Universal Pictures romantic comedy brothers came in well below expectations at the box office over its opening weekend. Starring Billy Eichner and directed by Nicholas Stoller (Forgot Sarah Marshall), brothers was heavily marketed as a major studio romantic LGBTQ+ comedy and narrowly beaten as the first to feature an openly LGBT cast of fire island, which was released on Hulu on June 3, 2022. With legendary comedy producer Judd Apatow producing it, brothers had high hopes for it.
brothers was originally scheduled to open in theaters on August 12, 2022, but the film was delayed to September 30, 2022. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, brothers received positive reviews from critics, currently at 91% Rotten tomatoes. While brothers was the target of homophobic review bombing, audiences who actually went to see the film were pleased as it earned an A grade from CinemaScore, indicating that the film had strong box office potential.
However, it seems that brothers has found itself in the position of many recent studio comedies as it struggled at the box office. According to Variety, brothers grossed $4.8 million in its opening weekend to enter at number 4 at the box office behind Smile, don’t worry babyand The woman king. brothers opening weekend is well below box office expectations, suggesting the film could open between $8 and $10 million.
How is Bros at the box office in the coming weeks?
brothers Universal Pictures’ $22 million budget means it wasn’t a big investment, but the film may struggle to recoup at the box office over the coming weekends. October will have major releases like Halloween kills and Black Adam looking for large crowds. Universal Pictures also has a comedy, Ticket to paradise starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts coming out on October 21, 2022, which has already performed well internationally. brothers the best chance of recouping the budget is probably when the film is released for paid video-on-demand and streaming.
brothers disappointing box office opening is just another in a long list of recent studio comedies that haven’t lived up to expectations. Universal Pictures’ previous comedy, Easter Sunday opened in seventh place at the box office with an opening weekend of $6 million, putting it above it brothers. Even before the pandemic, comedies were a genre that struggled at the box office, and since the theaters reopened, it’s a genre that still struggles to draw audiences to the theater, but has become incredibly viable for streaming. Despite brothers less than a great box office, it was an important step to release it in theaters and the film’s story is far from over.
Source: Variety
