Box Office: Gay Romance "Weekend" Sr Big Numbers Limed Debut (Updated)
Contents:
- COMMENTARY: THE REAL LSON OF ‘BROS’: IT’S OK TO LET GAY ART BOMB
- COLUMN: THE MOVIE ‘BROS’ FLOPPED BUT SUCCEED JT BY BEG A GAY ROM
- BOX OFFICE: GAY ROMANCE “WEEKEND” SR BIG NUMBERS LIMED DEBUT (UPDATED)
- SPECIALTY BOX OFFICE: GAY MARRIAGE DRAMA ‘LOVE IS STRANGE’ OPENS STRONG
COMMENTARY: THE REAL LSON OF ‘BROS’: IT’S OK TO LET GAY ART BOMB
At the box office, this gay wtern love story grossed $178 ln around the world acrdg to BoxOfficeMojo. Given how racist and homophobic certa dienc n be, this number is nsired a pretty big succs for a g-of-age film about a man who is both Black and gay. However, one mt take to nsiratn the very aggrsive nservative phback that surround this film due to the fact that featured a gay leadg character.
Here, we prent the 10 hight-grossg films history that have clear LGBTQ narrativ or characters – we’ve exclud films such as Interview wh the Vampire and The Talented Mr Ripley, both of which only have ‘homoerotic’ them. Sacha Baron Cohen’s third mockumentary edy follows the star’s polilly rrect character, Bno, a gay Atrian fashn reporter who travels to the Uned Stat to bee “the biggt Atrian superstar sce Hler”.
Although received mixed reviews om LGBTQ groups for perpetuatg gay stereotyp, was a box office succs, openg the top spot the US and grossg over $130 ln worldwi. The late Rob Williams stars as Armand Goldman, the openly gay owner of a drag club lled The Birdge.
COLUMN: THE MOVIE ‘BROS’ FLOPPED BUT SUCCEED JT BY BEG A GAY ROM
It historilly beme the first major Hollywood productn to clu a gay male sex scene, and missed the $200, 000, 000 mark by jt five ln dollars.
Tom Hanks earned his first of two Amy Awards for his performance Philalphia as Andrew “Andy” Beckett, a closeted gay man who his his AIDS stat om his -workers at a prtig rporate law firm. The film is noted for beg one of the first mastream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexualy, and homophobia.
Although was praised for brgg Turg’s legacy to a wir dience, the film was heavily cricised for downplayg his homosexualy. I didn’t want to dimish “the first major stud movie wrten by and starrg a gay man” or spoil s Rotten Tomato sre or dance on the grave of s box-office prospects. I certaly didn’t want to attack the star of “Billy on the Street” and “Difficult People, ” two of the most succsful screen adaptatns of the gay sensibily recent memory.
BOX OFFICE: GAY ROMANCE “WEEKEND” SR BIG NUMBERS LIMED DEBUT (UPDATED)
”Do that make too the “homophobic weirdos” of Eichner’s nfoundg post-bomb tweet spiral or simply the silent Benedict Arnolds of his self-proclaimed march to the history books? It is emently ldable that Eichner has ma a sexually ank stud edy featurg two gay men, and that he sisted, as wgman/-star/-producer Guy Branum not, on an all-LGBTQ st. Its laceratg send-ups of token reprentatn Hallmark Christmas movi; the “hnted hoe of gay trma” that pop culture pass off as queer history; even Eichner’s own public persona are all a potent, knowg nod to the ongog challeng of tellg LGBTQ stori — of livg LGBTQ liv — whout simply repurposg a tired, old, straight the culmatg ame of s fal act, that is, when the image of two nventnally attractive gay men kissg is posned, lerally, as the ldatory bookend to “5, 000 years of gay love stori erased om the history books.
And yet, spe the affi Eichner and I share on paper — no, bee of the affi we share on paper — I reil at “Bros’” squanred privilege, bristle at s star’s attempt to hi s shortgs behd the veil of homophobia. It is the eedom to fight over, cricize, even ignore the artworks that claim to reprent — and, on the flip si, the eedom to keep makg and nsumg gay art whether straight people show up for or, when I saw the film a send time this week, at a half-full weeknight screeng at the Sunset 5, what stck me most were the loust lghs and cheers, all directed at the gayt material — the slap fight-turned-sex scene, the Bowen Yang meo, Nile Kidman’s pre-roll ad for AMC. ” (Universal Pictur) To say “let gay art bomb” is not to say “let gay art languish.
SPECIALTY BOX OFFICE: GAY MARRIAGE DRAMA ‘LOVE IS STRANGE’ OPENS STRONG
It’s simply a remr that — not only for gay art but for art, full stop — mercial failure has often been a sign of creative succs. It is through the ph and pull of the popular and the avant-gar, the acclaimed and reviled, the celebrated and the spect, that we arrived at the place where “Bros” uld sk or the next quarter century brg still bigger swgs, still more revolutnary cursns to the mastream, still more films and TV seri “too gay, too niche” for straight dienc and not gay enough — never gay enough — for . We fally got : A splashy, gay big-stud romantic edy – "Bros" – that featur an all-LGBTQ prcipal a moment when support for gay marriage has never been higher at 71%, acrdg to a Gallup poll this year.
"Co-wrer and star Billy Eichner short-sightedly attributed the film's disappotg digs to homophobia.
Homophobia is ed alive and well across the untry. The trailer featured hot men who would evably end up together after a seri of tradnal rom- trials and tribulatns wh the add twist of homosexual high jks – a meet-cute at a gay bar!