“Bros,” a boundary-breaking rom-com centering the love story of two gay men, will hit theaters next August, according to the studio behind the film, Universal Pictures.
Here’s everything we know about “Bros”
The film will star Billy Eichner, of “Billy on the Street” fame, who is also co-writing and executive producing. The release of “Bros” will make Eichner, 42, the first openly gay man to write and star in a major motion picture.
“I honestly can’t believe it… move over, Julia Roberts,” Eichner wrote on Twitter Friday, “there’s a new rom-com QUEEN in town!”
Eichner recently told Variety how much representation matters to him, and it was when watching “Love, Simon,” a film about a gay kid in high school who falls in love, that, “Straight people go to the movies and literally see themselves all the time… it was so unusual to have a connection to what was happening on-screen instead of being a step or two removed. ‘Love, Simon’ really got to me.”
Eichner also wrote on Twitter Friday that his manager told him to be “less gay” back in 2006, when an agent was coming to his show, and that the making of his new film “only took 100 years! Thanks, Hollywood!”
“Bros,” will be produced by Judd Apatow, who was also behind the film “The Big Sick,” which starred Kumail Nanjiani and Zoe Kazan and was credited with breaking all the rules of traditional romantic comedies. The genre has continued to expand its definition of what love stories look like, and over the 2020 holiday season Hulu released “The Happiest Season,” one of the first holiday films to feature a lesbian romance.
Eichner has been vocal about the homophobia he has experienced in Hollywood, saying the film industry hasn’t come far enough, which makes writing and starring in “Bros” bittersweet.
“I’m honored that it’s me, but it should have been someone else 30 or 40 years ago,” he told Variety. “I hear people talking about diversity and inclusion, but I often see gay people left out of those conversations. The comedy community, which has always been such a straight man’s game, has not been kind to openly gay men, and I still see so much homophobia when it comes to casting.”
Though details on the film have been a well-kept secret, Universal Pictures, the studio behind the film, said in a statement to TODAY the film is “a smart, swoon-y and heartfelt comedy about finding sex, love and romance amidst the madness.”
It has not yet been announced who will star as Eichner’s love interest. Universal Pictures has been quiet on the casting, and only said the film is “the first romantic comedy from a major studio about two gay men maybe, possibly, probably stumbling towards love. Maybe. They’re both very busy.” Who with this “very busy” person be? We’ll have to stay tuned.
“We stan our new rom-com queen,” the studio said in a tweet Friday.
“Bros” is set to be released on Friday, August 12, 2022.
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