American audiences for staying away from his movie in droves. But it's going to leave a bad taste for Universal after losing at least $40 Million on Bros.

OMG that was such a great movie! btw you forgot to mention Paul Lynde
How's your convertible shop where all the nice young men hang out at?

 

[TP2000]

All that said above, I do have to hand it to Mr. Eichner as the writer/producer/star of this movie. He created a movie out of thin air where an average looking 6 like himself gets to make out on the beach with a younger/hunkier go-go dancer 9 as his co-star.

That deserves some credit!

 

[TP2000]

OMG that was such a great movie! btw you forgot to mention Paul Lynde

The gayness of the later decades of the 20th century is endless. Paul Lynde in the center square is another excellent example! Or Charles Nelson Reilly in a neckscarf up on the top level of Match Game drinking Scotch out of a styrofoam cup.

It was all done so smartly, and subversively, back then. It just made us seem... sharper and ahead of the game. Now? We're supposed to applaud formulaic RomComs and scold our Straight friends for not spending their money to see it?

I don't get that strategy at all.

Just make a funny movie worth $15 and let America choose to see it. Win!

How's your convertible shop where all the nice young men hang out at?

I moved down to San Diego for the summer actually. I sole my OC home last winter and am moving out of state next month and crashed for a long summer at the old family beach house. So I haven't seen that convertible shop up near Disneyland for quite awhile now, but we have many of them in San Diego for all the Sailors and Marines.

I still giggle about your brilliant line every time I see one! I'm forever grateful for those giggles!

 

[TP2000]

I just Googled "Charles Nelson Reilly neckscarf" to confirm that my increasingly hazy memories were accurate, and...

Google is FULL of photos of Charles wearing all manner of neckscarves on Match Game.

I died.

 

[Figgy1]

I just Googled "Charles Nelson Reilly neckscarf" to confirm that my increasingly hazy memories were accurate, and...

Google is FULL of photos of Charles wearing all manner of neckscarves on Match Game.

I died.

My grandma loved him and PL, I'll see myself back under my rock

 

[TP2000]

FYI gang, Bros is up against a new round of movies this weekend as it heads into its second weekend. Last night a couple of them (Lyle Crocodile and Amsterdam) previewed their weekend debuts, and they've already knocked Bros down to #6 on the charts, as seen below for the Thursday, October 6th box office stats.

It's apparent Bros will come in at #6 or #7 this weekend, perhaps crossing the $10 Million mark. Bros needs to make $60 Million to break even for Universal. I imagine Mr. Eichner will be drinking heavily this weekend.

 

[TP2000]

It's apparent Bros will come in at #6 or #7 this weekend, perhaps crossing the $10 Million mark. Bros needs to make $60 Million to break even for Universal.

Quoting myself here, as Bros had an even worse second weekend than even I thought.

Bros slid down to #8 this weekend, fell off a cliff in dollars and viewers, and didn't even make it past $9 Million after 10 days in theaters.

It's still in over 3,300 theaters nationwide, and it has exceptionally low Per Theater grosses at only $179 per theater, compared to the weekend's winner Smile with $1,310 per theater. Assuming $15 per ticket, that's an average of twelve (12) people per screening this weekend in Bros theaters.

It seems Mr. Eichner's very abrasive marketing strategy backfired on him, the poor lad. But... at least he got to make out with a younger and far more handsome man in his movie no one saw. So he's still at least got that.




And not LGBT related, but Disney's Amsterdam movie really underperformed this weekend. It's not the unmitigated flop like Bros, but it was a big budget movie full of pretentious A-Listers who are better people than you, and it cost Burbank $80 Million to make.

Using the "Triple The Production Budget" formula, it needed to make $240 Million to break even for Burbank. But it's very weak opening and middling reviews look like it's going to lose at least $100 Million or more for Burbank. I imagine at some point the losses on Burbank's turkey movies this year will begin to add up... to something.

 

[Ghost93]

Quoting myself here, as Bros had an even worse second weekend than even I thought.

Bros slid down to #8 this weekend, fell off a cliff in dollars and viewers, and didn't even make it past $9 Million after 10 days in theaters.

It's still in over 3,300 theaters nationwide, and it has exceptionally low Per Theater grosses at only $179 per theater, compared to the weekend's winner Smile with $1,310 per theater. Assuming $15 per ticket, that's an average of twelve (12) people per screening this weekend in Bros theaters.

It seems Mr. Eichner's very abrasive marketing strategy backfired on him, the poor lad. But... at least he got to make out with a younger and far more handsome man in his movie no one saw. So he's still at least got that.

View attachment 671959


And not LGBT related, but Disney's Amsterdam movie really underperformed this weekend. It's not the unmitigated flop like Bros, but it was a big budget movie full of pretentious A-Listers who are better people than you, and it cost Burbank $80 Million to make.

Using the "Triple The Production Budget" formula, it needed to make $240 Million to break even for Burbank. But it's very weak opening and middling reviews look like it's going to lose at least $100 Million or more for Burbank. I imagine at some point the losses on Burbank's turkey movies this year will begin to add up... to something.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: The Way of Water should compensate for the financial losses.

As for Amsterdam, it was the type of movie that would live or die by the reviews and word of mouth. Unfortunately, the reviews were poor.

 

[Tiggerish]

Unfortunately, the reviews were poor.

So was the trailer. (IMO)

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I'm honestly surprised people found Billy Eichner's promotion of the film so obnoxious. His comedic persona is kind of aggressive, so if you don't enjoy that then I would imagine he probably isn't generally going to rub you the right way.

Overall, though, without seeking him out I have seen him and heard him a lot on TV shows and podcasts over the past few weeks promoting the movie and didn't think he was telling people they were horrible or anything like that. He had to contend with the twin factors of moviegoing habits having changed and the fact this film is the first of its kind aimed at a mainstream audience focussing on LGBTQ+ relationships, and it seemed to me his interviews were designed to hit on those two points. In the first instance, trying to convince people that comedies are worth seeing in a cinema as a collective experience (i.e. not just big-budget, special effects-heavy movies) and, in the second, basically saying to audiences that if you want more content like this you'll have to go out and support it. The second point is really the big marketing hook for this film as something unique, so I'm not surprised it was emphasised so heavily.

Ultimately, the appeals didn't work and I guess they'll have to figure out why. It is not unprecedented for a relatively well-reviewed comedy to fizzle at the box office, and this sort of brings to mind Judd Apatow's Walk Hard which some argued flopped despite good reviews and extensive promotion due to audiences not seeing John C. Reilly as a compelling lead. The Tweet afterwards about straight people not seeing the film played into Eichner's critics' hands, but the film had already flopped by then.

Whatever the reason, I think this will be cited by studios for a while yet as proof that beyond the broadest of representations, LGBTQ-centric stories are still relatively niche entertainment. So, in that sense, I don't think Eichner's point during the promotion of the film was wrong.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I have to admit, I really want to see Bros, like really do. It looks fantastic, and I feel compelled to support them…

But I’m busyish, not wanting to spend the money, and not willing to go to a movie theatre where people are annoying.

I keep saying I am going to go see a movie… I wanted to see Top Gun, The Woman King, Bros, Everybody Everywhere All at Once, Thor…

Haven’t seen any of them in a theatre. Last movie we saw in theatres was Doctor Strange. We watched Thor on Disney+.

Honestly, I think I’m just at a stage where I know I’ll be able to catch it streaming before too long, and get lazy / don’t feel compelled to go to a movie theatre unless it’s a movie that REALLY benefits from the theatrical experience.

I think the next film in theatres for us realistically is Black Panther and then Avatar 2.

 

[TP2000]

I'm honestly surprised people found Billy Eichner's promotion of the film so obnoxious. His comedic persona is kind of aggressive, so if you don't enjoy that then I would imagine he probably isn't generally going to rub you the right way.

I had no idea who he was until a couple weeks ago when all the Bros marketing showed up. Then I learned he was the guy who played Craig in Parks & Rec a decade ago, and I said "Oh, that guy!"

I liked Craig on that show (hysterical TV show with some hysterical supporting characters!), but Craig was generally an annoyingly loud and awful person. It turns out that's Mr. Eichner's ongoing comedic schtick? To be loud and annoying? Forever?

Whatever the reason, I think this will be cited by studios for a while yet as proof that beyond the broadest of representations, LGBTQ-centric stories are still relatively niche entertainment.

I agree. But by our very definition we are a niche. I'm pretty confident LGBT makes up about 10% of humanity. And then making a movie aimed very, very specifically at 5% of Americans (the G's in LGBT) isn't going to automatically pull in the other 95%.

It would almost be like making a movie about Swedish-American Plumbers, filling the dialogue with inside jokes about quarter-turn valves and Lutfisk dinners, and then marketing it as "If you aren't a Swedish-American in the plumbing industry, this movie isn't for you. You other people had a good run though!"

And then when the movie bombs at the box office, the producer goes on a Twitter rampage blaming the people who aren't Swedish-American Plumbers for being bad people by not going to his movie.

Not that there's anything wrong with Swedish-Americans who work in the plumbing arts. I'm sure they are lovely people.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I agree. But by our very definition we are a niche. I'm pretty confident LGBT makes up about 10% of humanity. And then making a movie aimed very, very specifically at 5% of Americans (the G's in LGBT) isn't going to automatically pull in the other 95%.

It would almost be like making a movie about Swedish-American Plumbers, filling the dialogue with inside jokes about quarter-turn valves and Lutfisk dinners, and then marketing it as "If you aren't a Swedish-American in the plumbing industry, this movie isn't for you. You other people had a good run though!"

I agree in the sense that gay people always going to be in the minority, but my interpretation of his interviews was that he was specifically asking straight people to go and see the movie because it was a funny Judd Apatow comedy beyond its 'importance.' Everyone involved, I think, understood fully that the film couldn't succeed on an LGBT audience alone and this was kind of a test of whether straight audiences would embrace a 'mainstream' gay film.

I haven't seen the film as it's not out where I live yet, but I do get why some of the specific references might be lost on some people. They could also make the film more interesting, though, as dating apps, for example, are pretty mainstream now but people might be interested to learn the quirks of gay dating apps. Or not, I guess!

And then when the movie bombs at the box office, the producer goes on a Twitter rampage blaming the people who aren't Swedish-American Plumbers for being bad people by not going to his movie.

Not that there's anything wrong with Swedish-Americans who work in the plumbing arts. I'm sure they are lovely people.

I am maybe just a very forgiving person, but I kind of got his frustration after a long promotional tour imploring people to see the film and it flopping so hard. It would have been better if he hadn't of said 'straight' as I don't know if there is any breakdown of the audience on opening weekend by sexuality. Who knows, maybe it was mostly straight people who went to see the film?

 

[TP2000]

They could also make the film more interesting, though, as dating apps, for example, are pretty mainstream now but people might be interested to learn the quirks of gay dating apps. Or not, I guess!

Agreed.

Hell, I would love to have some of these dating apps explained to me as an old gay man.

In my day, we didn't have apps, we just ran up bar tabs until we hit the jackpot.

 

[Ghost93]

Agreed.

Hell, I would love to have some of these dating apps explained to me as an old gay man.

In my day, we didn't have apps, we just ran up bar tabs until we hit the jackpot.

So one of the things I thought Bros captured well was the dynamics of using gay apps like Grindr and how absurd the conversations could be on there. It was really funny. However, it was an example of a joke that probably wouldn't resonate with straight people as they would have never used that app.